Policy on Conflicts of Interest Regarding Vendors
Members of the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and General Counsel (OGC) have a responsibility to avoid conflicts of interest and the appearance of such conflicts with respect to the expenditure of University resources on outside attorneys, law firms, consultants, accountants and other vendors with whom OGC conducts, or may in the future conduct, business (collectively, "Vendors").
In order to maintain the highest standards of business ethics and to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest, OGC has adopted the following standards for its own members:
- Gifts. OGC members will not accept gifts from any Vendors except for gifts of truly nominal value. Gifts include event tickets, gift baskets, gift certificates, travel, and any other free goods or services. If a gift of more than nominal value is received without notice or an opportunity to object, the Vendor should be informed that OGC cannot accept such gifts and the gift should either be returned, donated to a charitable cause, discarded (if appropriate), or given to a University employee who is not in a position to influence the University’s decision to purchase goods or services from that Vendor. Additionally, OGC members may purchase the gift (e.g., event tickets) for full value from the Vendor using personal funds.
- Business Meals. While OGC members should not routinely plan business meetings around meals that will be purchased by Vendors, OGC members may accept such meals in accordance with the following guidelines:
- University business will be conducted at the meal; this is the primary if not sole objective.
- OGC members' business judgments and decisions will not be influenced by the meal or by the expense involved in the meal.
- Such meals should be infrequent in occurrence and modest in price.