Ethics
Members of the FAU community should conduct themselves ethically, honestly, and with integrity in all dealings, being fair and principled in their business interactions and acting in good faith with respect to the University and its students, research sponsors, alumni, and donors. When in doubt about the propriety of a proposed course of action, seek counsel from those colleagues, supervisors, or administrators who can assist in determining the right and appropriate course.
Resources for ethical conduct can be found here:
Florida Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees
Regulation 5.011 University Ethics
Regulation 7.007 Process for Complaints of Waste, Fraud or Financial Mismanagement
Policy 8.2 Standards of Conduct
Faculty Handbook—Ethical Conduct of the University Community
Do you have an ethics concern? Please contact FAU’s Chief Compliance & Ethics Officer at 561-297-3004 or submit an anonymous report to FAU’s third party ethics hotline at www.lighthouse-services.com/fau.
Ethics Training
For FAU Ethics training, please press here and register. You must have an FAU.edu email address to register.
Standards of Conduct
The University's mission to promote academic and personal development, discovery, and lifelong learning requires all members of the FAU Community to share a commitment to excellence at all levels of the education, research, and creative experience. The University's success and reputation depends on the integrity of each and every FAU Community member.
FAU strives to foster a culture that:
- encourages and supports ethical decision-making;
- does not tolerate illegal or unethical behavior;
- addresses problems through collaboration, cooperation, and communication;
- reduces risks of non-compliance while increasing the likelihood of early detection and correction;
- enhances decision-making at all levels by raising awareness of requirements/expectations;
- enhances employee engagement to report actual or perceived violations of law or policy;
- protects FAU’s reputation by reducing the likelihood that damaging or negative events will happen; and
- minimizes the consequences of a damaging or negative event if one occurs.
With these goals in mind, FAU has developed Standards of Conduct to set forth ethical and professional principles that govern business dealings by and within the FAU Community.
For training on FAU's Standards of Conduct, please press here and register. You must have an FAU.edu email address to register.
Gifts
Relationships between members of the FAU Community and outside individuals and entities, including vendors, donors and potential business partners, must be free of any actual or perceived impropriety. Members of the FAU community should not personally accept any gift, gratuity, or other payment, in cash or in kind, from any vendor seeking to do business with FAU or currently doing business with FAU if such gift, gratuity or other payment is intended to influence their official actions or would otherwise create an appearance of impropriety. Some members of the FAU community who are reporting members are also responsible to report certain gifts to the Florida Commission on Ethics. If questions arise about the materiality of a proposed gift or gratuity, the proposed recipient should seek advice from the Office of the General Counsel or the Chief Compliance & Ethics Officer.
Resources for gifts can be found here:
Overview of Laws Relating to “Things of Value,” Gifts, and Expenditures
Policy 9.1 University Gift Solicitation and Acceptance
Conflicts of Interest
Information on conflicts of interest at FAU may be found here.