CONSENSUAL RELATIONSHIPS

The College is committed to providing a work and learning environment free from conflicts of interest and discourages romantic and sexual relationships between individuals having both a potential conflict of interest and inherent power differential.

Procedure 2130A

CONSENSUAL RELATIONSHIPS

Consensual relationships between individuals having both a potential conflict of interest and inherent power differential are discouraged. These include, but are not limited to, instructor/student, employee/student, and supervisor/supervisee consensual relationships. For consensual relationships in which one of the individuals acts as a direct supervisor of the other (e.g. evaluating performance, assigning grades, recommending for hire, promotion, termination) the relationship is strongly discouraged to avoid conflicts of interest and eliminate bias in performance and evaluation.

Definitions
Conflict of Interest: A reasonable possibility exists that the relationship may provide an unfair advantage, or disadvantage, to one or all parties of the relationship.

Consensual Relationships: Those romantic or sexual relationships in which all parties appear to have consented, but in which there is an evident potential for conflicts of interest to arise.

Inherent Power Differential: A situation in which one individual has a supervisory, teaching, evaluation, or counseling authority or relationship over another individual.

Direct Supervisor: An individual with the authority to perform any combination of evaluation (e.g. exams, performance evaluations), recommending action (e.g. hiring, termination, promotion), and executing action (e.g. performance improvement plans, assigning letter grades, provide counseling) regarding the individual with whom he or she has a consensual relationship.

Reporting
If an employee has a direct-supervisory responsibility for the individual with whom he or she is having a consensual relationship, the employee must disclose the relationship to his or her immediate supervisor and the Director of Human Resources.

All employees, as per Procedure 4210D, are required to disclose the facts of the relationship to Human Resources and/or the immediate supervisor or the appropriate Vice President if there is a possible conflict of interest. If both parties involved in a consensual relationship are employees of the College, they are individually responsible for disclosure. In cases involving students, it is the responsibility of the person of greater power to report the relationship to an appropriate supervisor and/or the Director of Human Resources.

The supervisor and Director of Human Resources shall make suitable arrangements for the objective evaluation of the student's, employee's, or prospective student’s/employee's academic or job performance and for the protection of individual and College interests.

Failure to adhere to this policy may result in disciplinary action.

Adopted June 25, 2019