Curators discuss conflicts policy

The UM system Board of Curators met for the first time Thursday to plan a conflict of interest policy for members of the board. The policy, if approved, would require curators and immediate family members to disclose their finances to the university.

By Jedd Rosche

Published April 14, 2006

The UM system Board of Curators met for the first time Thursday to plan a conflict of interest policy for members of the board. The policy, if approved, would require curators and immediate family members to disclose their finances to the university.

The board agreed in July to develop and institute a conflict of interest policy, which would decide how the board should act if a curator has personal interests that might conflict with his or her role on the board.

UM system spokesman Joe Moore said the board made the decision to have the meeting and that there was no outside pressure to create the policy.

"This is an initiative by the board to ensure that all interactions are as straightforward as possible," Moore said.

All but Curator Thomas Atkins, who is from Columbia, attended the meeting through a conference call. Curator Doug Russell did not take part in the meeting.

Moore said this was the first time the board's conflict of interest committee — Curators Marion Cairns, John Carnahan and Anne Ream — met to work on the new proposal.

Moore said the board hoped to finalize the policy by its May 4 and 5 meetings in St. Louis.

"A draft with changes will be brought before the board in May," Moore said.

He said though the agenda for the May meeting has not been finalized, he expected the board to vote on it then.

UM system General Counsel Bunky Wright presented a draft of the conflict of interest policy to the board. Wright said he drafted the policy based on models from other Big 12 schools, including the University of Colorado and the University of Nebraska. He said he also referenced the University of California system's policy.

The board also discussed the possibility of adding an "institutional neutrality clause," which would state that the university is without political affiliation. Curators Ream, Cairns and Angela Bennett expressed support for including the clause.

"These are not supposed to be political issues," Ream said. "You'll have to leave those at the door."

But several curators, including Carnahan, said institutional neutrality should not be included in a conflict of interest policy. Carnahan did not specify whether he supported the content of the clause or including it in another policy.

By the end of the meeting, the curators decided to vote on a separate neutrality act at its May meeting.

The curators also approved changes to the draft regarding curators' family members that expanded the conflict of interest policy to include spouses, siblings and all children, including those who are adults. Wright's proposal did not include non-dependent children and siblings.

"It should not just be dependent children, but all children," Bennett said.

Bennett also asked if the siblings of spouses could be included with the policy, but the alteration received little support from the rest of the board.

The board also decided to specify in the conflict of interest policy the amount of time a curator would have to wait before becoming an employee of the university after leaving the board. If the policy is approved, curators would have to wait two years before taking a job within the UM system. Curators are not paid.

Wright said curators would be able to act as independent contractors for the university.

Carnahan also said the policy would include an exemption for professors. In the event that a professor — while a faculty member employed by the UM system — was appointed to a curator position, then he or she could return to teach uninterrupted at the end of his or her term on the board.