| Advisory opinion request by Philip C. Williams, President of McNeese State University (McNeese), regarding the application of the exceptions contained in La. R.S. 42:1123(1) and La. R.S. 42:1123(41) to complimentary admission, travel, lodging and reimbursement by organizations to McNeese and its employees. |
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In order to accomplish its mission as a state university, McNeese encourages its faculty and key administrators to participate in a wide variety of nonprofit, educational organizations. These organizations are typically membership organizations created by and for the universities they serve including McNeese. In some cases, participation by McNeese faculty and administrators in these organizations is required for academic departments or programs to maintain national accreditation, professional certification, or to meet federal or state legal requirements. In other cases, participation in these organizations is desirable for purposes of maintaining an appropriate level of competence for professional employees, many of whom require up-to-date training to stay abreast of critical changes. In all of the cases below, reimbursement provided to the McNeese employee by the non-profit educational organization or the amount of payment made on behalf of the University merely replaces the travel expenses that have already been approved by the University President, so that the employee is gaining nothing financial by this arrangement and those travel expenses would typically be paid by McNeese in the absence of the complimentary travel due to the benefit the event provides to the University. McNeese State University provided the following scenarios to which they ask whether an affidavit is required to be filed by the employee and whether it is compliant with the Code of Governmental Ethics.
1) McNeese State University has an institutional membership to the Louisiana Student Financial Aid Administrators (LASFAA), Southwest Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (SWASFAA), and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA). These organizations are all 501c3 nonprofit organizations designed to assist financial aid administrators in staying current on changing federal and state regulations. The organizations do not appear to be a prohibited source under La. R.S. 42:1115. In all instances below, the McNeese employees were on University time, continued to receive their salary, and did not take annual leave to attend these meetings or conferences. Further, as an employee of the University, responsibilities require maintaining the knowledge and skills required to maintain an appropriate level of competence and remain current on laws and regulations associated with their field or profession, but do not require serving as an officer, chair, or committee member to any organization. a) A McNeese Financial Aid employee was asked to chair a task force and a committee for NASFAA. The responsibility of the chair is to organize the national conference for over 3,000 conference attendees. This requires coordination through telephone conferences and one in person trip to Washington, DC. Lodging and transportation were provided by NASFAA for the trip to DC in preparation of the national conference. NASFAA made the arrangements directly with the hotels and/or airlines and no funds were provided directly to the employee or the University.
1b) A McNeese Financial Aid employee was elected to serve as the President of the SWASFAA association. As President, the responsibilities are to travel to the various regions to preside over the meetings of the association, give presentations at these meetings, and to serve on the NASFAA Board of Directors. During these travels payment for lodging is paid by the employee and simultaneously reimbursed by the SWASFAA for a portion of the lodging and the remainder is reimbursed by the University.
1c) A McNeese Financial Aid employee was asked by the President of the SWASFAA to serve as a committee chair. The chair and committee are in charge of the program preparations for the annual conference. Complimentary travel for a meeting of the committee to create the program and prepare for the conference was provided as a reimbursement to the employee for a portion of the lodging as stated in b above.
2) A McNeese Professor, who is a 9 month employee, was selected by a committee to receive a fellowship from Ocean Exploration Trust to perform research on a research ship called The Nautilus in the Pacific Ocean during the month of June. The Committee selection is based on an application process, resume, and references as a Biologist and not based on her position at McNeese. The fellowship covers airfare, meals, bunk, and transportation to and from the ship. During the employees time on the Nautilus, she was able to speak to children in the McNeese Kids College program via video conference and answer questions as well as bring back the knowledge gained from the research experience. Ocean Exploration Trust does not have a contractual or business relationship with the University and does not appear to be seeking, for compensation, to pass legislation and therefore does not appear to be a prohibited source under LRS 42:1115. Since this travel is outside of the United States and Canada LRS 42:1123(41) does not appear to apply. In this case, there does not appear to be any problems with violations of the ethics code because the employee was not employed during the summer months (LRS 42:1111A); however, it is very plausible for a 12 month professor to have the same situation in which they would be employed during the summer. Faculty members do not earn annual leave and would make arrangements with other faculty to cover their workload during that time. It is important to note that faculty members are not required to perform research as McNeese is not a research institution nor are they required to conduct presentations in their field of study; however, they are expected to stay current in their profession and maintain an appropriate level of competence.
3) A McNeese Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Physics has been invited to travel to China and Korea to provide oral presentations at three different locations (2 Universities and 1 Conference) due to his expertise and research in analytical chemistry and nanotechnology. The hosting agencies plan to cover all travel costs (airfare, registration, lodging, and meals) and make the payments directly to the airlines, hotels, etc. on behalf of the University. These agencies do not have a contractual or business relationship with the University and do not appear to be seeking, for compensation, to pass legislation and therefore does not appear to be a prohibited source under R.S. 42:1115. As stated in scenario 2, faculty members are not required to perform research as McNeese is not a research institution nor are they required to conduct presentations in their field of study; however, they are expected to stay current in their profession and maintain an appropriate level of competence. Faculty members do not earn annual leave and would make arrangements with other faculty to cover their workload during that time and continue to receive their salary while traveling. Any additional travel costs or expenses not covered by the agencies would be paid by the University. R.S. 42:1123(41) does not appear to apply since this travel is outside of the United States and Canada.
