The UNC
Policy Manual
300.5.2
Adopted
02/12/93
Amended
03/07/08
Amended04/11/14
The
Board of Governors adopts the following policy for University employees
concerning candidacy for and holding public office (elective and
appointive).
I. This
policy applies to all University employees who are exempt from the State
Personnel Act (Chapter 126 of the General Statutes) pursuant to G.S. 126-5(c1).[1]
A. Employee Responsibilities. An employee who intends to become a candidate
for election or appointment to any public office, or to hold any public office,
is responsible for knowing and complying with the policy set forth herein, in
addition to any other applicable policies, regulations, and guidelines
including, but not limited to, policies and regulations concerning Political
Activities of Employees, Conflict of Interest and Commitment, and External
Professional Activities for Pay.
B. Campus Responsibilities. Each chancellor must assure that employees
understand well in advance both the procedures to be followed in pursuing, as
well as the possible employment implications of their involvement, in political
candidacy and public officeholding. Such
measures shall include: (1) publication of a notice, of the type established by
the president, to be included in documents that prescribe the terms and
conditions of employment for each category of covered University employment,
e.g., faculty handbooks and/or tenure policies, employment manuals for
nonfaculty employees (employees subject to the State Personnel Act are not
covered by the policy); and (2) distribution in advance of each pending
political season, of reminders of policy requirements to which employees are
subject. This reminder may be
distributed electronically, by paper, or other methods.
C. Definitions. The definitions set forth in subpart I.B.
of Section 300.5.1 of the UNC Policy Manual are incorporated herein by
reference. In addition, for purposes of
this policy:
1.
“Appointive
public office” means a public office filled or obtained by means other than an
election.
2.
"Compensation which is more than nominal" means with
reference to part-time public office (other than membership in the General
Assembly) actual annual compensation or expected annual compensation, whichever
is greater, in excess of $10,000, excluding direct reimbursements for expenses
incurred by the office holder incident to holding office, whether such expenses
are calculated on a per diem basis or on an actual-expense basis.
3.
“Conflict of interest” means situations in which financial or
other personal considerations,
circumstances, or relationships may compromise, may involve the potential for
compromising, or may have the appearance of compromising a
employee’s objectivity in fulfilling their University duties or
responsibilities, including research, service, and teaching activities and
administrative duties.
4.
“Conflict of commitment” relates to an individual's distribution
of time and effort between obligations to University employment and
participation in other activities outside of University employment. A conflict
of commitment occurs when the pursuit of such outside activities involves an
inordinate investment of time or is conducted at a time that interferes with
the employee’s fulfillment of University employment responsibilities.
5.
“Elective public office” means a public office filled or obtained
through the results of an election.
6.
“EPA nonfaculty employee” means an individual who is employed in a
position covered by Section 300.2.1 of the UNC Policy Manual.
7.
“Full-time employee” means an individual who is employed by the
University at least three-quarter (3/4) time, including faculty who are
employed on a nine-month per calendar year basis.
8.
“Major public office” means (a) any public office requiring
full-time service, regardless of the amount of compensation; (b) any public
office requiring service on a part-time basis for which the compensation is
more than nominal; and (c) membership in the North Carolina General Assembly.
9.
“Minor public office” means any public office that is not a major
public office.
10.
“Part-time employee” means an individual who is employed but who
is not a full- time employee.
11.
“Public office" means any
national, state, or local governmental position of public trust and
responsibility, whether elective or appointive, which is created, prescribed,
or recognized by constitution, statute, or ordinance (other than within the University
of North Carolina).
12.
“Senior academic and administrative officer (SAAO)” means an
individual who is employed in a Tier I or Tier II position covered by Section
300.1.1 of the UNC Policy Manual.
II. Minor Public Offices. An employee who assumes, or becomes a
candidate for election to, a minor public office shall be subject to the
requirements of this subpart.
A. No
Presumption of Conflict of Commitment. The candidacy by an employee for election
to a minor public office, or the assumption by an employee of a minor public
office, whether appointive or elective, is presumed not to create a
conflict of commitment with respect to the responsibilities owed by the
employee to the University.
B. Resolution
of Potential Conflicts in Particular Cases.
