Director Code of Conduct - Algonquin Students' Association

The Board commits itself and its members to ethical and businesslike conduct. This includes proper use of authority and appropriate decorum when acting as Board members:

  1. Members must represent unconflicted loyalty to the interests of activity fee paying students. This accountability supersedes any conflicting loyalty such as that to advocacy or interest groups and membership on other boards or staffs. It also supersedes the personal interest of any Director member acting as a client of the organization’s services;
  2. Directors must avoid conflict of interest with respect to their fiduciary responsibility:
    1. There must be no self-dealing or any conduct of private business or personal services between any Director and the organization except as procedurally controlled to assure openness, competitive opportunity and equal access to “inside” information,
    2. When the Board is to decide upon an issue, about which a Director has an unavoidable conflict of interest, that Director shall absent herself or himself without comment from not only the vote, but also from the deliberation,
    3. Directors must not use their positions to obtain employment in the organization for themselves, family members or associates. Should a Director desire employment, he or she must first resign,
    4. Directors shall not be employed by College Executives,
    5. Directors will annually disclose their involvements with other organizations, with vendors, or any other associations which might produce a conflict;
    6. Directors shall not engage in intimate/romantic relationships with one another.
  3. Directors may not attempt to exercise individual authority over the organization except as explicitly set forth in Board policies:

    1. Directors’ interaction with the CEO or with staff must recognize the lack of authority vested in individuals except when explicitly Board-authorized,
    2. Directors’ interaction with public, press or other entities must recognize the same limitation and the inability of any Director to speak for the Board. In making public statements regarding issues other than policy, the Board shall:
    3. Clearly distinguish, in both written and oral public statements, between personal opinions and opinions representing the Board of Directors,
    4. Provide accurate, complete, current and unbiased information,
    5. Directors will give no consequence or voice to individual judgements of CEO or staff performance;
  4. Directors will respect the confidentiality appropriate to issues of a sensitive nature.
  5. Directors must, at all times, conduct themselves in a professional, business-like manner which upholds the image and reputation of the Students’ Association and the College. Such obligations apply whether a Director is conducting Board business at the College or is travelling for such purpose. Directors recognize the risk that excessive alcohol consumption poses to their ability to ensure that they meet their obligations, as set out in this Code of Conduct, and accordingly will refrain from excessive alcohol consumption when conducting and/or traveling for Board business.
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