HUMAN RESOURCES OF HKU

(This circular will be issued via bulk-email and intranet)

To: All staff members on Terms of Service I or Bands G to J

Dear Colleagues,

Declaration of Interests

To protect the reputation of individual staff members and the University and show accountability to the public, you are now invited to declare interests annually or update your declaration as and when necessary by completing an on-line e-Declaration of Interests (DoI) Form.  You can access the system via HKU Portal (clicking 'My Page' > 'Self Service' > 'Human Resources' > 'Declaration of Interest').  A sample declaration is available in the on-line system for your reference.

2. The University encourages all academic and professional staff members to contribute their expertise to the community through participation not only in academic institutions/outside organizations, but also through their involvement in public/non-profit/charitable organizations (including statutory/non-statutory bodies) etc.  Starting from this year, other than academic institutions/outside organizations, you are also required to disclose any interests relating to non-profit/charitable bodies/public/community service/voluntary work (viz. any responsible positions held at executive or non-executive board or Director level).  

3. When undertaking outside activities/engagement, it is imperative that the following be observed:

• Any participation in outside bodies is at staff's own time and in his/her own personal capacity.  One must not make representation to other parties that one is representing the University in any respect; and
• One should not use HKU name and resources for the outside activities/engagement.

4. Please also note that declaring your interests via the Declaration of Interest system does not imply that you are permitted to engage in the declared transactions or activities involving potential or actual conflict of interest.  Whenever a potential or actual conflict of interest situation arises, it is your responsibility to make full disclosure immediately to the appropriate authorities in accordance with the University's Guidelines on Conflict of Interest, which can be viewed at http://www.hr.hku.hk/ under "Staff Policies and Practices."

5. Deans/Heads/Directors are required to note the submissions of staff in their Faculty/Department/Faculty/Centre.  This on-line e declaration system will enable Deans/Heads/Directors to be informed of appointments outside the University and be alerted to potential conflict of interest situations.

6. Permission to undertake outside practice work should not be submitted through this form.  A separate application should be made via the Outside Practice Management System.

Enquiries
7. The University will regularly review the procedures on handling declaration of interests.  We hope that good practices on this issue can be further developed among the University community.  Should you have any enquiries on the on-line system, please contact Mr. Dickson Chow, Senior IT Manager, Information Technology Services (email: flchow@hku.hk).

Yours sincerely,

Professor Roland T. Chin
Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost
Chair of Computer Science

October 30, 2012

cc. Director of Human Resources
     Director of IT Services
     Director of Finance