If the president (with respect to senior academic and administrative
officers (SAAO) and employees of General Administration) or the chancellor
(with respect to other employees of the constituent institution, other than
senior academic and administrative officers) believes that a material conflict
of commitment may exist in a particular case, the president or the chancellor
may direct the employee subject to this subpart to submit a petition in
accordance with subpart III.B. of this policy, and refer the petition to either
the Board of Governors or the appropriate board of trustees for resolution.
C. Prompt
Reporting of Payments Required. An
employee who files as a candidate for or intends to assume or accept appointment
to a public office subject to this subpart must file promptly with his or her
immediate supervisor a written statement setting forth the amount of any
payments to which the holder of such office is entitled as officeholder.
III. Major Public
Offices. An employee who assumes, or
becomes a candidate for election to, any major public office shall be subject
to the requirements of this subpart.
A. Conflict
of Commitment Presumed. An employee who
assumes, or announces his or her candidacy for election to, a major public office, is presumed to create a
conflict of commitment that interferes with the employee’s satisfactory
performance of University employment obligations. That presumption is irrebuttable
with respect to any full-time employee who assumes any full-time public
office. Such conflicts shall be addressed as
follows:
1. Candidacy for major
public office. An employee shall resolve
conflicts about candidacy in advance of becoming a candidate by:
a. Resigning from University
employment; or
b. Submitting
a petition in accordance with subpart III.B., in which the employee (1)
requests and is granted an appropriate unpaid leave of absence from University
employment; or (2) rebuts the presumption of conflict by demonstrating to the
satisfaction of the University that there in fact will be no conflict between
campaign activity and University employment.
If the employee by petition is able to establish to the satisfaction of
the University that, contrary to the presumption, such candidacy in fact will
not create a conflict of commitment which interferes with responsibilities owed
the University, the resignation requirement shall not be applicable. If consistent with the presumption the
resignation requirement is found to be applicable, the employee may be granted
a full or partial leave of absence from University employment, with
corresponding suspension of or reduction in pay, to be coextensive with the
period of candidacy.
2. Service in full-time public office by full-time
employees.
a. Full-time public office. Upon assuming any public office
requiring full-time service, a full-time employee will be deemed to have
resigned his or her University employment, unless prior to assuming office the
full-time employee submits a petition in accordance with subpart III.B.,
through which the employee requests and is granted a full leave of absence,
without pay. Such a leave of absence may
be granted at the option of the University if it is deemed practicable by the
University and may not exceed two years in any case.
b. Part-time
public office for which compensation is more than nominal; membership in the
General Assembly. Upon assuming
part-time public office for which the compensation is more than nominal, or
upon assuming office as a member of the General Assembly, a full-time employee
must resign from University employment, unless prior to assuming office such
employee submits a petition in accordance with subpart III.B., through which
the employee: (1) requests and is granted an appropriate leave of absence; or
(2) rebuts the presumption of conflict by demonstrating that there in fact will
be no conflict between officeholding and University employment. If the employee by petition is able to
establish to the satisfaction of the University that, contrary to the
presumption, holding such public office in fact will not create a conflict of
commitment which interferes with responsibilities owed the University, the
resignation requirement shall not be applicable. If consistent with the presumption the
resignation requirement is found to be applicable, the employee may, if deemed
practicable by the University, be granted a full or partial leave of absence
from University employment, with corresponding suspension of or reduction in
pay, applicable to the period for public service. If a full leave of absence is deemed
necessary and is granted, it shall not exceed two years in any case. If a partial leave of absence is deemed
necessary and is granted, the period of leave shall be at the discretion of the
University.
3. Service in public office by
part-time employees.
a. Full-time public office; membership
in the General Assembly. Upon assuming full-time public office, or upon
assuming office as a member of the General Assembly, a part-time employee must
resign from University employment, unless prior to assuming office such
employee submits a petition in accordance with subpart III.B., through which
the employee: (1) requests and is granted an appropriate leave of absence; or
(2) rebuts the presumption of conflict by demonstrating that there in fact will
be no conflict between officeholding and University employment. If the employee by petition is able to
establish to the satisfaction of the University that, contrary to the
presumption, holding such public office in fact will not create a conflict of commitment
which interferes with responsibilities owed the University, the resignation
requirement shall not be applicable. If
consistent with the presumption the resignation requirement is found to be
applicable, the employee may, if deemed practicable by the University, be
granted a full or partial leave of absence from University employment, with
corresponding suspension of or reduction in pay, applicable to the period for
public service. If a full leave of
absence is deemed necessary and is granted, it shall not exceed two years in
any case. If a partial leave of absence
is deemed necessary and is granted, the period of leave shall be at the
discretion of the University.
b. Part-time
public office for which compensation is more than nominal. A part-time employee who assumes a part-time
public office for which compensation is more than nominal shall be subject to
the requirements of subpart II of this policy.