4) A McNeese Professor in the Department of Chemistry was invited to travel to China to The World Congress of Herpetology conference to serve as the Symposia Chair of the Conservation Biology of Crocodilians section of the conference and to make a presentation due to his expertise and research on crocodiles. The Professor is also on the steering committee and serves as the Chairman of the General Science Committee of the Crocodile Specialist Group (CSG). The CSG is an international crocodile conservation and research group. Due to the conference location, the Chinese Government requested that members of the CSG group meet with them and other professors to discuss the current population status of the Chinese Alligator, which is the most critically endangered croc species and get an overview of their management and conservation plans for the animal. The Chinese government agreed to cover the travel costs (airfare, lodging, and meals) for the first four nights of the trip. The Chinese government does not have a contractual or business relationship with the University and does not appear to be seeking, for compensation, to pass legislation. As stated in the previous scenarios, faculty members are not required to perform research as McNeese is not a research institution nor are they required to conduct presentations in their field of study; however, they are expected to stay current in their profession and maintain an appropriate level of competence. Faculty members do not earn annual leave and would make arrangements with other faculty to cover their workload during that time and continue to receive their salary while traveling. Any additional travel costs or expenses not covered by the agencies would be paid by the University. R.S. 42:1123(41) does not appear to apply since this travel is outside of the United States and Canada.
5) The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is the regional body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institution in the Southern states. The mission of the SACSCOC is to assure the educational quality and improve the effectiveness of its member institutions. A peer review is required for all participating member institutions. SACSCOC requests a list of faculty or administrative staff that would be willing to serve on a peer review team as an evaluator. SACSCOC selects teams based on the areas of expertise needed for that team. All selected team members are required to attend training and then travel to other institutions to perform their evaluations. SACSCOC disallows peer teams to evaluate other institutions within their same state or in which the team member was previously employed. SACSCOC pays all lodging and transportation expenses associated with the peer reviews.
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La. R.S. 42:1123(41) provides (a) The acceptance by a public servant of complimentary admission to, lodging reasonably related to, and reasonable transportation to and from an educational or professional development seminar or conference held in any state of the United States or Canada, provided that (i) the public servant is requested or invited to attend by the sponsoring civic, nonprofit, educational, or political group or organization, (ii) the sponsor is not a person from whom the public servant is prohibited from receiving or accepting a gift pursuant to R.S. 42:1115(A)(2), (iii) the seminar or conference is related to the public service of the public servant and is designed to enhance the knowledge or skill of the public servant as it relates to the performance of his public service, and (iv) the public servant's agency head approves the acceptance. (b) Any public servant who accepts complimentary admission, lodging, or transportation to and from an educational or professional development seminar or conference shall file an affidavit with the Board of Ethics within sixty days after such acceptance, disclosing (i) the name of the person or organization who gave, provided, or paid in whole or in part for the admission, lodging, or transportation, (ii) the person or organization that hosted the seminar or conference, and (iii) the amount expended on his behalf by the person or organization on admission, lodging, and transportation. (c) The provisions of this Paragraph shall not require an affidavit to be filed in connection with the acceptance by a public servant of admission, lodging, or transportation relative to a seminar or conference held or hosted by the agency or governmental entity of the public servant.
La. R.S. 42:1123(1) provides that participation in the affairs of charitable, religious, nonprofit educational, public service, or civic organizations, bona fide organized public volunteer fire departments when no compensation is received, or the activities of political parties not proscribed by law is not precluded.
La. R.S. 42:1102(15) defines "Participate" as meaning to take part in or to have or share responsibility for action of a governmental entity or a proceeding, personally, as a public servant of the governmental entity, through approval, disapproval, decision, recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation, or the failure to act or perform a duty.
La. R.S. 42:1102(22)(a) and (c) provides that a "thing of economic value" means money or any other thing having economic value, except promotional items having no substantial resale value; pharmaceutical samples, medical devices, medical foods, and infant formulas in compliance with the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. 301 et seq., provided to a physician, health care professional, or appropriate public employee for the administration or dispensation to a patient at no cost to the patient; food, drink, or refreshments consumed by a public servant, including reasonable transportation and entertainment incidental thereto, while the personal guest of some person. C) Things of economic value shall not include salary and related benefits of the public employee due to his public employment or salary and other emoluments of the office held by the elected official. Salary and related benefits of public employees of higher education institutions, boards, or systems shall include any supplementary compensation, use of property, or other benefits provided to such employees from funds or property accruing to the benefit of the institution, board, or system, as approved by the appropriate policy or management board, from an alumni organization recognized by the management board of a college or university within the state or from a foundation organized by the alumni or other supportive individuals of a college or university within the state the charter of which specifically provides that the purpose of the foundation is to aid said college or university in a philanthropic manner.
La. R.S. 42:1111A(1)(a) provides no public servant shall receive anything of economic value, other than compensation and benefits from the governmental entity to which he is duly entitled, for the performance of the duties and responsibilities of his office or position.
La. R.S. 42:1115(A)(1) provides no public servant shall solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any thing of economic value as a gift or gratuity from any person or from any officer, director, agent, or employee of such person, if such public servant knows or reasonably should know that such person has or is seeking to obtain contractual or other business or financial relationships with the public servant's agency,
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Adopt proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Brett Robinson |
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