Statement of Ethics for Faculty & Staff Policy

This policy ensures compliance with New York State Public Officer Law, specifically requiring employees to adhere to the Code of Ethics, which prohibits using official positions for personal benefit. It mandates that all employees complete annual training through the COELIG and that required individuals file annual Financial Disclosure Statements (FDS).

Date	Version Number	Change Description	Referenced Section
12/4/05	1.0	New Document	Entire Document
11/9/16	1.1	Minor Revisions
1/12/17	1.2	Minor Revisions
2/24/17	1.3	Minor Revisions	Owner
4/3/17	1.4	Minor Revisions	Owner
8/28/18	1.5	Minor Revisions
2/5/26	2.0	Major Revisions	Entire Document

 Review Process / Approval

Action:	Units	Date
Policy Review	Human Resource Services Ethics Officer Management Services
Policy Approval	Faculty Senate President	9/13/05 12/4/05

All employees, including applicable student employees.

Commission On Ethics In Lobbying in Government (COELIG): The New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government established by the Ethics Commission Reform Act of 2022. The Commission was created to restore public trust in government by ensuring compliance with the State’s ethics and lobbying laws and regulations. It has jurisdiction over more than 300,000 officers and employees at State agencies and departments including all
SUNY employees.

Employee: All employees, part time and full time employed at SUNY Plattsburgh. All main campus, branch campus and online employees. All student employees with the exception of work study students.

Financial Disclosure Statement (FDS) Filer: A FDS is a publicly available record containing financial and professional information about the filer and his or her spouse for a calendar year. SUNY Plattsburgh’s policy makers are the president, vice presidents, deans, associate vice presidents and associate deans; and Employees with an annual salary rate in excess of the “filing rate” of a SG-24 CSEA equivalent.

Honorarium: An honorarium is any payment, which may take the form of a fee or any other compensation, made to a covered person in consideration for a service performed that is not part of his or her official duties. Such service includes, but is not limited to, delivering a speech, writing, or publishing an article, or participating in any public or private conference, convention, meeting, or similar event. Honorarium shall also include expenses incurred for travel, lodging, and meals related to the service performed.

Professional employee: Professional employees shall mean an employee in the Professional Services Negotiating Unit, other than an employee with academic or qualified academic rank.

Teaching Faculty: Teaching Faculty, also referred to as an Academic Employee, shall mean an employee in the Professional Services Negotiating Unit with academic or qualified academic rank.

None

Financial Disclosure Statement (FDS) Filing: The purpose of the FDS is to provide transparency about the private interests and activities of public officials and their relatives which could, among other things, help identify potential conflicts of interest. There are two annual filing deadlines: May 15 for Non Academic and Nov 15 for Academic employees. Additional resources are available at the following links;

• FDS Filing Information and Forms
• Navigating the FDS Filing System

Note: FDS Filers — even those who are exempt from the honorarium approval requirements — are obligated to report any honorarium in excess of $1,000 (or all honoraria, the total of which exceed $1,000 received from a single offeror) in their Financial Disclosure Statement ("FDS") for the applicable year.

Honorarium Requests: State agency heads must submit an approval request to the NYS Commission On Ethics In Lobbying in Government (COELIG). All other employees request approval in writing to the campus ethics officers before performing the Honorarium service or activity by completing the Honorarium Form to the Ethics Officer.

Exception: Teaching Faculty are exempt from the honoraria approval procedures (including the conditions for approval) provided that the service performed is within the subject matter of their official academic or research discipline.

Reporting an Ethics Violation:

Internal Reporting:

SUNY Plattsburgh Internal Control Hotline: The Internal Control Fraud Hotline is intended for faculty, staff, students and others to report intentional or unintentional misuse involving state funds, equipment, supplies or other irregular or unethical activities. You may report these concerns anonymously to the University’s internal control officer:

By phone: 866-633-6112

In writing, submit a letter to:
SUNY Plattsburgh Internal Control Office
710 Kehoe Administration Building
101 Broad St.
Plattsburgh, NY 12901

External Reporting:

Ethics violations may also be reported to COELIG:

By phone: 1-800-87-ETHICS

By Mail:
New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government
540 Broadway
Albany, New York 12207

By Web Online Portal: https://nyscoelig.caseiq.app/portal

• Honoraria Form

• The Commission of Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG)
• SUNY Plattsburgh Ethics Webpage for additional information and considerations

Related Polices:

• SUNY Plattsburgh Policy #1015.3 – Scholarly Misconduct Policy
• SUNY Plattsburgh Compliance Training

The NYS Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG) maintains the Comprehensive Ethics Training Course (CETC). The CETC is an ethics training mandated for all New York State officers and employees. The CETC is a training that covers the Public Officers Law and related ethics laws and standards. The expectation is 100% compliance by completion of one (1) training for all NYS employees annually. Training completion is due by Dec. 31 of each year. Employees new to state service, completing their first ethics training, are required to enroll in a live training within 90 days of hire. On-demand refresher training is acceptable every other year, new employees must complete a live training first to qualify for a refresher course.

Method	Date
Campus Handbook	N/A
Faculty / Staff Digest	N/A
Student Digest	N/A
Other	N/A