Policies
NMSU Conflict of Interest Policies
The conflict of interest form contains information that may have direct bearing on your employment and completing the form is a condition of your employment; the form must be completed annually, and an additional form should be submitted when circumstances change and a potential conflict arises. The form will be stored by Human Resource Services and considered confidential. The information submitted is only available to individuals duly charged with the responsibility for review and may be released only in accordance with and as required by federal or state law; or regulation; or lawful court order.
Examples of conflicts of commitment for faculty may include but are not limited to:
- Maintaining full-time paid employment at another institution/organization that interferes with work performance and/or attendance.
- Excessive (not more than one day per week, on average) private consulting or advisory committee service, even if it is in the public interest or pro bono.
- Taking a significant management role in a non-NMSU entity as part of consulting activities.
- Holding an elective political office.
Examples of permitted activities may include but are not limited to:
- Faculty consulting for private companies not in excess of one day per week during that portion of the year when drawing an academic or summer salary.
- Serving on advisory committees of public or private concerns for the benefit of the university, even if an honorarium is paid for such activities, as long as it does not interfere with work performance and attendance.
- Acting as an editor or reviewer for a professional society journal.
- Preparing chapters, textbooks or monographs related to teaching, research or service activities, even if paid royalties as an author or editor.
- Occasional lectures, colloquia or seminars to disseminate results of university-related teaching, research or service activities.
- Holding an office in a professional society.
For additional information regarding 3.19 Conflict of Interest- Ethical Conduct and 3.20 Conflicts of Interest and Conflicts of Commitment in General, please refer to the NMSU Policy Manual or NMSU Policies 3.21 and 3.22: Conflicts of Interest. In addition to the NMSU policies on Ethics and Conflicts of Interest, NMSU has created a Business Ethics Handbook that cross-references all associated policies. When employees complete their Conflict of Interest form, they must acknowledge that they have read and agree to comply with the NMSU Business Ethics Handbook.
2012 Changes to Conflict of Interest Procedures
The major changes implemented in 2012 to the NMSU Financial Conflict of Interest Procedures include:
- The lowering of the financial disclosure threshold from $10,000 to $5,000;
- Disclosure of all travel and expenses related to sponsored projects;
- Mandatory conflict of interest training for ALL individuals, regardless of their position, or role on sponsored projects; and
- New public disclosure requirements as outlined in DHHS Revised Regulations, Section G.
For more details about recent changes to federal conflict of interest policies, please visit http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/coi/.
Outside Activities Report and Management
New Mexico State University is committed to maintaining the highest standards of ethics and integrity in all of its academic and administrative operations. Both individual members of the University and entities controlled by the University have a vital need to recognize and deal with conflicts of interest and/or commitment. Such conflicts may compromise or have the appearance of compromising the integrity of University related activities and may have unforeseen effects on those activities.
Therefore, conflicts of interest and commitment must be reported by all regular employees (full and part-time faculty and staff) under the following circumstances:
*Upon hire
*Annually when initiated by HR Services in the Fall Semester
*When a conflict or the appearance of a conflict arises that has not been reported