B. Petition. Prior to assuming a major public office, or
announcing his or her candidacy for election to a major public office, an employee
shall submit a petition using the form/format prescribed by the president.
1. Submission and
resolution of petitions.
a. Petitions
by senior academic and administrative officers, and by all other employees if
the petition concerns candidacy for or service in the General Assembly, shall
be addressed to and resolved by the Board of Governors,[2]
shall be transmitted through the president, and shall be accompanied by a
recommendation from the appropriate chancellor in any case pertaining to an
institutional employee. If the petition
pertains to a chancellor, it shall be accompanied by a recommendation of the
board of trustees.
b. Petitions
by University employees other than senior academic and administrative officers,
with the exception of petitions concerning candidacy for the General Assembly,
shall be addressed to and resolved by the appropriate board of trustees and
shall be transmitted through the chancellor. With respect to each such decision
rendered by a board of trustees, the chancellor shall transmit to the Committee
on University Governance of the Board of Governors a report, containing such
information as the committee may specify, concerning the action of the board of
trustees.
2. Timely presentation of petitions. An employee shall file a petition well in
advance of the period of employment that would be affected by assuming major
public office or announcing candidacy for major public office. The petition should be filed in accordance
with the timeframes set forth in regulations established by the president,
except where the president (for petitions under III.B.1.a.) or the chancellor
(for petitions under III.B.1.b.) determines that filing the petition in
accordance with the deadline is impracticable and that the University’s
interests will not be materially impaired by a later filing.
a. Candidacy
for public office. With respect to an
employee who intends to announce as a candidate in a race that requires a May
primary contest, any petition submitted to rebut the presumption of conflict of
commitment should ordinarily be filed with the appropriate governing board by
no later than November 1 in the year preceding the May primary election. With respect to an employee who intends to stand
for election in November, any such petition should ordinarily be filed with the
appropriate governing board by no later than July 1 of the election year.
b. Appointment
to public office. The advance notice
provided to the prospective appointee is frequently not sufficient to permit
compliance with the petition schedule established by the Board. Accordingly, subject to all other board
requirements controlling public officeholding, if circumstances do not permit a
prospective appointee to file a required petition on the schedule otherwise
prescribed for prospective office holders, the petition may be submitted to and
resolved by the officer or agency responsible for the class of employment of
which the petitioner is a member, viz., the president for senior academic and
administrative officers, and the chancellor for faculty and EPA nonfaculty
personnel. In such cases, however, it
remains University policy that the prospective appointee will lose University
employment if he or she assumes the appointive office before receiving an
affirmative response from the alternative decision-maker. Thus, even under this
expedited procedure, in some cases the prospective appointee may have to defer
acceptance of the appointment beyond the normal starting date for the public
office. When this alternative procedure
is used, the chancellor in each instance shall report the action taken to the
Committee on University Governance through the president.
3. Showings necessary to rebut
presumption of conflict. An employee who wishes to
campaign for or assume a major public office and simultaneously maintain his or
her full-time University employment must demonstrate that, contrary to the
presumption established by the policy, no conflict of commitment in fact will
occur.
For purposes
of this policy it is assumed that each University employee, including members
of the faculty, is obligated to be on duty for a minimum eight-hour day and forty-hour
week. In conventional employment
contexts, entailing a standard eight-hour workday, an employee will be expected
to limit campaign and office-holding activities to evenings and weekends in
order to satisfy employment obligations.
Faculty members, however, typically follow schedules that vary from day
to day and, indeed, from week to week in accruing their forty or more hours per
week of employment activity. Such
variety reflects, among other factors, their scheduled teaching and counseling hours,
the demands of their research projects, the time dedicated to classroom
preparation, the requirements of institutional service through committee
memberships, and study and travel associated with contributions to the
profession, as in visiting lectureships, professional meetings, and reviews of
the work of other scholars and programs. Thus, there is no "standard workday"
among the professoriate. The need for
flexibility in scheduling the component faculty endeavors of teaching,
research, and service is universally recognized. Yet, for purposes of this board policy
certain shared assumptions must be identified to help quantify employment
obligations.
