Toward the end of the meeting of the Committee on University Governance, UNC-system General Counsel Leslie Winner announced that she had been asked by BOG Chairman Benjamin Ruffin to investigate his own possible violation of the conflict of interest policy.
Both Winner's report and the committee concluded that Ruffin had not violated the conflict of interest policy.
Prior to Winner's report, the committee discussed amending the conflict of interest policy. The possible modifications could include requiring annual financial reports from each member, extending the BOG policy to include all university leaders and implementing sanctions for violation of the policy.
Winner went through a draft of the proposed modifications in a cramped room packed with not only members of the committee but several other BOG members and UNC-system officials.
"The purpose of this policy is to protect the University from undue influence from Board of Governors members, Board of Trustees members, top administrators and to protect the University from the appearance of undue influence," Winner said.
Current BOG policy does not contain any sanctions for violation of the policy.
"(The current policy) leaves you in a bad position," said Winner. "If you find someone is doing something inappropriate, there is nothing you can do about it."
Under the newly included sanctions, any upper-level official, including the president and all chancellors, could face punishment as strict as dismissal from their position if they are found in violation of the policy. The new policy also could require all upper-level UNC-system officials to fill out an annual disclosure of substantial financial interest form.
The updated policy will be sent to all 16 UNC-system campuses for input from those individuals. "We're going to send (the policy) to the 16 campuses and see what their comments are," said BOG member Jim Phillips. "We need to look seriously at what they send back to us."
