8.10 Policy Violations and Complaint Process

(Amended 4/17; 7/20/22; 4/1/25)

1. Violations of this policy include:
   1. concealing or failing to disclose one’s own conflict-of-interest relationship;
   2. willful failure or refusal to cooperate with an approved management plan;
   3. failure of a university administrator to refer a matter as described in III-8.7;
   4. or failure of a first neutral supervisor or other university administrator to implement a management plan in a timely manner as described in III-8.9.
2. Complaints regarding potential violations of this policy shall be referred to the appropriate Associate Dean for Faculty (for faculty), or to the Senior HR Leader or other appropriate institutional official (for staff or student employees) who shall investigate the matter immediately to determine whether any conflict of interest in employment exists and, if so, whether a management plan should be developed; or if any other of the above potential policy violations may exist. The person investigating shall document their findings and refer the matter to the appropriate university official for any necessary action. If a management plan is already in place, the university official will evaluate its effectiveness. Upon conclusion of the investigation, the person investigating shall advise the complainant that the report has been reviewed.
3. Violations of this policy may subject the employee to disciplinary action.
4. Any proposed disciplinary actions resulting from violations of this policy:
   1. by faculty members will be governed by III-29 Faculty Dispute Procedures;
   2. by staff members will be governed by applicable Regent Merit System Rules and university policies, including III-16 Ethics and Responsibility Statement for University Staff, and the applicable grievance procedures, including III-28 Conflict Management Resources for University Staff;
   3. by graduate assistants, when dismissal is sought, will be governed by the procedure for dismissal of graduate assistants (III-12.4). When sanctions other than dismissal are imposed by the dean of the employing college, a graduate assistant may appeal through those procedures established for graduate assistant employees;
   4. by students will be governed by the Code of Student Life and Accountability Procedure.