Updated guidelines: Avoid doubts about impartiality
The university's guidelines for close personal relationships have been updated, and they now also include guidelines for relationships between students and staff. Dean Anne-Mette Hvas stresses how important it is that all staff and students at Health are aware of, and follow, the guidelines.
Facts about the university's updated guidelines for close personal relationships
As a general rule, at Aarhus University:
- Managers may not hire someone in their own sphere of responsibility and chain of command with whom they have a close personal relationship.
- Staff members may not serve as course coordinators, teachers, examiners and/or project supervisors for students/PhD students with whom they have close personal relationships.
- Colleagues at the same level who establish a close personal connection or relationship are not under an obligation to inform their immediate manager about this. However, it is recommended that they do so, as the relationship might otherwise give rise to doubts regarding their impartiality. The same applies to close personal relationships between managers and staff members who do not report to them directly.
- Staff members who have doubts about their own impartiality, either due to their employment conditions generally or in regard to a specific matter, should discuss their situation with their immediate manager, who is responsible for determining whether a close personal relationship presents an obstacle to the performance of a work assignment.
Read more about Aarhus University's updated guidelines for close personal relationships on the staff website.
The university has thousands of employees and students, and so it is only natural that there are close personal relationships in the AU community and at Health too – for example spouses, partners, divorcees, siblings, parents, children, and close friends.
This calls for clear guidelines for the close personal relationships to prevent doubts about impartiality, both in terms of compliance with public administration legislation on impartiality and conflicts of interest and out of consideration for the work environment in general. The senior management team and the Main Liaison Committee have therefore recently discussed the university's guidelines in this area.
We want a work and study environment characterised by trust and respect
“With clear guidelines, we can provide the best possible framework for a good environment for work and study, characterised by trust, in which doubts about the impartiality of staff do not arise in connection with the performance of their work, in situations including assessments, decisions, case-processing, recruitment and teaching. And that transparency is important," says Dean Anne Mette Hvas and continues:
"I'm very concerned about Health being a good and safe place for both staff and students. The updated guidelines will help with that, and that’s why I hope that everyone will spend just five minutes familiarising themselves with them."
Read more about Aarhus University's updated guidelines for close personal relationships on the staff website, and contact your immediate manager, if you are in doubt about what to do in a specific situation.
Contact
Dean Anne-Mette Hvas
Health, Aarhus University
Telephone: +45 87 15 20 07
Mail: dean.health@au.dk