The Boards of Trustees and Governors have adopted a Code of Ethics, which enumerates the standards to which Board members and employees are accountable, and disclosure requirements for potential conflicts.
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Board Members Code of Ethics
CODE OF ETHICS
Adopted January 23, 1996, amendments adopted January 24, 2006 and December 2, 2014.
COLLEGE BOARD MEMBERS
1. Application
- Article II of this code of ethics is applicable to members of the board of trustees and board of governors of the College.
- The provisions of Executive Order No. 65, signed by Acting Governor Richard J. Codey on November 15, 2005, are incorporated herein and made a part of this code of ethics
2. Definitions
When used in this Article II, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
“Board” means the board of trustees and board of governors of the College.
“College matter” means any application, award, bid, claim, contract, license, proceeding, resolution or transaction made by, to, against or with the College, or which requires any official action by the Board, officers or employees.
“Employee” means any person compensated for full or part-time employment services rendered to the College.
“Immediate family member” means the spouse, natural or adopted child, grandchild, parent or sibling of the board member.
“Interest” means any personal, financial, economic, property or other concern amounting to a right, advantage, share or portion inuring either directly or indirectly to a board member or to an immediate family member of a board member, either singly, or in affiliation with any person or party as defined herein.
“Person or party” means any natural person, association, corporation, estate, partnership, proprietorship, trust or other legal entity.
3. Duty of Loyalty and Independence
A board member’s fiduciary duty of loyalty and independence to the College includes the following:
- To diligently and honestly discharge his/her duties as a board member by attending meetings of the Board, becoming knowledgeable and informed about matters before the Board and using independent judgment to make objective decisions in the College’s best interest.
- To place the College’s interests in any transaction ahead of their personal interests, and attempt to avoid or resolve any potential conflict of interest related to any transaction.
- To exercise his or her powers as a member in the interest of the College, rather than in the member’s own self-interest or the interests of any other person or group, including the member’s appointive authority. A member taking action on a particular item must be independent, meaning that he or she can consider the issue of what is in the best interests of the College on its merits, free from any extraneous influences.
4. Duty of Confidentiality
Any information regarding the College, a College matter (as defined above), obtained by a board member in a non-public session of the Board or in a Committee meeting of the Board, or in a non-public discussion with a College officer, fellow board member or trustee, cannot be disclosed to any other party other than other board members, the President, other College administrators, if appropriate, unless the board member is authorized by the Board to do so or until such College matter becomes disclosed publicly at a public meeting of the Board or by a duly authorized officer of the College.
5. Standards of ethics
- No board member shall have any interest, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, or engage in any business or transaction or professional activity, which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of the board member’s duties to the College.
- No board member shall use his or her official position to secure unwarranted privileges or advantages for himself or herself or others.
- No board member shall act in his or her official capacity in any College matter in which the board member or an immediate family member of the board member has a direct or indirect financial interest that might reasonably be expected to impair the board member’s objectivity or independence of judgment.
- No board member shall undertake any employment or engage in any business, transaction, service or professional activity, whether compensated or not, which might be reasonably be expected to impair the board member’s objectivity or independence of judgment in the exercise of his or her official duties as board member.
- No board member shall accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, favor, service, or other things of value under circumstances from which it might be reasonably inferred, or which the board member knows or has reason to believe, is offered for the purpose of influencing the discharge of his or her duties as board member.
- No board member shall knowingly act in any way that might reasonably be expected to create an impression or suspicion among the public having knowledge of the board member’s acts, that he or she may be engaged in conduct violative of his or her trust as a public official.
- No board member, nor any member or employee of a firm or corporation with which the board member is affiliated, shall appear or negotiate on behalf of a party not affiliated with the College, in any matter before the College or in any cause or proceeding involving the College.
- No board member shall use, or allow to be used, his or her public office, or any information not generally available to members of the public, which the board member receives in the course of or by reason of the board member’s office, to secure financial gain, unwarranted privileges, advantages or employment for himself or herself, his or her immediate family members, or others with whom the board member is associated.
- A board member should devote time, thought and study to the duties and responsibilities of a College board member so as to render effective and creditable service.
- As an individual, a board member has no legal authority outside of the meetings of the Board and should conduct himself or herself accordingly with the College staff, local citizens, and all facets of the local community.
- An important function of the Board of Trustees is to establish the policies and the goals of the College and to audit the performance of the administration in the fulfillment of these policies and the progress towards the goals. However, board members should leave the conduct of the educational program and the College’s business to the President and administration of the College.
6. Disclosure of potential conflict
- At first knowledge of a transaction involving the College that reasonably could give rise to a conflict of interest, a board member shall disclose to the Board the precise nature of the interest or involvement of the board member or the board member’s immediate family member in any College matter to be considered by the Board or College administration.
- Upon notification of the appointment or reappointment of a board member, the President of the College shall provide the board member with a copy of this code of ethics. Within thirty (30) days after the organizational meeting of the Board, each board member shall file with the secretary of the Board, a form of statement specified by the Board which discloses the nature of any financial interest or business relationship which the board member has which relates to the College or which the board member is otherwise required to disclose under this code of ethics.
7. Enforcement
Violations of this code of ethics may constitute cause for removal of a board member pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:64A-55 or imposition of other sanctions determined by the Board to be appropriate.
