Except as provided by law, no Trustee or officer of the University as such shall transact any business or professional activity by reason of which the Trustee or officer shall receive any pecuniary award or compensation from the University or the Illinois State University Foundation funds except Board-approved compensation for the officers. All permitted transactions must be approved in advance by the Board directly or through a designated officer
2.1 Trustees and the President of Illinois State University shall at all times act in a manner consistent with their fiduciary responsibilities to the University and shall exercise particular care that no detriment to the University results from conflicts between their interests and those of the University. If a Trustee or President believes that he/she may have a conflict of interest, the Trustee or President shall promptly and fully disclose the conflict to the Assistant to the President and shall refrain from participating in any way in the matter to which the conflict relates until the conflict question has been resolved. The minutes of the Board meeting where a disclosure of conflict or possible conflict of interest is made shall reflect the disclosure and that the Trustee or President having such, abstained from participation in the matter.
2.2 The Trustee or President is considered to have a conflict of interest when any of his/her family or associates, either (i) has an existing or potential financial or other interest which impairs or might appear to impair the Trustee's or President's independence of judgment in the discharge of responsibilities to the University, or (ii) may receive a material, financial, or other benefit from knowledge of information confidential to the University. The "family" of a Trustee or President includes his/her spouse, parents, siblings, children, and if living in the same household and sharing expenses, other individuals. An "associate" of a Trustee or President includes any person, trust, organization, or enterprise in or with which the Trustee or President has knowledge that he/she or any member of his/her family (i) is a director, officer, employee, member, partner, or trustee; or (ii) has a financial interest that represents 5% or more of his/her assets or any interest that enables him/her acting alone or in conjunction with others, to exercise control or to influence policy significantly, or (iii) has any other material association.
2.3 The Assistant to the President shall consult with the Chairperson of the Board and Board Legal Counsel regarding all conflict questions of which he/she is informed and shall report regularly to the Board of Trustees regarding any unresolved conflict questions. This policy statement is to be interpreted and applied in a manner that will best serve the interest of the University. In some cases, it may be determined that, after full disclosure to those concerned, the University's interests are best served by participation by the Trustee or President despite the conflict. The Board Legal Counsel will provide a Trustee or President, upon his/her request, a written opinion as to whether a conflict of interest situation exists
2.4 This policy incorporates by reference any obligations imposed on a Trustee, President or other university employee by state law to comply with state disclosure of outside income.
2.5 Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in state law, it shall be a conflict of interest for a Trustee in any capacity to be employed by or associated with a professional service firm which directly or indirectly provides services to the University. In the event that a firm is providing services to the University prior to one of its employees becoming a Trustee, it may complete all work in progress for the University but may not be engaged for any additional work until the Trustee is no longer employed by or associated with the professional service firm.
2.6 The Assistant to the President shall distribute annually a copy of the Board of Trustees Conflict of Interest statement to each Trustee and the President.
adopted: 01/03/1996
