The University of Iowa will be the destination of first choice for talented students, faculty, and staff from wide ranging backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints, who will craft new chapters of exploration, discovery, creation, and engagement. Together, we will advance the university’s standing as one of the most distinguished public flagship universities in the country.

— UI Policy Manual


As members of the university community, each of us is responsible for creating an environment where faculty, staff, and students can learn, work, explore, discover, create, and engage. This requires:

  • Treating all UI community members and visitors with respect
  • Modeling ethical behavior and business practices every day, in every aspect of our work
  • Embracing a commitment to fostering a welcoming and respectful workplace environment while recognizing personal differences

The university expects all faculty, staff, and students to meet standards of behavior grounded in UI values, including commitment to academic freedom and free speech. An academic institution has a duty to provide a forum in which differences of opinion are actively encouraged and facilitated, and where opinions and deeply held beliefs are challenged and debated.

UI Core Values

Our core values frame both who we are and who we aspire to be as a university community. As we plan, set priorities, and make daily decisions about how to carry out our mission, we are guided by these interdependent commitments. 

University of Iowa Health Care defines its core values through its "We Care" values, which are: welcoming, excellence, collaboration, accountability, respect, and empowerment.

Key Policies

University policies underscore the expectation for respectful, fair, and ethical behavior by all community members. Updated regularly, the university’s Policy Manual is the best source for policy information.

Understanding and adhering to the following policies will provide a foundation for your success:

Key Policies

Human Rights

Prohibits differences in treatment based on protected classifications and establishes options for discrimination complaints, sanctions, and appeals.

Human Rights Policy

Sexual Harassment and Sexual Misconduct

Prohibits unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature in the workplace and in the academic environment, and establishes procedures for reporting harassment and resolving allegations.

Sexual Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Policy

Anti-Harassment

Prohibits severe, persistent, or pervasive conduct that interferes with work, education, on-campus living, or participation in university activities. Establishes formal and informal complaint, investigation, and disciplinary options.

Anti-Harassment Policy

Violence

Prohibits acts and threats of violence, including physical or sexual assault, threats of assault, threats with a weapon, domestic/dating violence, stalking, property damage, and violent conduct prohibited by Iowa law.

Violence Policy

Anti-Retaliation

Protects people who make good-faith reports of university-related misconduct from retaliatory action.

Anti-Retaliation Policy

Ethics and Responsibilities for UI Staff

Establishes ethical standards for staff members, including professional conduct, fairness, civility, compliance, information and data management, and stewardship.

Ethics and Responsibilities for UI Staff Policy

Professional Ethics and Academic Responsibilities

Describes faculty responsibilities to students, scholarship, colleagues, the institution, and the community.

Professional Ethics and Academic Responsibilities Policy

Conflicts of Commitment and Interest

Provides expectations and procedures to ensure that conflicts of interest (financial) and commitment (effort) are avoided whenever possible, or otherwise disclosed and managed.

Conflicts of Commitment and Interest Policy

Conflict of Interest in Employment (Nepotism)

Defines workplace conflicts of interest due to personal relationships between individuals in a supervisory relationship and establishes the process for disclosure and management of such situations.

Conflict of Interest in Employment (Nepotism) Policy

Contact your local HR representative or your supervisor for more information about any university, collegiate, or departmental policy.