CONFLICTS AND DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

    1. Conflict of Interest Defined. For purposes of this policy, the following circumstances shall be deemed to create Conflicts of Interest:
      1. Definition of conflicts of interest: A conflict of interest arises when a covered party may benefit financially or otherwise from information he or she may have access to, or decisions he or she could make, including indirect benefits such as to family members, businesses or other organizations with which the covered party has a formal role or is closely associated. Some examples of conflicts include, but are not limited to: an active role or close association with a completing organization, vendor, contractor, supplier, or any other party doing business with the SVU; or receipt salary, loans or gifts of product or free service as a result of the covered party’s role at SVU, and/or its decisions, actions or activities
      2. Individuals covered: Persons covered by this policy are the Society’s Officers, Directors, staff; Committee, Subcommittee and task force, members, and other active volunteers (“covered parties”).
      3. Annual Disclosure: Covered persons will annually disclose or update to the President on a form provided by the Society their interests that could give rise to conflicts of interest, such as a list of organizations to which the covered party serves as a Board member, Committee/Subcommittee member, active volunteer, employee or consultant, or is otherwise closely associated; and which competes, may compete, or may be perceived to compete with the SVU in the provision of goods, services or intellectual property, or does so in its contracts or transactions with a third party Additionally, covered persons will make known to the Society any material changes to their disclosed Conflicts of Interest during the course of the year by filing and submitting an updated form.
      4. Custodian of Records: The Executive Director will be the custodian of the disclosures of conflicts.
      5. Organizational Procedures to manage conflicts: For each interest disclosed to the SVU, the President will determine whether to (a) take no action; (b) assure full disclosure to the Board of Directors and/or other covered parties; (c) ask the party to recuse from participation in related discussions or decisions within the SVU; or (d) ask the party to resign from his or her position in the SVU or, if the person refuses to resign, become subject to possible removal in accordance with the Society’s removal procedures outlined in the SVU Policy & Procedure Manual.
      6. Monitoring. The Executive Director and Treasurer will monitor proposed or ongoing transactions for conflicts of interest and financial benefit, and disclose them to the President in order to deal with potential or actual conflicts, whether discovered before or after the transaction has occurred
    2. Operational Procedures for management of conflicts at meetings
        1. Prior to board or committee action involving a Conflict of Interest, a director or committee member having a Conflict of Interest and who is in attendance at the meeting shall verbally disclose all facts material to the Conflict of Interest. Such disclosure shall be reflected in the minutes of the meeting.
        2. A person who has a Conflict of Interest with respect to a matter that will be voted on at a Board meeting shall not be counted in determining the presence of a quorum for purposes of the vote. The person having a conflict of interest may not vote on the matter involving the conflict and may be directed by the President to recuse themselves from the room during the vote. Such person’s ineligibility to vote shall be reflected in the minutes of the meeting.
        3. In the event it is not entirely clear that a Conflict of Interest exists, the individual with the potential conflict shall disclose the circumstances to the Chairman, who shall determine whether there exists a Conflict of Interest that is subject to this policy, and if recusal from voting will be necessary. The Chairman’s decision in matters of recusal is final
        4. Review of policy.
          1. Annually, each covered party will review and sign a General Conflict of Interest agreement.
            Updated January 20, 2017
          2. Any changes to the policy shall be communicated immediately to all covered parties upon adoption by the Board of Directors

Please confirm that your disclosures and Conflicts of Interest are accurate on your SVU profile. For detailed instructions on how to do this, please see here.

Conflict of Interest Policy Approved by the SVU Board of Directors on 12/13/2008:  Updated January 20, 2017