New York § 439 - 439Conflict of interest guidelines

§ 439. 439Conflict of interest guidelines

§ 439. Conflict of interest guidelines. 1. Each campus, university or college participating in the START-UP NY program shall adopt a conflict of interest policy. Such conflict of interest policy shall provide, as it relates to the START-UP NY program: (a) as a general principle, that service as an official of the campus, university or college shall not be used as a means for private benefit or inurement for the official, a relative thereof, or any entity in which the official, or relative thereof, has a business interest; (b) no official who is a vendor or employee of a vendor of goods or services to the campus, university or college, or who has a business interest in such vendor, or whose relative has a business interest in such vendor, shall vote on, or participate in the administration by the campus, university or college, as the case may be, of any transaction with such vendor; and (c) upon becoming aware of an actual or potential conflict of interest, an official shall advise the president or chief executive officer of the campus, university or college, as the case may be, of his or her or a relative's business interest in any such existing or proposed vendor with the campus, university or college. Each campus, university or college shall maintain a written record of all disclosures of actual or potential conflicts of interest made pursuant to paragraph (c) of this subdivision, and shall report such disclosures, on a calendar year basis, by January thirty-first of each year, to the auditor for such campus, university or college. The auditor shall forward such reports to the commissioner, who shall make public such reports. 2. For purposes of such conflict of interest policies: (a) an official of a campus, university or college has a "business interest" in an entity if the individual: (i) owns or controls ten percent or more of the stock of the entity (or one percent in the case of an entity the stock of which is regularly traded on an established securities exchange); or (ii) serves as an officer, director or partner of the entity; (b) a "relative" of an official of a campus, university or college shall mean any person living in the same household as the individual and any person who is a direct descendant of that individual's grandparents or the spouse of such descendant; and (c) an "official" of a campus, university or college shall mean an employee at the level of dean and above as well as any other employee with decision-making authority over the START-UP NY program.