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5. A faculty member hires a student to perform services at an imaging center that the faculty member owns.
#Response DateComment
1.Tue, 3/13/07 10:51 PMDepends on the circumstances. That statement alone seems reasonable. Is the student paid by the faculty member or through the university?
2.Tue, 3/13/07 11:00 PMWould this faculty member also be evaluating this student in a different capacity?
3.Wed, 3/14/07 12:09 AMif the student will ever be evaluated by the faculty or the faculty will submit a letter of recommendation citing faculty credentials rahter than as employer
4.Wed, 3/14/07 12:10 AMIf the faculty member does not have any teacher-student relationship with the student for purposes of evaluation or promotion, it is not a COI
5.Wed, 3/14/07 12:16 AMDepends on whether the faculty has jurisdiction over the student's academic performance.
6.Wed, 3/14/07 12:54 AMWhat is the student doing? Is this any different than the owner of a local Burger King hiring students to work as cooks or servers?
7.Wed, 3/14/07 1:48 PMWho (unversity or center) pays for the student and at what rate compared to what other student employees or company employees are paid for similar work. Whether or not student is performing work above competency level for the project. Whether student is directly or indirectly supervised by the faculty member in such a way that grade or employment record can be affected
8.Wed, 3/14/07 2:04 PMThe conflict of interest is the faculty owning the imaging center.
9.Wed, 3/14/07 2:04 PMDepends on the relationship between faculty and student...is the student aware of this relationship; is the faculty person evaluating the student in other capacities
10.Wed, 3/14/07 6:04 PMIf the faculty member can influence the student's grade, then it is a serious COI. If not, the COI is moot.
11.Wed, 3/14/07 7:51 PMIf the student is question is subject to a grade from the faculty member at the time of employment, then there could be a halo/horn effect carrying over from the job to the grade.
12.Thu, 3/15/07 1:26 PMI assume the student isn't being graded by the faculty member.
13.Thu, 3/15/07 4:56 PMIt depends on the source of the payment. If through MSU, MODERATE; if through the center; NO.
14.Sat, 3/17/07 1:27 PMWhat is the nature of the relationship between the student and the faculty member? Will that faculty member be evaluating this student. Will the student's success in bringing more services to this imaging center (more $ for the faculty member) influence their performance evaluation. What about the inherent conflict with the faculty member owning an imaging center?
15.Mon, 3/19/07 4:32 PMProbably not a COI: It would be preferable for the faculty member / owner to have hiring decisions made by a manager of the imaging center, but in the case of a small practice or center, this might not be economically practical. I don't think that the faculty member / owner should be prohibited from hiring the best staff possible, even if they might happen to be one of their students. Hopefully, policy would be in place for dealing with grievances in the event that the student feels that they are unfairly evaluated in class based on conflicts or poor performance as an employee. This situation is not too dissimilar to the common situation where a student asks his/her employer/supervisor for a letter of recommentdation based on a combination of performance in class and performance at work. This happens all the time.
16.Mon, 3/19/07 5:23 PMYes, there is a conflict of interests. But: We don't know from these facts whether that conflict influenced the decision.
17.Tue, 3/20/07 4:53 AMif the student is goes through all normal competitive procedure and gets paid what any other person with equal qualification and credentials get paid for doing the work and the faculty member is able to divorce what happens at the imaging center from his relationship with the student as a faculty member, no problems. but this may be difficult.
18.Wed, 3/21/07 10:34 PMNo COI for student unless faculty member has a say into the student's scholastic evaluation.
19.Mon, 3/26/07 3:06 PMThe conflict is not the student's hire, but rather the relationships between the private interests of the faculty and his/her interests as a member of the faculty
20.Thu, 3/29/07 1:34 PMis this a medical student otherwise being supervised by the faculty member? Should a faculty member be owning an imaging center?
21.Tue, 4/24/07 9:32 PMNot if the faculty member is not involved in the hiring process, or if is involved in the hiring, then acts solely as an employer and not a faculty evaluator.
22.Wed, 4/25/07 1:22 PMCOI only if student's pay is somehow contingent on the student recruiting patients to come to the imaging center (drumming up business).
23.Wed, 4/25/07 2:17 PMIt depends on whether the faculty member has a supervisory role over the student and whether the student's role will bias this relationship.
24.Thu, 4/26/07 11:38 AMIf the work is to be included in the student's thesis, it is a serious conflict.
25.Thu, 4/26/07 9:14 PMNo COI if this student is not taking a course from this faculty member and being graded by this faculty member.
26.Fri, 4/27/07 11:54 AM"Completely situation-dependent. If the center is ethically run and the student wasn't coerced into the position, this might be fine.