2008 Woodie Awards
Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: News
Conflict-of-interest policy unchanged
Wharton admit officer ended consulting jobs, but U. says no change in policy or enforcement
Alyssa Schwenk
It has been more than two weeks since the revelation that Wharton MBA admissions officer Judith Hodara also held jobs in the admissions consulting industry, but it remains unclear how her outside positions have impacted the University's conflict-of-interest policy.
Hodara served as a trustee to a Japanese MBA admissions consulting firm and ran IvyStone , an undergraduate admissions counseling company. She has since ended both affiliations.
But University officials deny that Penn has changed its guidelines for defining conflicts of interest or how it enforces those policies.
"There has been no change in the University's conflict-of-interest policy, which applies to all schools and all departments at Penn," University spokesman Roz Ozio wrote in an e-mail. He declined to comment further.
Hodara told the online publication Inside Higher Ed that she had vetted her relationship with AGOS, the Japanese firm, with her supervisors, but it is unknown whether Hodara disclosed her affiliation with IvyStone.
Hodara has taken down the IvyStone Web site, and the University released a statement saying, "Penn does not consider this type of relationship appropriate, which is why it has been ended."
Hodara referred all calls for comment to the University Communications office.
The University's Conflict of Interest Policy for Faculty Members - which appears to extend to other University employees - allows Penn employees to engage in "extramural" activities, as long as they do not significantly detract from their job duties and the activity is disclosed to their supervisors.
The policy also notes that relationships "are of concern if … the organization has a present or prospective relationship with the University."
The policy states that employees must report relevant information to superiors so that steps can be taken to avoid conflicts of interest, especially when faculty might "benefit from a knowledge of confidential information."
Hodara served as a trustee to a Japanese MBA admissions consulting firm and ran IvyStone , an undergraduate admissions counseling company. She has since ended both affiliations.
But University officials deny that Penn has changed its guidelines for defining conflicts of interest or how it enforces those policies.
"There has been no change in the University's conflict-of-interest policy, which applies to all schools and all departments at Penn," University spokesman Roz Ozio wrote in an e-mail. He declined to comment further.
Hodara told the online publication Inside Higher Ed that she had vetted her relationship with AGOS, the Japanese firm, with her supervisors, but it is unknown whether Hodara disclosed her affiliation with IvyStone.
Hodara has taken down the IvyStone Web site, and the University released a statement saying, "Penn does not consider this type of relationship appropriate, which is why it has been ended."
Hodara referred all calls for comment to the University Communications office.
The University's Conflict of Interest Policy for Faculty Members - which appears to extend to other University employees - allows Penn employees to engage in "extramural" activities, as long as they do not significantly detract from their job duties and the activity is disclosed to their supervisors.
The policy also notes that relationships "are of concern if … the organization has a present or prospective relationship with the University."
The policy states that employees must report relevant information to superiors so that steps can be taken to avoid conflicts of interest, especially when faculty might "benefit from a knowledge of confidential information."
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feudi pandola
posted 2/18/08 @ 8:26 AM EST
Policies are useless without policing them and monitoring the outside business activities of faculty. Penn would do well to establish mandatory reporting of all outside business income for faculty to prevent Hodara Incidents in the future. (Continued…)
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