Provost Policy Statement Policies and Procedures on UK Employees using Self-Authored Textbooks in UK Classes December 2011

UK faculty and staff employees may not profit from the sale of self-authored textbooks sold to UK students enrolled in UK courses.   

Other policies and procedures are enumerated below. 

1. A UK faculty or staff employee is permitted to author textbooks and negotiate with publishers to sell those textbooks at other universities and accept all contractual royalties.
2. A UK faculty or staff employee may not ordinarily assign a self-authored textbook to the individual’s class or that of another instructor's UK classes.
3. A UK faculty or staff employee may petition the department of record for permission to use a self-authored textbook in a UK class, either one being taught the employee or a class being taught by another UK instructor.
4. The procedure steps for evaluating the petition are as follows:
   1. The chair, director or dean, in consultation with the appropriate unit faculty, shall make a determination on whether or not another available textbook could reasonably substitute for the book being proposed for the course.
   2. If the unit administrator determines that the textbook authored by the UK employee is uniquely suitable for the class, then the textbook may be assigned. 

   3. All royalties from the sale of the self-authored textbook to UK students must be accounted for by the UK employee and donated to the University, a charitable organization or another educational institution. 

       

       

      Office of the Provost December 2011 of: Ethics Committee opinion