OF RECORD
In April, I forwarded to the Faculty Senate
a proposed revised policy on the Employment
of More than One Family Member that was developed by an ad hoc
faculty committee chaired by Associate Provost Barbara Lowery and subsequently
approved by the Council of Deans. The Senate Committee on the Faculty suggested
several changes in the proposed policy, including a broadened definition
of what constitutes a family, which were accepted by the President and me.
The policy follows below and is effective immediately.
--Stanley Chodorow, Provost
Employment of More Than One Family
Member
University policy permits the employment of more
than one member of a family (defined as being related by blood, marriage
and former marriage, or adoption, or defined as partners recognized under
University benefits policy), whether or not the persons concerned are in
the same academic or administrative department. The University's primary
concern in such cases of appointment, as in all others, is that faculty
or staff members are the best candidates with respect to the requisite qualifications
for employment. The University has a parallel concern, however, in the avoidance
of a conflict of interest or the appearance of such conflict, where an employee's
professional decisions or actions pertaining to the performance of his or
her job would be colored by considerations arising from a family relationship
with another employee. The University also recognizes that the appointment
of two or more family members, especially within the same department, could
generate pressures and prejudice among colleagues. To guard against such
conflicts and abuses, the following rules must be observed:
A. Family Members Appointed to the Faculty
1. No faculty member shall participate in any way
whatsoever in the decision to employ, promote, reappoint, or terminate the
appointment of a member of his or her family on the Standing Faculty or
the Associated Faculty.
2. Any proposal to employ as a faculty member a
person who is related to a member of the faculty or administration must
be brought to the attention of the dean before an offer of appointment is
made. In cases where there is a potential conflict of interest in the professional
relationships of family members or with respect to other employees of the
University arising from the family relationship, the department chair must
outline in writing the steps being taken to avoid or manage conflicts of
interest or the appearance of such conflicts, subject to approval by the
dean. Deans will report such arrangements to the provost in the course of
normal administrative oversight.
3. No faculty member shall participate in any other
decision, including determining the salary, teaching and/or administrative
assignments, and space assignments, directly and individually affecting
a member of his or her family on the Standing Faculty or Associated Faculty.
B. Family Members Appointed to Non-faculty Positions
Faculty members should take care to avoid conflicts
of interest or the appearance of such conflicts in the employment of, and
in any ongoing University-related professional relationship with, a family
member in a non-faculty position. All decisions regarding such employment
should be conducted in strict conformance with the Human Resources Policy.
C. Reporting
In the course of normal administrative oversight,
department chairs or other heads of department will report periodically
to deans, and deans will report to the provost, on steps that have been
taken to avoid or manage conflicts of interest or the appearance of such
conflicts among faculty members and/or academic administrators who are related
as family. In each case, the faculty members and/or academic administrators
who are subject to such reports shall receive copies of such reports on
a timely basis.
These requirements extend to part-time faculty
appointments whenever such a person may exercise decision-making power over
the employment and/or administration of a family member employed by the
University.
Return to:Almanac, University of Pennsylvania, December
16, 1997, Volume 44, Number 16 |