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Employee Code of Ethics
CODE OF ETHICS
Adopted January 23, 1996, amendments adopted January 24, 2006 and December 2, 2014.
COLLEGE EMPLOYEES
1. Application
Article I of this code of ethics is applicable to employees paid from Federal, State or County funds and who are employed by the College.
2. Definitions
When used in this Article I, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
“College matter” means any application, award, bid, claim, contract, license, proceeding, resolution or transaction made by, to, against or with the College, or which requires any official action by the board, officers or employees.
“Continuing outside employment” means outside employment or business activity which requires that the employee render services, furnish goods or devote time to a business, professional practice, or to another employee or client, on a recurring basis. Continuing outside employment does not include an isolated commitment to serve as guest lecturer or a singular instance of providing service or labor. The following examples of continuing outside employment activities are illustrative of the intent of this code of ethics and are not meant to be an exhaustive listing of continuing outside employment.
- A full or part time teaching assignment at another educational institution except for a single or limited number of guest lectures.
- A clinical or professional practice (for example, in clinical psychology or law).
- Appointment as a consultant to a school district, corporation or other public or private enterprise for an indeterminate period or a period exceeding thirty (30) days even if actual time demands are intermittent.
- Operation or management of, or employment in any business enterprise.
“Employee” means any person compensated for full or part time employment services rendered to the College.
“Immediate family member” means the spouse, natural or adopted child, grandchild, parent, or sibling of the employee.
“Interest” means any personal, financial, economic property or other concern amounting to a right, advantage, share or portion inuring either directly or indirectly to an employee or to an immediate family member of an employee, either singly, or in affiliation with any person or party as defined herein.
“Person or party” means any natural person, association, corporation, estate, partnership, proprietorship, trust or other legal entity.
3. Standards of ethics
- No employee shall have any interest, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, or engage in any business or transaction or professional activity, which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of the employee’s duties to the College.
- No employee shall use his or her official position to secure unwarranted privileges or advantages for himself or herself or others.
- No employee shall act in his or her official capacity in any College matter in which the employee or an immediate family member of the employee has a direct or indirect financial interest that might reasonably be expected to impair the employee’s objectivity or independence of judgment.
- No employee shall undertake any employment or engage in any business, transaction, service or professional activity, whether compensated or not, which might reasonably be expected to impair the employee’s objectivity or independence of judgment in the exercise of his or her official duties to the College.
- No employee shall accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, favor, service, or other thing of value under circumstances from which it might be reasonably inferred, or which the employee knows or has reason to believe, is offered for the purpose of influencing the employee in the discharge of his or her duties to the College.
- No employee shall knowingly act in any way that might reasonably be expected to create an impression or suspicion among the public having knowledge of the employee’s acts, that he or she may be engaged in conduct violative of his or her trust as a public employee.
- No employee shall appear on behalf of a party not affiliated with the College, in any matter before the College or in a proceeding involving the College before other public agencies. Nothing contained herein shall preclude an employee from appearing on behalf of a student, employee, or employee organization of the College.
- No employee shall use, or allow to be used, his or her public office or employment, or any information not generally available to members of the public, which the employee receives in the course of or by reason of the employee’s office or employment, to secure financial gain, unwarranted privileges, advantages or employment for himself or herself, his or her immediate family members, or others with whom the employee is associated
- The primary work obligation of a full-time employee of the College is to the College. No full-time employee of the College shall engage in continuing outside employment unless the College first determines that the continuing outside employment does not:
- constitute a conflict of interest;
- occur at a time when the employee is expected to perform his or her assigned duties;
- diminish the employee’s efficiency in performing his or her primary work obligation at the College.
All continuing outside employment of a full-time employee of the College during the regular work year must have the prior and continuing written approval of the President of the College or his/her designee. Where approval is sought for continuing outside part-time employment at another public institution or agency, the approval of the College may be conditioned upon an agreement to apportion the employee’s full-time salary between the public employers.
- Permissible Outside Employment
- This code of ethics shall not preclude outside employment undertaken by a full-time employee during his or her annual leave or vacation periods, provided that the outside employment does not constitute a conflict of interest.
- This code of ethics shall not apply to outside employment as defined in N.J.S.A. 18A:6-8.1 and 18A:6-8.2 provided the same is reported as required by section 5 of this code of ethics.
- Reporting continuing outside employment
- A full-time employee of the College shall annually report in writing all continuing outside employment as defined in Section 2 to the Vice President of the division of the College in which the employee serves. In advance of undertaking continuing outside employment, a full-time employee shall report the intention and seek approval from the President of the College or his/her designee. For all continuing outside employment for which approval has previously been obtained, the employee shall file a status report with the approval officer at the beginning of each succeeding fiscal year during which he or she intends to continue the outside employment.
- Reporting of continuing outside employment shall be made by completing the form prescribed by the College. The form shall contain sufficient specific information to allow the approval officer to determine the times when the employee intends to engage in continuing outside employment, and that if permitted, the outside employment will not:
- constitute a conflict of interest;
- occur at a time when the employee is expected to perform his or her assigned duties;
- diminish the employee’s efficiency in performing his or her primary work obligation at the College.
- The reporting form shall contain the following:
- Name of full-time employee;
- The dates and hours the planned continuing outside employment will be performed;
- Name and address of part-time employer;
- Type of part-time work to be performed; and
- Licenses or other governmental authorization necessary to perform the planned continuing outside employment.