A.  The Board of Trustees of Central Wyoming College (CWC or college) and its employees are committed to conducting themselves with the highest standards of integrity. Such high standards are critical to promote public trust and confidence in CWC, as CWC does rely heavily on the benevolence of public and private entities. The collective reputation of the college is an irreplaceable foundation for that generosity.
B.  This procedure establishes the basis for which CWC intends to protect the credibility and reputation of CWC and its employees by providing a transparent system of disclosure, approval, and documentation of employee activities outside CWC that might otherwise raise concerns about conflicts of interest. It is essential to the college and its employees that the possibility or appearance of conflicts of interest be disclosed, considered, and approved, minimized or eliminated.
C.  This procedure outlines the employee ’s responsibilities related to conflicts of interest and applies to all employees of the college. For the purpose of this procedure, CWC Board of Trustees members are not considered employees (see Policy IV.D. GOVERNING STYLE/ETHICS for the policy relating to board members).
D.  See also procedure 7.9.1 Employee Code of Ethics.
 

A.  Employees of CWC are the individuals of the college workforce, including but not limited to: all administrators, faculty and staff (full-time, part-time, adjunct, temporary, interim, and probationary); all student employees; and all contract employees/consultants (those failing to meet the IRS definition of independent contractors/consultants). This term, specifically for the purposes of this procedure, includes the college president.
B.  A potential conflict of interest occurs when there is a divergence between the individual and their professional responsibility to the college, such that a reasonable person might reasonably question that the individual’s actions or decisions are determined by consideration of personal gain (financial or otherwise), or the gain of any family member or any associated entity as they may relate to college programs, use of facilities or use of external and internal funds.

C.  A conflict of interest is a situation in which a CWC employee might personally or financially benefit or appear to benefit from a decision made in their official capacity that could affect the design, content, conduct, reporting, participation and/or outcomes of college business: 

1.  Financially - when it is reasonable to conclude that a significant personal financial interest could be affected; or
2.  Personally in some non-financial way.

D.  A CWC employee has a significant personal financial interest if the employee has direct knowledge or knowledge indirectly through business, investment or immediate family, of:

1.  An ownership or investment interest of $5,000 or greater in an external entity (Except investments in mutual funds whose stock may include equity in publicly traded companies such that the individual’s pro rata holdings are greater than $5,000, but where the individual does not have knowledge that their individual pro rata holdings in a company have a value of $5,000 or greater) or an ownership or investment interest exceeding 5% of the total interest in an external entity.
2.  Any compensation arrangement with an external entity including any intellectual property rights such as patents, copyrights and royalties from such rights. See procedures 3.14 Ownership of Copyrightable Materials, 7.8.7 Receiving Payment for Tutoring, 7.9.8 Employee Guidelines, Outside Employment and Activities, and 7.9.13 Public Service Compensation.

E.  Immediate family, for the purpose of this procedure, includes spouse/domestic partner, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers and sisters, and the immediate family members (parents, brothers and sisters, and children) of spouses/domestic partner, persons who receive financial support of more than 25% of their annual income, and persons claimed as a dependent for federal income tax purposes. “Spouse/domestic partner” includes those persons with a legal marriage or domestic partner relationship as well as those involved in a relationship that is characterized by cohabitation, permanence, duration, and stability.

A.  All CWC employees shall treat their position with the college as a public trust. Employees shall conduct themselves in a manner that justifies the confidence placed in them by the college community, the college’s service area, and the State of Wyoming, and at all times maintains the integrity and discharges ethically the high responsibilities of public service.
B.  A potential conflict of interest may make it difficult or impossible for an employee to perform their employment-related duties effectively or to act in the college’s best interests. Thus, all employees must disclose in writing any potential conflict(s) of interest to the college to seek determination if it is in fact a conflict of interest. The college might be required to disclose to third parties compliance with this procedure. For example, some federal grants require the college to certify that any Principal Investigator (PI) of an awarded grant, or the proposed PI in a grant application, is complying with this procedure. The employee will always be informed when such a disclosure to a third party is done.
C.  Conflicts of interest may include, but are not limited to:

­­­­1.  Requesting, receiving, or offering an employee, any money, thing of value, favor or promise that is conditioned upon or given in exchange for promised performance of the employee’s college duties or responsibilities. See also procedure 7.9.10 Personal Activities and Gifts.
2.  Engaging in any outside work-related action directly affecting the employee’s personal financial interest when the employee believes, or should have reason to believe, that their personal financial interest will be directly affected by the employee’s college job performance.
3.  Receiving outside compensation for any service that relates to the performance of their college duties unless approved in advance as detailed in the implementing process for this procedure.
4.  Selling, offering to sell, coercing the sale of, or being a party to a transaction to sell goods or services, directly, or indirectly through the employee’s immediate family or business in which the employee has a significant personal financial interest, to anyone the employee supervises. 
5.  Receiving a commission or otherwise profiting from the sale or a transaction to sell goods or services by a third party to the college or to anyone the employee supervises. 

D.  The college shall not enter into a contract (other than the employee’s employment contract, if one) with an employee or with a business in which the employee, or the immediate family of the employee, has a significant personal financial interest, unless the employee has disclosed to their supervisor that interest and unless the contract is awarded pursuant to a competitive process. A person negotiating or executing a contract on behalf of the college shall exercise due diligence to comply with the provisions of this section.
E.  The college shall not accept a bid or proposal from a person who directly participated in the preparation of specifications, qualifications or evaluation criteria on which the specific competitive bid or proposal was based. A person accepting a bid or proposal on behalf of the college shall exercise due diligence to ensure compliance with this section.
F.  All employees shall adhere to the provisions of procedures 6.2 Expenditure of College Funds and 6.3 Bid Policy and Requirements.
G.  If an employee becomes aware that a conflict of interest or a potential conflict of interest exists, that employee must disclose in writing that conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest to the college by following the implementing process for this procedure. If the president is the college employee with the conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest, s/he must disclose that conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest to the chair of the CWC Board of Trustees.
H.  Only the college president (or board chair if the employee is the president), or designee, can make the final determination that a conflict of interest does or does not exist. Prior to making that determination, the president will seek the recommendation of all supervisors in the line of supervision between the employee and the president.  The president will also determine that, if a conflict of interest exists, does it adversely affect the college.  If the president determines that both a conflict of interest exists and has an adverse impact to the college, the employee and the president, or the president’s designee, shall work to eliminate the conflict of interest. Remedies may include but are not limited to:

1.  The college altering the duties of the employee to remove decision making authority that leads to the conflict of interest; 
2.  The employee ceasing the activity that leads to the conflict of interest; 
3.  The activity being coordinated and/or managed by the CWC Foundation to avoid the conflict of interest with the college;
4.  The employee leaving employment by the college; or
5.  Any other remedy the college president determines eliminates the conflict of interest.

I.  An employee who violates this procedure may be subject to corrective action or disciplinary action up to, and including, termination for just cause. The discipline imposed will depend on the severity of the violation and the circumstances of the situation.