A message from Rhonda L. Bishop

Building relationships is important, both in our personal lives and here at work. Work relationships can include the ones that we have with our co-workers, the students we serve, and those we have with our current or potential business partners such as donors and vendors. As America’s partnership university, we know that working together and with others is how we achieve success. And while the university encourages partnerships, we have to be careful when they could create a conflict of interest, could result in a bias in decision-making, or might give the appearance of a conflict or bias. In this fifth edition of the lntegrityStar we decided to focus attention on the types of relationships that can create issues within the workplace, and what we can do to prevent them.

Our first article explores the types of professional relationships that can create conflicts (such as those with our vendors) and provides an overview of the state ethics laws, our new policy UCF 2-009 Gifts and Honoraria, and details on how to register for the online training on both topics.

Our second and third articles are focused more on personal relationships, or rather, on amorous relationships, as defined by the new university policy UCF 2-004 Prohibition of Discrimination, Harassment and Related Interpersonal Violence. We’ll provide an overview of this policy and the longstanding policy UCF 3-008.2 Employment of Relatives.

Please take the time to read the articles and let us know your thoughts on relationships in the workplace. Please email us at complianceandethics@ucf.edu.

As always, if you have suggestions for future topics, please send them to complianceandethics@ucf.edu.