Confidentiality & conflict of interest | PAC Resources | Seneca Polytechnic

Are the topics discussed at PAC meetings confidential?

Information shared with and discussed at PAC meetings is confidential. PAC members have an obligation to maintain confidentially according to the non-disclosure agreement signed at the beginning of their membership term and kept on file by the program area and Academic Quality.

How is conflict of interest addressed on a PAC?

Careful consideration should be given as to whether a PAC member’s personal pursuits, external positions, personal affairs, dealings with external entities or persons, interests of family members or friends, monetary and non-monetary benefits, and/or any other situation place them in an actual, perceived or potential conflict of interest. 

At the beginning of every PAC meeting, the PAC chair is to ask, and have recorded in the minutes, whether any member has a conflict of interest to declare with respect to any agenda item.

What happens if there’s a conflict of interest?

A member who perceives that their private or personal interests conflict or have the potential to conflict with an item under discussion will have the obligation to excuse themselves from the discussion and to abstain from voting on the specific item in question.

This is necessary because there may be matters before the PAC that affect other organizations in which the member holds an interest or a position of influence. For example, Seneca discourages PAC members from joining another postsecondary institution’s PAC.