That is the basic drift of UF's policy as well. So, if a family member (and
this may extend to significant others or anyone with respect to whom someone
has a conflict of personal and professional interest) is the subject of
action (hiring, promotion, evaluation, etc.) the interested party must
recuse himself or herself and not participate in the search, evaluation,
etc., or be subject to accusations of ethics violations, which can be pretty
serious in this state [believe it or not, the 2000 elections to the contrary
notwithstanding, Florida is actually still under the rule of law, at least
in theory, or last time I checked -- don't know about Texas]. So, for
example, when one of a couple became chair of a department, the supervision
and evaluation of the other person in the couple fell to the associate dean
(not to someone also subject to the chair). When a conflict cannot be
handled in that manner, say, for example, if the dean's husband or wife were
on the faculty, then the conflict must be disclosed at a higher level
(provost) and a method devised for addressing it that preserves the
integrity of academic process.

The usual complaints I hear about couples (of any gender) is that they may
find it difficult to separate their professional judgment from their
personal loyalties. Frankly, I think all faculty members face that issue (in
varying degrees) unless they just have no friends.

Ginny



----- Original Message -----
From: "John Allison {allisonj}" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 9:52 AM
Subject: Re: Nepotism Policies


My understanding here at UT-Austin is that there is only a prohibition
against family members (I'm not sure how expansive the definition of
family is) making or participate in making decisions affecting the
other.  There have been few case in the business school that I'm aware
of.  If, say, spouses are in the same department, one being a junior
faculty member and the other being a senior faculty member, the latter
cannot participate in any decision-making process regarding the former's
salary, promotion, or such.

John

-----Original Message-----
From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Thomas Cavenagh
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 8:36 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Nepotism Policies


Colleagues:

Our academic affairs unit is structured in departments within divisions.
My division, which consists of a total 19 full-time faculty in the
departments of Economics, Business and Accounting, has two sets of
spouses and a new faculty member whose spouse intends to apply for an
opening in the division.  As a result, we are faced with the need to
consider implementing a more formal policy regarding supervision of and
by a spouse.   Naturally, discussions at department and division
meetings have not been useful because frank talk is almost impossible.
Do any of your institutions have such policies or have any of you had
experience in navigating this set of issues?  I chair the business
department in which two spouses teach and will run the search in which
the faculty spouse will apply, so I would very much appreciate any
guidance any of you can offer.

Gratefully,

Tom Cavenagh

Thomas D. Cavenagh, JD
Associate Professor of Law & Conflict Resolution
North Central College
30 North Brainard Street
Naperville, Illinois 60540
630-637-5157
630-637-5260 (fax)