XII. UTHSC Conflict of Interest Statement
POLICY OVERVIEW
| Employees of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC-H) are prohibited by Texas state law and internal regulation from engaging in any activity that is in conflict with the proper discharge of their duties and responsibilities in the public interest. These prohibitions have profound implications not only for an individual's personal conduct, but also for the manner in which the employee is expected to conduct his or her business, financial, and professional activities. |
| Employees will avoid the improper use of privilege or influence in the performance of duty, the compromise of the university's reputation and/or facilities by unauthorized use, and the commitment to un-approved outside employment. |
| The president is responsible for the UTHSC-H's compliance with all pertinent laws and regulations and the creation of procedural safeguards to support and verify compliance. The president has delegated the authority to periodically solicit and maintain records on the outside employment activities of employees to the Office of Auditing and Advisory Services. |
PROCEDURES
I. Performance of Duty
| A conflict of interest is created between the UTHSC-H and any employee who accepts or solicits a gift, favor, or service that is intended to--or may inadvertently--influence the performance of official conduct; accepts, agrees to accept, or solicits benefit in exchange for the exercise of official powers or the performance of official responsibilities; accepts employment, compensation, or engages in any business or professional activity that might reasonably require disclosure of confidential information to which the employee is privy by virtue of employment; accepts other employment or compensation that could reasonably be expected to impair the individual's independence of judgment in the performance of official duties; or makes personal investments that will set the employee's private interests against the UTHSC-H's public interests. |
II. Facilities and Reputation
| Employees will not use UTHSC-H stationery or give any UTHSC-H building or department as a business address in connection with any outside remunerative activity in which they are engaged. Employees who give professional opinions in a private capacity must protect the UTHSC-H against the circulation of those opinions for advertising purposes. The institution's name is not to be connected in any way with the individual's name, and it will be made clear that the work in question is unofficial in nature. Exceptions will be made for the identification of the authors of books, pamphlets, and articles. |
| No employee may accept pay from private sources for tests, assays, chemical analyses, bacteriological examinations, or other such work involving the use of UTHSC-H property, without first obtaining written permission from the president to do so and making provision for the payment of appropriate compensation to the UTHSC-H. |
III. Outside Employment
| Prior to acceptance of outside remunerative work, a full-time employee of the UTHSC-H must submit a written request for approval to the appropriate dean or director, and to the president for final approval. No service may be performed, nor may payment be accepted, until such request is approved. The request will describe the type of work, the hours to be worked, and whether or not the service will be compensated. The request must indicate that the work will not conflict with the individual's regular employment at the UTHSC-H. |
| Employees of the UTHSC-H may hold outside non-elective offices or state or federal employment, providing that no conflict will be created between the requirements of such employment and the individual's original compensated position with the UTHSC-H. Prior to accepting service in such a capacity, the individual must obtain written approval from the president to confirm that the provisions of this policy are met. The individual will include in the documentation submitted to the president the amount of additional compensation that the employment is expected to yield. |
| The president requires that records be kept of all compensation received by UTHSC-H personnel as a result of outside work in a state or federal position. The records will include salary, bonus, per diem, and other compensation information. Once a year, Auditing and Advisory Services will circulate forms to the deans and management staff on which employees are asked to report all compensation from other state or federal agencies earned during the previous fiscal year (ending August 31). The forms will be distributed as appropriate; employees are responsible for returning the completed forms to Auditing and Advisory Services (the designated recipient) by the deadline of December 15. Auditing and Advisory Services will subsequently generate a report of the activity and file it with the president and each dean. |
In addition, Auditing and Advisory Services will
periodically request a report of all services rendered
(regardless of compensation) by employees; the responses
obtained from this survey will be maintained on file by
Auditing and Advisory Services and a report of the
information will be filed with the president.
|
| For additional information regarding outside employment, please refer to Appendix C, of the HOOP at: http://www.uth.tmc.edu/ut_general/admin_fin/planning/pub/hoop/index.html |
| And the Texas State Board of Regents http://www.utsystem.edu/bor/RegentsRules/RULES_.HTM |