Several years ago, the Legislature adopted significant amendments to the basic conflict of interest statute for local elected officials, primarily in the area of financial thresholds, but also in the area of scope of enforcement. This is an important area of the law for board members and superintendents, so a current and thorough knowledge of the…

An often-volatile economy, changing demographics, and technological innovations in educational delivery are among the dramatic changes across higher education that have forced boards and institutions to question the viability of the existing business model. Flat or declining state support in real terms, lower investment returns in some years,…

The Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) represents teachers and researchers of composition and communication in all possible genres, media, contexts, and exigencies; for the purpose of these guidelines, "writers" and "writing" will be all-encompassing, and the term "researcher" will refer to…

Reprinted herein is Chapter 14 of the "2007 Trustee Handbook," published by the Community College League of California. Contents include: (1) Ethics and Laws; (2) Sample Statements: Codes of Ethics and Standards for Practice; (3) Association of Community College Trustees Models; and (4) Upholding Board Ethics.

This guide is intended to give individual school board directors an introduction to some of the legal issues they may encounter in their board service. This material is not intended to answer every question, even in the subject matter areas they cover. This guide is merely intended to alert directors to the legal issues that they will encounter…

Out-of-school time programs can enhance academic achievement by helping students learn outside the classroom. The purpose of this practice guide is to provide recommendations for organizing and delivering school-based out-of-school time (OST) programs to improve the academic achievement of student participants. The five recommendations in this…

Government investigations into alleged conflicts of interest in student-aid programs continue and now have widened to include study-abroad programs. It seems as if almost every day the news contains reports concerning possible questionable practices by colleges and universities. In this article, the authors discuss current scandals and possible…

Nearly every legislative session in the last decade has changed state law in a way that requires school board members and superintendents to be more highly sensitized to conflict of interest issues, regardless of the size of their district. Prior state law simply forbade most opportunities for financial conflicts of interest, especially those…

When hiring a search consultant to recruit superintendent candidates, school boards must consider more than reputation and reliability. This article discusses several important considerations, including availability, possible conflicts of interest, and techniques used to construct superintendent profiles, advertise the position, and reduce the…

In Tennessee, a school board member walks into her son's school and starts asking detailed questions about school operations. Is she a concerned parent or an overly intrusive board member? In Missouri, a board member openly criticizes a policy his board colleagues have passed but that he voted against. Is he dutifully representing a constituency…

The objective of a conflicts of interest policy is to ensure that a school is obtaining goods and services at the best available price. Summarizes the requirements of a policy and explains how a "Right-to-Audit" clause in all purchase orders and contracts is a way to monitor policy adherence. (MLF)

When conflict-of-interest issues affect research programs and sponsored activities, research administrators make take several crucial roles: participant/advisor in forming, implementing, and overseeing relevant institutional policies and guidelines; counselor to develop ways of avoiding conflict-of-interest situations; and mediator-expeditor for…

This booklet offers guidelines for conflict of interest issues and disclosure for members of governing boards of institutions of higher education. It urges institutions to develop conflict-of-interest policy documents to guide decisions concerning such topics as defining what constitutes "conflict of interest"; the board's role in cases of an…

This paper presents an introduction to higher education models of ethical orientation and a series of exercises that were part of a workshop on ethics given by the Small Business Institute Directors' Association (SBIDA). Three models of ethical orientation include a self-interest orientation, with the professor solely concerned with his…

Declining federal support for scientific research has led colleges and universities to turn increasingly to business for help. Ralph Nader recently complained that business threatens to take over the university. Closer examination suggests there is a problem but somewhat different and harder to resolve than that suggested by Nader. (Author/MSE)