Unless there
is clear demonstration to the contrary, it will be assumed that the work day
for professors is the conventional one that falls between the hours of 8 a.m.
and 5 p.m. However, an individual
faculty member may seek to demonstrate that his or her full-time employment
schedule for a given semester in fact does not or need not conform to the presumed
norm and, accordingly, that times other than evenings and weekends properly
would be available for campaign activity. Thus, a petition to the governing board in
support of efforts to rebut the presumption of conflict would have to begin
with a representation about what basic periods of time would be devoted to
campaigning and why such a proposed schedule would not conflict with the forty
or more hours per week of his or her University job. The unalterable premise is that the employee
must meet the full requirements of employment while campaigning or serving in
office, not that he or she will be permitted to reduce in any way his or her
full-time University service in order to engage in candidacy for or service in
public office. A satisfactory showing
therefore must quantify the distribution of time between employment time and
personal time devoted to candidacy and officeholding, as required in the
petition form prescribed by the president.
C. Conditions Imposed Incident to
Permitting Maintenance of Full-Time Employment. If the governing board determines that an
employee has successfully rebutted the presumption of conflict, the permission
to continue full-time University employment during service in or candidacy for
public office may need to be attended by special conditions. For example, the employee may be required to
maintain a daily log of time devoted to campaign activity, subject to periodic
inspection by the employee's supervisor. By way of further example, in arranging the
division of time between University duties and campaigning or officeholding, a
member of the instructional faculty should not be permitted to reschedule class
meeting times or office hours for counseling students, if students thereby
would be inconvenienced. In summary, there
is a need for responsible academic administrators to monitor closely a faculty
member's compliance with the terms of the understanding reached with the
governing board.
D. Leaves
of Absence during Candidacy or Service in Public Office
1. In
general. If a University employee
concludes or a governing board determines that engaging in a contemplated
political campaign or serving in public office will prevent the employee from
meeting full-time employment responsibilities, the employee may request a leave
of absence, either partial or full, with corresponding reduction in or
suspension of pay. The presentation of
petitions in support of a request for such leave must follow the same schedule
as prescribed above for efforts at rebuttal of presumed conflicts, viz., by
November 1 with respect to May primary contests and July 1 for the general
election. In fact, if an employee seeks to be excused from the resignation
requirement by rebutting the presumption of conflict, his or her petition on
that subject should be accompanied by a petition for leave, to address the
contingency of a finding by the governing board that the presumption has not
been rebutted. The president will
provide a model petition form to be used by University employees to describe the
nature and extent of leave requested, with accompanying representations from
the chancellor and other responsible administrators about the feasibility of
the proposal, from the institution's perspective, e.g., whether it would be
possible to satisfactorily cover the duties of the employee while he or she was
absent. If an employee seeks a partial
leave of absence, the type of quantification effort described above, with
respect to rebuttal of a presumed conflict, would be necessary. A listing of duties to be performed and duties
not to be performed would be required, which would account for the total
full-time employment responsibilities of the employee; and, derivatively, a
judgment then could be made about what percentage reduction in salary would be
required.
2. Faculty
requests for partial semester leave.
Faculty employment is distinguishable from other types of University
employment. Other types of University
employment are not necessarily keyed to the semester-based provision of
educational services to students. Thus,
the absence of such employees for intervals of several weeks or several months
during a semester might not have the same potentially negative effects on
students as would the comparable absence of faculty members. (For these other employees, however, a
similar consideration would apply to employment duties which fall routinely at
particular times of the calendar year.)
A faculty
member who is assigned a course to teach for a semester will likely not be
permitted to discontinue the instruction of that course (actual teaching hours
and directly related instructional responsibilities, such as advising enrolled
students) part way through the term by using a substitute teacher.
A faculty
member who anticipates running for an elective office or serving in public
office should broach this issue well in advance of the semester during which
such activity will occur and to seek a full or partial leave for all of that
semester, rather than for just a portion of the semester. Under such an approach, the institution would
have appropriate lead time to assign instructors to the courses in question,
students would know in advance the identity of and could make an advertent
choice about whether to enroll in a course to be taught by a particular instructor,
and there would be no mid-term adjustments confronting students who did enroll
in a course.
