President

RESPONSIBLE OFFICE

Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

POLICY STATEMENT

All members of the University of Minnesota community are expected to adhere to the highest ethical standards of professional conduct and integrity. The values we hold among ourselves to be essential to responsible professional behavior include: honesty, trustworthiness, respect and fairness in dealing with other people, a sense of responsibility toward others and loyalty toward the ethical principles espoused by the institution. Additionally, all members of the University community are responsible for adherence to University policies and procedures and are expected to comply with State and Federal laws. It is important that these values and the tradition of ethical behavior be consistently demonstrated, and carefully maintained.

The following guidelines relate to activities involved in interacting professionally with students, colleagues, and members of the public, in creating scholarly products or works of art, in both acquiring and using data and in managing finances.

Guidelines for Activities

Members of the University community have the obligation to respect and to be fair to all members of the community, especially students and those persons under their supervision, and to foster their intellectual and professional growth. Members of the University community must not engage in, nor permit, discrimination and harassment. Intellectual freedom must be supported and persons must not abuse the authority they have been given. Furthermore, care must be taken to ensure that any personal relationships do not result in situations that might interfere with objective judgment.

Work place and educational experiences must impart appropriate standards of professional conduct through instruction and example. Members of the University community are expected to conscientiously fulfill their obligations toward students, toward advisees, toward colleagues and toward performing their duties as part of the University community.

All members of the University community are expected to understand and comply with laws and regulations related to their work. Administrators and supervisors are expected to see that those who report to them are informed about, understand and comply with regulations such as those for health and safety in the workplace, including the procedures to assure the ethical treatment of human subjects and animals and the use of hazardous materials. Those involved in the maintenance of private personnel and student data have the obligation to fully comply with the MN Government Data Practices Act.

Authorship

In an academic environment we continually seek after knowledge and understanding and must transmit our findings faithfully. All authors on a published work are responsible for the accuracy and fairness of the presented information. All creators of scholarly products or works of art guarantee the originality of their work and the provision of credit for the ideas of others upon whom their work is built.

It is expected that individuals be considered for inclusion as authors on work submitted for publication if they have contributed substantially intellectually to the work. Special care must be taken to clarify authorship with entry level professional persons such as graduate students, post doctoral fellows and trainees, preferably before the work is begun. It is inappropriate to include individuals as authors if they contributed only peripherally to the work, e.g., providing lab space, equipment or funding; being involved in patient care; providing patient samples; or having a supervisory position.

Peer Review

Any material received to review for funding or publication is confidential and the ideas contained therein must not be used in any other manner by the reviewer unless specifically permitted.

Data Collection and Management

Falsification, fabrication and unacknowledged appropriation of the data of others is unethical and will not be tolerated. At the outset of any research project all participants are expected to discuss and agree upon data management and access and retention procedures including procedures for having participants join or leave the project. Privacy of collected data and rights to intellectual property must be protected. Student rights to data are expected to be clearly specified.

All documentation necessary to reconstruct investigations is expected to be available and data is to be recorded in a timely and consistent manner.

Fiscal Responsibilities

Members of the University community must not accept money for research or gifts on behalf of the University or as part of their University activities except as prescribed by University policy. All funds provided for research are expected to be spent in ways consistent with the funding documents and in compliance with the guidelines on allowable costs. The University has the obligation to provide up-to-date records of financial transactions. Individuals in charge of budgets have an obligation to monitor records of expenditures for compliance with University policies and procedures and to allow these records to be viewed by appropriate parties. Departmental files are the property of the University.

REASON FOR POLICY

To demonstrate the University's commitment to the highest standards of professional conduct.

WHO SHOULD KNOW THIS POLICY

All members of the University community have the obligation to learn about and adhere to the principles embodied in this policy while the University has the obligation to provide the opportunities necessary to assure awareness.

RELATED INFORMATION

Several other University policies are related to this one. These include, among others: Academic Misconduct, Conflict of Interest, Faculty and Staff-Grievance Procedure, Sexual Assault, Campus Health and Safety. On-line access to these policies is provided through the University's web site.

CONTACTS

The main contact is the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. In addition information can be obtained from the Office of the General Counsel, Chancellors, Provosts, Deans, Department Heads, and Directors.