To protect faculty from violating the Oregon government ethics laws and a conflict of interest under circumstances in which a faculty-written text or other instructional resources (“texts”) is assigned to students and the sale of the text or resources results in a financial benefit to the faculty author. This procedure addresses Board Policy 610, Conflict of Interest, and Board Policy 635, Institutional Integrity.
Faculty who research and generate classroom resources in their discipline demonstrate academic commitment that supports relevance in the classroom. Because of the royalties received by a faculty member for the sale of faculty-authored texts to their students, potential conflict of interest is created when faculty-authored resources are used in the author’s class.
Conflict of interest is resolved by the following procedure:
- The author must provide full disclosure to the appropriate Executive Dean of the cost of text(s) to students and the royalties to be received by the author(s), and
- The Executive Dean convenes a review panel that vets the text’s appropriateness for adoption in a particular course and makes a recommendation to the Executive Dean in a time line which meets adoption due dates. The Executive Dean has final decision-making authority on the use of the text.
The panel will consist of 3 to 5 disciplinary experts, from inside or outside of the College. Some of the discipline experts will be community college faculty members. No panel member may have a financial interest in the text(s). In those cases where the Division Dean has disciplinary expertise, the Dean may serve on the review panel. The review panel will utilize the following criteria:
- Fit: Text maximizes the student learning experience for the course and for the students who use it;
- Currency: Text reflects the current research-based knowledge and practices in the field;
- Disciplinary vetting: Text has previously undergone an external academic peer-review vetting as exemplified by the procedures of academic presses;
- Affordability: Text does not unduly burden student financial resources when compared with other options in the field.
The panel will assess instructor-authored texts in light of the above criteria. The panel is not required to give equal weight to each criteria. Faculty-authored texts and resources must be reviewed by the Executive Dean and the Executive Dean’s convened panel for continued approval every 2 years.