Chapter 1

EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITIES

Preamble

The University of Washington has comprehensive policies concerning the broad spectrum of ethics issues that emerge in the complex and varied environment of University life. These policies reflect the underlying rationale, University expectations, and designated procedures for appropriate disclosure and review of conflicts of commitment and conflicts of interest, including financial interests that might bias or otherwise threaten the integrity of the results of sponsored projects.

Policies guide, but are not sufficient in themselves to capture, the essential qualities that should characterize the collegiality of the academic community. The University is first and foremost a community of scholars charged with the responsibility of educating the next generation. The institution provides the framework within which that task is carried out. To do so successfully and harmoniously requires that all cooperate in a spirit of mutual support and interest. To this end, the University provides modest incentives designed to encourage employees to go beyond their traditional responsibilities and engage in activities such as technology transfer, consulting, and other acts of creative productivity. But those incentives are not intended to be, nor can they be permitted to become, ends in themselves, lest the primary purpose of the academy be subverted. Whether in the context of consulting relationships that could bypass established institutional policies on transferring intellectual property or in negotiating personal rewards for a given intellectual contribution, every University citizen should make extra efforts to protect the interests of the institution. In this way, the larger goals of the educational enterprise will be sustained. To do otherwise would violate the spirit of the academy and the integrity of the task we accept as members of the academy. Such violations are avoided through adherence to University conflict-of-commitment and conflict-of-interest policies. Employees are encouraged to err on the side of protecting the interests of the academic community, even if doing so would in some small measure disadvantage them individually.

Executive Order No. 32 of the President, February 27, 1998