Nepotism

Memo to:	All UH-Downtown/PS Holders	UH-Downtown/PS 02.A.03
From:	Max Castillo, President	Issue No. 8
Subject:	Nepotism Policy	Effective Date: 8/9/99

	1 PURPOSE
	1.1 This PS explains the nepotism and related employment policies of the University of Houston-Downtown. It conforms to the policy approved by the University of Houston System Board of Regents for the University of Houston System and all of its component campuses.
	1.2.This policy has been developed to avoid possible conflict of interest which could result from related persons exercising peer judgement or administrative review of matters pertaining to employment, retention, promotion, or salary determination.

	2. DEFINITIONS
	A "relative" is defined as follows: 2.1"First degree of affinity" includes the spouse of the employee and the parents, children, and brothers and sisters of the employee's spouse; 2.2"Second degree of affinity" includes the grandchildren, nephews and nieces, uncles and aunts, grandmothers and grandfathers, and first cousins of the employee's spouse; 2.3"First degree of consanguinity" includes the father and mother, sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters of the employee; 2.4 "Second degree of consanguinity" includes the grandfathers and grandmothers, uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces, grandsons and granddaughters, and first cousins of the employee; 2.5 "Third degree of consanguinity" includes the great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers, great-uncles and great-aunts, great-nephews and great-nieces, great-grandsons and great-granddaughters, and second cousins of the employee; and 2.6 Persons related by marriage to the employee's relatives.

	3. POLICY/PROCEDURES
	3.1 Relatives of members of the Board of Regents and Presidents may not be employed by the University of Houston System or its component campuses, unless the employment took place two years prior to the appointment of the board member or president.
	3.2 Relatives of presidents may not be employed on the campus where the president is the administrative officer.
	3.3 Relatives of vice chancellors and vice presidents may not be employed on the campus or in the system office where the vice chancellor or the vice president is an administrative officer if the vice chancellor or the vice president must approve promotion or salary recommendations concerning such employee.
	3.4 Relatives may not be employed in a supervisory-subordinate relationship by the University of Houston System or its component campuses. If two employees within the University of Houston System or its component campuses marry, both may not continue to hold such positions beyond the specific appointment period if the continued employment of the married persons violates the supervisory-subordinate relationship policy.
	3.5 The provision of the nepotism policy applies to all programs administered under the University of Houston System regardless of funding source(s) of the programs.
	3.6 This policy in no way affects the fundamental provisions of equal employment opportunity at the University of Houston System and its component campuses.
	3.7 The responsibility for checking all new hires to ascertain that all who are hired at the UHD meet the requirements of the university's nepotism policy is as follows:
	Responsible Administrator	Category of Employee
	Vice President for Academic Affairs	Faculty
	Assistant Vice President of Human Resources	Non-faculty, non-students
	Director of Financial Aid	Students
	3.8 The Assistant Vice President of Human Resources and Affirmative Action is responsible for interpreting the UH-Downtown nepotism policy.
	3.9 Decisions of the Assistant Vice President of Human Resources may be appealed to the Vice President for Administration.
	3.10 The Assistant Vice President of Human Resources and Affirmative Action is responsible for including the university's nepotism policy in the faculty and staff manual.
	3.11 The Dean of Student Affairs is responsible for including a reference to the University's nepotism, policy in the student handbook.

	4. REVIEW AND RESPONSIBILITIES
	Responsible Party (Reviewer): Vice President for Administration Review: Biennial Signed original on file in the Human Resource Department .
	Policy History Issue #1: 8/11/81 Issue #2: 8/11/83 Issue #3: 10/19/84 Issue #4: 5/15/85 Issue #5: 6/11/86 Issue #6: 9/15/88 Issue #7: 12/20/94

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