Expectation of Honesty Policy

The mission of the University can only be carried out with the expectation of honesty and trust with respect to University employees. All employees are expected to perform assigned duties, conducting themselves at all times when working for or representing the University in any setting, with complete honesty, to the best of one’s knowledge in all instances, exemplified by but not limited to the following instances:

• Honesty is expected in the presentation of any materials, memoranda, or electronic or paper written communications, or oral communication in the course of applying for a university position or in the course of doing one’s job, including attention to issues of plagiarism and accuracy in completion of a timesheet;
• Honesty and trustworthiness are expected in all matters of work including oral and written communication and general work relationships with others, including where required, honesty in reporting work arrival times and departure times, and other attendance issues;
• Total trust is expected with respect to the privacy of papers, documents, belongings, etc., even if in plain view, in a workspace normally designated for an individual’s use. An employee, as a sole user of a workspace in an office or other work environment can reasonably expect that materials left in that workspace will not be read, moved, or in any way accessed by anyone else except for safety or work-related reasons;
• Respect is expected for the ownership of any property by the university or any member of the community, including an understanding that any item for which ownership can not be identified should be reported to the appropriate party [i.e. a Lost & Found location, or, if no other reporting location is clear, to the Office of Security & Safety];
• Employees are expected to respect expectations of confidentiality of information received;
• Each employee is expected to respect the privacy of the interaction of individuals, even if s/he might, inadvertently, become privy to such interactions;
• Employees are expected to adhere to and comply with, to the best of one’s knowledge, other applicable university policies such as [but not exclusive to] the Acceptable Use Policy, and the Use of University Resources Policy;

Any intentional falsification, lying, or untrue oral, written, or other communication using any means of communication will be considered dishonest behavior. Behaviors that will be considered as violating this expectation of honesty may result in discipline up to and including termination. SS 11.08