Conflict of interest

To ensure the integrity of our degrees and safeguard the health and welfare of our students and staff, the Faculty of Graduate Studies endeavors to avoid bias and the perception of bias pertaining to supervision and academic evaluations. These include being involved in evaluating, making recommendations (e.g., decisions on admissions, examinations, scholarships and awards), or serving as supervisor, supervisory committee member or neutral chair of an examination.

Guiding principles

The Faculty of Graduate Studies will apply the following principles in managing conflicts of interest:

  • All forms of actual, potential or perceived potential conflict of interest should be avoided.
  • All students, faculty, and staff are bound by the Code of Conduct and Procedure for Conflict of Interest. 
  • In the case of supervision, all parties involved in the supervision of a graduate student must abide by the Graduate Students Supervisory Policy.
  • Students, faculty and staff must be able to recognize situations of actual, potential or perceived potential conflict of interest.
  • Students, faculty and staff must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived potential conflicts promptly to the Graduate Program Director or Associate Dean/Dean of the home Faculty, who should consult the appropriate Associate Dean in the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
  • The Faculty of Graduate Studies will work to ensure that academic decisions are reached independently and objectively.

The potential for conflict of interest may sometimes be difficult to avoid and there will always be gray areas.

However, to assess a potential conflict of interest, it is useful to ask, for example, "If the student fails an examination and appeals on the grounds of conflict of interest, is there a prima facie case to answer?" or "If the student passes an examination and a faculty member raises concerns about conflict of interest is there a prima facie case to answer?"

Below are two examples of situations involving (A) actual and (B) potential for conflict of interest.

Examples of conflict of interest

Examples of situations that are in clear breach of the code of conduct and/or represent clear situations of conflict of interest.

  • Supervisor-Supervised students who have personal relations, such as a romantic, sexual, marital or familial relationship.
  • Supervisor-Supervised students who have financial relations, such as an employer-employee or business co-ownership relationship.
  • Co-supervisors, members of a supervisory committee or examining committee who have personal relations between them, such as a romantic, sexual, marital or familial relationship.
  • Co-supervisors, members of a supervisory committee or examining committee who have financial relations between them, such as employer-employee or business co-ownership relationship.
  • Graduate students involved in the evaluation of other graduate students with whom they have personal relations, such as romantic, sexual, marital or familial relationship.

These situations must be avoided, and in case they happen (develop), the Faculty of Graduate Studies will require changes that include the selection of alternative members to avoid any actual, potential, or perceived potential conflict of interest.

Examples of potential conflicts of interest

Examples of situations where there is no definite conflict of interest, but the potential for conflict of interest or perception of conflict of interest is significant include:

  • Graduate students involved in the evaluation of other graduate students enrolled in the same program and degree.
  • Co-supervisors, members of a supervisory committee or examining committee who have close personal friendship relationship.
  • Members of an examining committee, who are close research collaborators, or have potentially influential hierarchical relationship such as a Department Head and junior faculty member.

 

In such situations, it is not just a question of whether there would be actual bias or conflict of interest; the perception of bias or conflict of interest is also important. These situations can in general be easily managed by disclosure to the Graduate Program Director or Associate Dean/Dean of the home Faculty and the student. The home program may consult with the Faculty of Graduate Studies to assess the situation and manage it.

Approved by Faculty of Graduate Studies Council: December 2019.