Political Activity on Campus

July 19, 2019

To all Faculty and Staff,

As local and national political campaign activity ramps up, I want to remind all employees of the policies and rules on the use of university facilities, resources and time for partisan political purposes.

Employees May:

Participate in the political campaign process on their own time in their personal capacity without reference to their Stony Brook affiliation. There must be a clear separation between campaign activities and employment at the university.

Make political contributions and be active during non-working hours.

Employees May Not:

Use their positions to gain political favor or to encourage or discourage or request political contributions or activities.

Use university or state resources including letterhead, computers, offices, phones, email, listservs,, etc. for partisan political purposes.

Because your email is public you may receive unsolicited political messages. Use of your SBU email address for non-work related activity increases the risk of receiving these emails. Accordingly, you should use your work email for work related activity as per Stony Brook's Use of Information Technology policy and DOIT's Use of Email policy.

Campus Related Political Activities

We recognize the educational benefits of exposing students to political debate and information, including partisan political speech, and to making campus facilities available, consistent with our policies, to a wide range of speakers and expressive activities. For more information on this subject, visit our Free Speech website, which includes specifics about hosting candidates on campus and other matters related to freedom of expression and political activity.

Relevant Resources:

Joint Commission on Public Ethics
Use of Information Technology Policy (P109)
Fundraising and Solicitation on Campus Policy (P700)
SBU Free Speech Website

Please contact the appropriate Human Resources Office should you have any questions about your engagement in political activity.

Questions related to hosting candidates on campus, civic engagement initiatives, and general political activities on campus should be referred to Carl Mills at carl.mills@stonybrook.edu.

Thank you for your attention to these matters.

 

Judith B. Greiman
Chief Deputy to the President
Senior Vice President for Government & Community Relations