4.2.f External Influence

The governing board protects the institution from undue influence by external persons or bodies.

Judgment

x Compliance o Non-Compliance o Partial Compliance

Narrative

The State’s ethics, purchasing, and employment laws and the bylaws, rules, and policies of the University’s governing board protect UL Lafayette from undue influence by external persons or bodies. The University’s management board, the UL System BOS, is governed by its own Bylaws and Rules, which protect institutions from external influence. According to Section V of the Bylaws, the BOS must approve for all institutions:

1. the sale, purchase, or lease of land;

2. the purchase or construction of buildings; and

3. all personnel actions, including employment, termination, and raises.

All such approvals are public, mitigating against a university being unduly influenced or pressured in its actions and decisions by an external body. Further, all meetings of the BOS and the BOR are advertised and open to the public, and no votes may be taken in executive sessions.

Board Member Selection

Both the BOR and the BOS have an identical appointment process mandated by law. The Governor appoints to the respective boards two members from each of the State’s seven congressional districts and one at-large member. Appointments require the consent of the Louisiana Senate. Members serve overlapping terms of six years. This appointment process helps ensure that the BOS is independent from outside influence and pressure. The stipulation that members be appointed from the various congressional districts of the State ensures a distribution of authority. Board members serve six-year, staggered terms, which mitigates against undue influence on Board composition by any one Governor, as gubernatorial terms are only four years. The student member on the Board has all the privileges and rights of other Board members, serves a term no longer than one year, and is not eligible to succeed himself or herself.

Ethics Code

Through its Code of Ethics and other statutes, the state of Louisiana defines, addresses, and prohibits many forms of conflict of interest among members of the BOR and BOS that protect UL Lafayette from external influence. The Code defines and addresses external influence through gifts and contractual conflicts. The University of Louisiana System President, as well as all board members, must submit financial disclosure statements annually to the Board of Ethics. Board members must also disclose any political contributions to the appointing authority.

The Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics delineates standards of conduct for state officials as they relate to monetary influence, gifts, nepotism, and interactions with other state agencies and officials. The Code, which applies to both Board members and University employees, requires that all public servants be independent, impartial, and free from conflict of interest. This is also stated in Louisiana Revised Statute 42:1101. Because the BOR and the BOS approve UL Lafayette actions, these requirements extend to protecting the University from external influence.

The Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics requires that members of both the BOR and the BOS disclose personal financial information, a requirement that clearly mitigates against the Board’s ability to make decisions that might benefit individual Board members instead of the institutions that the Board oversees. Additionally, Louisiana laws governing purchases, contracts, and employment also effectively protect the institution from undue external influence. All purchases by a State agency must follow the State’s public bid laws, which require that the agency put out for competitive public bid to at least three bidders any purchase valued above $5,000, and contracts greater than $25,000 must be awarded through competitive, sealed bidding.

Training

Annual ethics training maintains board members’ and employees’ familiarity with the Code of Governmental Ethics, and the Louisiana Constitution provides for the impeachment of a board member for misconduct associated with non-compliance with state-mandated ethics.

Hiring

The University follows State and federal employment rules in all hiring, including public advertising of all permanent positions and review for EEO compliance. All faculty and administrative hires are approved by the BOS. The public nature of the hiring and approval processes ensures that the University is allowed to hire the best qualified applicants for its available positions, and mitigates against any undue influence in the hiring process.

The BOS regularly provides legal defense of the University, protecting it from influence resulting from the threat of lawsuits. The Board has also supported the University in conflicts with external entities.