Conflicts of interest arise when the individuals’ responsibilities towards certain research projects cross with their personal interests or responsibilities. Definitions of the term “Conflicts of interest” often stress on the incidences where the academic staff or the employees may have abused their positions in the institute for their personal or private benefit or to the advantage of friends or family members.
All academic staff and employees should owe their primary professional loyalty to BAU, and their primary commitment of time and intellectual efforts should be to education and research at BAU. The detailed responsibilities and professional activities that constitute an appropriate and primary commitment are clearly explained in the job description for every post at BAU.
All academic staff and employees’ endeavors to balance between their University responsibilities and external activities, such as consultation and public service can result in conflicts regarding allocation of time and energy. Such incidents are referred to as “conflicts of commitment” which usually involve issues of time allocation. If a situation that raises questions of about a possible conflict of commitment arises, academic staff or employees should discuss the situation with their Department head, Faculty Dean, or the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. Conflict of interest policies address situations and circumstances in which a Faculty member's personal interests are, or can appear to be, in conflict with the institution's interest.
Those individuals who have a conflict of interest or think they may have a conflict, are required to disclose the conflict/potential conflict, and are to be prohibited, as council members or members in any BAU committee, from voting on any matter in which there is conflict. The council or committee members are then to decide on how to manage the conflict.
Violation of any part of this policy or failure to resolve a conflict of interest may inflict penalty on the concerned Faculty member, such as discipline or termination of contract.It is important to point out that any external activity of the academic staff or employees is not to have a negative impact on BAU.
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