Policy on Consensual Relationships

Extracted from UA-22 Employee Relationships Involving Students.

Sexual or amorous relationships between students and academic appointees or staff employees with responsibility for administering any aspect of a student’s educational progress or experience pose a potential conflict of interest between a university employee’s professional responsibilities and these personal relationships. This potential conflict is due to the university employee’s exercise of power over students when giving them praise or criticism, evaluating them, making recommendations for their further studies or employment, or conferring any other benefits on them. This actual or perceived conflict of interest may negatively affect the student involved and may also affect others by creating a perception of favoritism that results in a negative academic or work environment. This policy intends to address any potential conflict of interest to protect students, promote fairness, and uphold the integrity of the academic environment; it is not intended to interfere with the professional relationships fostered between university employees and students as part of the educational process. The policy is intended to foster more clarity and create a culture of transparency regarding university employee relationships with students, determining that the disclosure and management of such relationships is the soundest way to assist with ensuring that potential conflicts are adequately addressed. This policy does not prohibit relationships between university employees and larger, more general populations of students when no responsibility or evaluative/supervisory context is involved, such as all undergraduate or graduate students. The policy is designed to address relationships in which such a context is already present or there is some likelihood that it will develop in the future.

• Prohibited Relationships
  1. Academic Appointee and Student Relationships
     1. All amorous or sexual relationships between academic appointees and students are prohibited when the academic appointee has, or might reasonably be expected to have, any professional responsibility for the student, including but not limited to instructional, supervisory, evaluative, advisory, counseling, or other assigned one-on-one role, even when both parties have consented to, or appear to have consented to, the relationship. This prohibition applies in both instructional and non-instructional contexts.
  2. Staff and Student Relationships
     1. All amorous or sexual relationships between staff employees and students are prohibited when the staff employee has, or might reasonably be expected to have, responsibility for administering any aspect of the student’s educational progress or experience, including but not limited to advising, coaching, counseling, approving accommodations, awarding financial aid, handling visa and immigration matters, administering residential housing, making enrollment decisions, or influencing internship or employment opportunities, even when both parties have consented, or appear to have consented to, the relationship. (See also UA-17, which addresses staff supervisor – student relationships in an employment context.)
  3. Attempts to Initiate a Prohibited Relationship
     1. Although building professional relationships and personal connections with university employees can be an integral part of a student’s education, university employees should be cognizant of the ways that these relationships are developed, due to the inherent imbalance of power in these positions. Indiana University is committed to protecting students’ interests while also recognizing the need for academic freedom and expression. The university intends to balance these needs by setting expectations for professional relationships to prevent the relationship’s boundaries from being extended in violation of this policy.
     2. Any inappropriately intimate behaviors or any actions by a university employee that attempt to initiate an amorous or sexual relationship with a student over whom the university employee currently has or foreseeably could have a professional responsibility or responsibility for administering any aspect of the student’s educational progress or experience, are prohibited.
     3. Inappropriately intimate behaviors are those that a reasonable person would perceive as crossing professional boundaries and as an attempt to initiate an amorous or sexual relationship; and are determined on a case-by-case basis. Factors to be considered may include: the nature of the behavior; the academic level of the involved student (year, undergraduate or graduate); the time and/or location of incident(s); the number of incidents and time span over which the incidents occurred; any prior reports or patterns of behavior by the university employee; and/or discipline-specific considerations.

Personnel Policies for Professional Staff

Consensual romantic relationships

It is in the interest of Indiana University to provide clear direction to all employees about the risks associated with consensual romantic or sexual relationships between members of the university community where a conflict of interest between the parties exists or may exist.

Conflicts of interest may arise when relationships occur between and among employees, students, and prospective employees. This policy and ethical principles already preclude staff from evaluating the work of others with whom they have intimate familial relationships, or from making hiring, promotional, transfer, or similar decisions concerning such persons.

These same principles apply to consensual romantic or sexual relationships and require, at a minimum, that appropriate arrangements be made for objective decision making. Additionally, in the event of a charge of sexual misconduct, the university will give very critical scrutiny to any defense based upon consent when the facts establish that a power differential existed within the relationship.

Whenever a conflict of interest occurs, or may occur, because of a consensual, romantic relationship, it is the employee’s responsibility to tell the immediate supervisor about the relationship. If the relationship involves one’s immediate supervisor, then the employee should go to the next level of management. The next level of management is responsible for making arrangements to eliminate or solve any conflict or possible conflict.