IV. Consequences of Failure to Comply with
Required Procedures. This policy is designed to
accomplish a timely resolution of questions about an employee's proposed
involvement in activities that could conflict with University employment
responsibilities. The purpose is to avoid, through advance planning, any
situation in which an employee might neglect his or her duty and thereby
disrupt service to students and other beneficiaries of the University
enterprise, with consequent need for disciplinary action against the culpable
employee. The system established by the
board permits both the employee and the employer to identify potential problems
in advance and to craft reasonable accommodations. Thus, it is essential that the procedures
called for in the policy be observed carefully.
An employee who fails or refuses to observe the procedural
requirements of the policy has violated the terms and conditions of his or her
employment and is subject to disciplinary action. With the establishment of appropriate measures
for providing notice of the policy requirements, all covered employees will be
presumed to know their obligations under the policy.
A. With
Respect to Officeholding
1. If
a full-time employee is elected or appointed to a full-time public office, his
or her University employment ends
automatically ("will be deemed to have resigned") upon the assumption
of that office. The automatic
termination of employment may be avoided only if the employee, prior to
assuming the office, has sought and obtained permission for a leave of absence,
not to exceed two years in duration.
Since the relevant provisions of the policy are self-executing, there is
no occasion for disciplinary action in such a case.
2. If
a University employee (full-time or part-time) is elected to or assumes office
as a member of the General Assembly, or if a full-time employee is elected to
or assumes a part-time office for which compensation is more than nominal,
holding the office is presumed to conflict with the satisfactory performance of
University employment obligations, and the employee is obligated to resign upon
assuming that public office. The
required resignation may be avoided only if the employee, prior to assuming the
office, follows prescribed procedures that result either in a finding that in
fact there will be no conflict created by simultaneous officeholding and
University employment or, alternatively, in the approval of a requested leave
of absence. If an employee fails to follow the prescribed procedure or declines
to resign after failing to rebut the presumed conflict or after being denied a
leave of absence, disciplinary action may be brought against him or her for
violation of the terms and conditions of his or her employment.
B. With Respect to Candidacy. Under the terms of the board
policy, if a candidacy for election to public office entails a presumed
conflict with University employment, the affected employee is required to
resign when he or she becomes a candidate. Resignation from employment may be avoided
only if the employee, prior to becoming a candidate, follows prescribed
procedures that result either in a finding that in fact there will be no
conflict or, alternatively, in the approval of a requested leave of
absence. If an employee fails to follow
the prescribed procedure or declines to resign after failing to rebut the
presumed conflict or after being denied a leave of absence, disciplinary action
may be brought against the employee for violation of the terms and conditions
of his or her employment.
V. Other Matters
A. Appeals.
With respect to any decision reached by a board of
trustees as prescribed in Section III of
this policy, an employee aggrieved by the
decision may appeal to the Board of Governors only on the basis of that such
decision was contrary to clearly established controlling law or policy. Any such appeal shall be addressed to the
chancellor for transmission to the president, who in turn will transmit the
appeal to the Board of Governors.
B. Effective Date. The requirements
of this policy shall be applicable prospectively only, on and after the date of
adoption by the Board of Governors. No
change in the employment status of an employee who was an incumbent in a public
office as of the adoption date of this resolution shall be required under the
terms of this resolution for the balance of the term of office being served on
the effective date of this resolution.
C. Policies
of Constituent Institutions. The board
of trustees of each constituent institution shall adopt policies governing
public officeholding by employees.
Policies adopted or substantively amended by a board of trustees
regarding public officeholding by employees shall be effective upon approval by
the president.
D. Relation to State Laws.
The foregoing regulations as adopted by the Board
of Governors are designed to supplement, and do not purport in any way to
supplant or modify, those statutory enactments which may govern or limit the
political activities of employees of the State of North Carolina.
E. Regulations and Guidelines. These policies shall be
implemented and applied in accordance with such regulations and guidelines as
may be adopted from time to time by the president.
[1]For employees
subject to the State Personnel Act (SPA), activities related to public officeholding
are governed by policies adopted by the Office of State Human Resources (OSHR)
pursuant to its authority under Chapter 126 of the North Carolina General
Statutes.
[2]Pursuant to
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 116-11(13), and notwithstanding The Code or any other Board of Governors policy, the Board of
Governors has delegated certain authorities to the president of the
University. See Policy 200.6, Delegation
of Authority to the President of the University, adopted November 11,
2006.