4.4.10.3 : Standards and Procedures

For the reasons expressed in the previous section of this Policy, the University strongly urges members of the University community to refrain from engaging in romantic or intimate relationships with another member of the University community when one person possesses direct authority over the other, whether that authority is used by one who is an instructor, counselor or supervisor of the other or by someone who can directly influence the academic or work status of the other (e.g., a senior instructor serving as a member of the tenure committee for a junior instructor, an instructor serving as the thesis advisor for a graduate student, a senior student on a board or club voting whether a junior student should attain the same status, a supervisor filling out a performance evaluation for his or her subordinate.

If, nevertheless, two members of the University Community commence such a relationship, the University requires that they take the measures described below, in order to lessen or minimize the conflict of interest and disruption of the academic and employment environment that can arise in such situations. The University emphasizes that the following measures cannot eliminate entirely the substantial likelihood of conflict and disruption, and that the course of action strongly preferred by the University would be for the two to refrain from engaging in consensual intimate relations for as long as necessary to prevent conflict and disruption.