Supervisor Responsibilities  

Supervisor responsibilities Q &A

What is a supervisor, chair, or other manager’s responsible for in the CERT program? 

  • Completing an e-CERT for their employment situation in accordance with the requirements. 
  • Become knowledgeable about the program using the resources provided, tutorial, quiz, website, examples, FAQ’s, etc.
  • Participating in discussions with their employees who reveal a real or potential conflict of interest.  Assist employees in finding answers to their questions about how to comply.
  • Discussion should include what to avoid, how to modify situations to avoid conflicts of interest, or whether another type of remedy is warranted.
  • Contacting a key resource office (left menu bar of the CERT website) to discuss how to handle a situation disclosed by the employee if you are uncertain.
  • Documenting the discussion and agreement of a specific conflict management plan.  The documentation should include a date of discussion, names of parties to the discussion, how the conflict of interest (or potential of) will be managed, eliminated or avoided.  Share a copy with the employee and retain a copy in the employee’s departmental file.
  • Follow up or monitor situations that require a conflict management plan as appropriate.  Bring issues of concern to another manager in your management reporting chain OR contact the appropriate key resource office for assistance. 
  • Report anything you are not comfortable with until you are satisfied that the situation has been handled correctly.  
Conflict Management plan Q & A
What is a conflict management plan? 

A conflict management plan may include any of the following: 

  • Avoiding certain types of activities. There will be some circumstances when it is necessary for an employee of the university to cease certain activities (external or internal) in order to reduce the risk of conflict of interest in their NAU position.
  • Minimize the risk of a potential conflict of interest by establishing an arrangement that is agreed upon by the management chain, key resources offices, and/or university counsel that helps the institution avoid and/or properly manage the potential conflict.
  • Disclosing certain relationships or outside interests to NAU. In some cases additional actions may be required beyond disclosure, but not always.
Conflict management plans should be discussed between the employee with the real or potential conflict and their supervisor/chair/manager.  Discussion and agreements to manage or avoid the conflict of interest or cease certain activities should be documented and retained by the supervisor or a member of the management reporting chain.  The supervisor or manager should also monitor the situation to ensure that the agreement is being followed.  Conflict management plans may also need to be shared with certain key offices (HR, Legal, Affirmative Action, Research) depending on the nature of the situation.