Ethics Training and Resources

Soliciting Personal Gifts
Employees are prohibited from soliciting personal gifts and personal favors from any individual or organization that does business or seeks to do business with the university, or that seeks other forms of association or benefits from the university, or from donors, students (current, prospective, or former), or parents.

Personal Gifts from Third Parties

Employees are prohibited from accepting personal gifts and personal favors from any individual or organization that does business or seeks to do business with the university or that seeks other forms of association or benefits from the university, or from any donor, current, prospective, or former student, or parent, except as provided below:

• Personal gifts valued at more than $250 (or of undetermined value) on an individual basis or cumulatively within a given fiscal year must be either (1) accepted on behalf of the university and made available to employees in general or put to charitable purposes, (2) reported on the Outside Interest Disclosure Form on HR’s website and approved by the employee’s Vice President or Dean, or (3) graciously and promptly returned to the donor.
• An employee may accept without reporting or prior approval any personal gift or favor valued up to and including $250 on an individual basis or cumulatively within a given fiscal year, provided the employee exercises sound judgment in deciding whether accepting the gift or favor will create the appearance of impropriety. When in doubt, employees are expected to notify their supervisor of the personal gift or favor in writing.
• Employees may accept without reporting individual gifts or favors that are a part of a broad-based promotion on the part of the donor involving standardized,
  nonsignificant gifts or favors to persons holding particular positions (e.g., coffee mugs, pens, tote bags, VIP seating and parking, etc.).
• Employees may accept without reporting modest gift baskets or nominal food items that are shared widely among colleagues.
• Employees may accept without reporting reasonable business meals or admission to events that are directly related to an employee’s duties and where the meal or event is reasonable and avoids actual and apparent potential Conflicts of Interest.
• Tickets to sporting or entertainment events (e.g., LU football tickets) are treated like personal gifts unless the reasonable business meal/event exception applies.

Employees are expected to disclose potential conflicts and seek guidance to ensure decisions remain aligned with Liberty’s mission, policies, and ethical standards.

To maintain the integrity of the university, all employees should be free of Conflicts of Interest as they carry out their duties on behalf of the university. A “Conflict of Interest” arises when an employee or the employee’s Family Member or an entity with which the employee or Family Member is Associated:

• has an existing or potential Financial Interest or other external interest that impairs or might reasonably appear to impair the employee’s independence of
  judgment in the discharge of his or her responsibilities to the university
• may receive a material financial or other benefit from the use or disclosure of non-public information pertaining to the university.

Meals sponsored/paid for by LU should be conducted to further LU business, including recruiting, meeting with outside organizations or individuals, and other similar types of scenarios. LU expects the cost of meals and entertainment to be reasonable and to be less than per-person meal rate issued by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) for the locality of the event. When sound business reasons necessitate that a business meal exceed the per person rate, the excess cost must be approved by the Vice President of the area incurring the expense.

• Under IRS regulations, amounts paid for business entertainment must be either “directly related to” or “associated with” the active conduct of business and must have a “bona fide” business purpose. Please see the LU Travel website for further clarification.

Employees should exercise sound judgment and stewardship when incurring or approving these expenses.

Ethical leadership requires impartiality, compassion, and a commitment to righteousness in all interactions.

Trustees, officers, and employees are required to foster a culture of biblically based diversity and inclusion, showing respect for all members of our community and treating all persons with impartiality, as equals before God. Trustees, officers, and employees may not discriminate on the basis of any legally protected status applicable to Liberty University and should seek righteousness by opposing any such discrimination.

Liberty University does not engage in unlawful discrimination or harassment because of race, color, ancestry, religion, age, sex, national origin, pregnancy or childbirth, disability, or military veteran status in its educational programs and activities. Liberty University maintains its Christian mission and reserves its right to discriminate on the basis of religion to the extent that applicable law respects its right to act in furtherance of its religious objectives.

Trustees, officers, and employees are required to respect the privacy and confidentiality rights of others. Trustees, officers, and employees are required to safeguard in compliance with applicable legal, contractual, and policy obligations the various types of confidential information they come into possession of in the conduct of their work, including information that relates to students, other community members, personnel records and actions, and financial and contractual arrangements.

Trustees, officers, and employees are expected to act honestly and free from fraud or deception in their dealings on behalf of the university. Integrity and transparency are essential to faithful stewardship and maintaining trust within the Liberty community.