PACTP members are expected to recuse themselves from review, discussion, and voting on all cases that come before PACTP in which they have a conflict of interest (COI) or that might give rise to the appearance of a COI. (Hereinafter, “COI” will encompass all such situations.) No member may abstain from voting when PACTP votes on a case; full recusal from review, discussion, and voting is the way we will handle COI within PACTP.
PACTP members are expected to participate in the promotion and/or tenure processes in which they are eligible to participate in their home units. Accordingly, being a member of the same academic division or department as the candidate whose case is under review—or being a member of the same school in the case of academic units that are not organized by division or department—is automatically considered a COI. If you have already voted on a case at the division, department, or school level, you may not discuss or vote on the case as a member of PACTP. Additional conflicts include past or planned collaborations in teaching or research, formal or informal mentoring, service on long-standing committees with the candidate, or personal relationships.
A COI also might occur in other situations where a PACTP member feels that they might not be able to be objective in evaluating a case. Besides the more obvious reasons for recusal noted above, any prior connection can be a reason if the PACTP member might feel conflicted about anything negative in the review. PACTP members must be able to voice negative opinions if they are warranted.
At the start of our work for the year, or as soon as it becomes apparent to you, PACTP members should communicate to the PACTP Chair or Faculty Affairs staff in the Office of the Provost any possible COI with respect to any of the cases to be reviewed. Consistent with the automatic bases for COI above, PACTP members who are members of the same division, department, or school as the candidate or who appear in the candidate’s materials as having voted on the candidate’s case at the division, department, or school level will be excluded from access to the candidate’s materials when those materials are placed into the shared information system. Faculty with a COI may not be present in the meeting room when the case with which they are in conflict is discussed, and they may not discuss the case with any other member of PACTP. When possible, cases will be scheduled so that a committee member with a conflict can arrive late or leave early to avoid being asked to leave the meeting room while the committee discusses that particular case.
If you are ever unsure whether you will be in conflict on a particular case, please consult the Chair. It is better to be conservative, and declare a conflict, than to discover that you are feeling conflicted halfway through the discussion of a case, or for your fellow PACTP members to feel uncomfortable about a colleague’s objectivity.