Use of University Resources
We will ensure that campus resources are used only on behalf of the University-
This means that each member of the campus community
- Uses University resources only for the benefit of the University
Perspective: A Real World Illustration
A May 2003 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock) newspaper article reported on the firing of a philosophy professor from a public university located in Arkansas.
He was fired in March for advertising his talent at translating old Chinese documents into English on a Web site he and his wife created on the university-based Web space. University policy prohibits staff from profiting from the use of university property. He filed a grievance claiming he is governed by the university's faculty handbook, which does not restrict faculty from conducting personal business on the university's Web space. Furthermore, he said, others are doing it, too.
Another university art professor sells his work over the Internet. Economics professors offer consulting services online. The university's director of disability services is selling bras and advertises with an Internet link she includes on university's disability services Web site. The director's Internet pitch said, "People who desire to enhance their beauty have reason to contact me," before it was removed on the advice of an attorney. The site had listed the director's telephone number and email address at the university.
"It was a very small translation business," the non-tenured assistant professor said of his site. "Others were doing the same thing. This catered strictly to academics. You might argue that this service was an extension of my role with the university."
The university's grievance hearing committee said on May 1 that the professor's dismissal was inappropriate and no policy violations occurred. The university president has to determine whether the professor should be fired.
"One of the issues that are critical here is that he used the site for a commercial venture, "said the university's vice president for academic affairs. "It's against the law to use state property for personal gain." The president and vice president said neither had heard of other business ventures conducted on the university's Web space.
The university's faculty handbook encourages faculty to provide services to the public. "Normally, the university requires no disclosure of these activities or of the income they may generate," the handbook says.
"The university may enter into a specific contract with a faculty member to support a commercial endeavor, scholarship or public service which may generate income."
Another section of the handbook states that "university SELECTED RESOURCES ... shall not be used for personal gain."
The university's grievance hearing committee found the university's policy ambiguous. The committee also said the assistant professor got no warning or order to remove the Web site before his dismissal. "Instead he received the most severe form of punishment when his employment was terminated without due process," the committee wrote in a letter to the university president.
"[The assistant professor's] punishment/termination could appear to be selective," the letter said. "Other members of the university had questionable Web postings for personal gain on the university-owned Web space but, to our knowledge, received no punishment."
He said his Internet business may be a veiled excuse for his firing. He has criticized the university and its spending practices during the two years he's worked at the university.
Last Revised 5/23/2006