Anti-Nepotism
Board of Trustees Policy: 6.15
Date: March 2022
Supersedes: April 2020, November 2009
Purpose
To provide guidance on the College’s expectations regarding all employment decisions, business decisions, and all academic dealings, involving relatives.
Policy
Nepotism is defined as favoritism or potential favoritism based on kinship and the conflicts of interest and loyalties that may result therein.
The College prohibits relatives of prospective employees from sitting on any College search committee in which they may have influence on the outcome of future hires among the faculty or staff.
Relatives may be employed at the College. However, under no circumstances should one employee be directly supervised by another employee who is a relative.
Under no circumstances should any member of the College’s officers, administrators, faculty or staff exert undue pressure on any hiring committee, promotion committee, or sabbatical committee with regard to an applicant or candidate who is a relative.
Disciplinary matters involving employees, faculty or staff, should not be conducted by, or similarly involve, a fellow employee who is related to the employee who is being subject to disciplinary action. The adjudication of students and all student decisions affecting students’ academic records should not involve an employee, either faculty or staff, who is related to the student(s).
No employee may participate with an external accrediting agency or evaluation team in which a relative is a member, without first disclosing that information
All employees must disclose the following whenever it occurs:
The planned direct participation in a College decision that would involve a direct benefit or detriment to a relative or former relative.
A change in the status of a relative relationship.
Anyone found to be in violation of this policy will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including a recommendation for termination from employment.
The definition of “relative”, for the purposes of this policy, includes a spouse, civil union partner, domestic partner, or the parent, child, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, cousin, grandparent, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, stepparent, stepchild, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother or half-sister, of the individual or of the individual’s spouse or civil union partner or domestic partner, whether the relative is related to the individual or the individual’s spouse or civil union or domestic partner, by blood, marriage or adoption.