Etydhv

I am a professor at a US university, and I'll be away on a sabbatical for all of the coming academic year. I would like to sublet my house while I am away, and I think that one or two of the graduate students in my department might be interested. I'd prefer to do that instead of renting to a complete stranger. However, since I would effectively be their landlord and they would be paying me rent, I am wondering if this raises ethical or conflict-of-interest concerns, since those students may be in my courses in the future.

(I have checked my university's regulations and they do not address this situation. I would certainly check with my superiors before going ahead; this question is just to find out whether this seems okay in terms of general professional ethics, or presents the appearance of a conflict.)

Some possibly relevant notes:

• My department's graduate program is not in my research area, so there would not be any chance of me becoming the dissertation advisor of any of these students. However, I could serve on their dissertation committee.




• The sublet would end before I would be teaching classes again, so I wouldn't simultaneously be a student's landlord and their instructor. It is conceivable, though, if they fell behind on the rent, that they might still owe me money at that time.

At the time they sign the lease there is no conflict of interest. Further, there is no conflict of interest anticipated throughout the duration of the lease. There is of course the possibility that an unforeseen conflict arises, but this is always a possibility. You are putting yourself at an elevated risk of a conflict of interest, so it is probably worth mentioning it to you department chair. If an unforeseen conflict does arise, just let your department chair know and do what ever is needed at that point.

The rule of thumb for conflicts of interest is: "If you think there might be a conflict of interest, or wonder whether there might be, then there is." That's because the perception of a conflict of interest is just as bad as the conflict of interest itself.

So yes, whether you feel conflicted or not, other people might believe that you could be, and that's just as bad. A better choice would likely be to rent your house to grad students in other departments.

If there is no supervisory relationship and you won't be teaching them while you are gone, I see no issues with this other than the possibility for misunderstandings over money.

One way to avoid some of the problems is to work through an agent as long as that doesn't restrict you to offering it to the public first. It also helps if the student has to leave mid term and you need to find another tenant quickly.

Another issue you should be sure to deal with is a damage deposit. Again, working through an agent would help avoid conflicts. A rental contract is a good idea as it can lay out expectations explicitly.