Conflict of Interest

• Author: Cheryl Foy
• Pages: 18-23

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Conf‌lict of Interest

A. UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT OF INTEREST

is concept is poorly understood, and sometimes people’s self-interest is

such that it aects their ability to see that they are in a conict. Most uni-

versities have a conict-of-interest policy and procedure. You should make it

a priority to be familiar with these documents. A conict of interest is sim-

ply something that aects your ability to objectively make a decision that

considers only the best interests of the university because you may derive a

personal benet from that decision. I think of conicts of interest as things

that cloud our judgment and get in the way of our ability to put the uni-

versity rst. Making a decision while in a conict of interest may result in a

poor outcome for the university, and will most certainly aect perceptions

of your integrity as a board member. However, remember that you are on a

board to make decisions. It is one of your key responsibilities. As such, be

sure to understand conicts of interest and do not declare one lightly.

University boards are sometimes described as “stakeholder boards”

because every university board includes board members selected from

stakeholder groups such as faculty, sta, students, and alumni, among

others. is stakeholder composition is one of the unique elements of uni-

versity governance discussed in more detail in Chapter . e inclusion of

internal members on the university board makes it yet more important to

understand conicts of interest and have a robust and consistently applied