Intimate personal relationships

Intimate personal relationships between students and staff 

The University strongly discourages intimate personal relationships between students and staff however it is recognised that relationships of this kind can and do occur. The University believes that, where the intimate personal relationship is not prohibited, and there is no issue of potential or actual misconduct by a staff member and/or student involved, a dialogue with the relevant parties can assist. Such a dialogue has the aim of protecting all concerned and measures may be explored to negate any conflict of interest/abuse of power.

There are three categories of intimate personal relationships:

• Prohibited
• Not prohibited but subject to a reporting requirement
• Not prohibited and not subject to a reporting requirement.

All students and staff should familiarise themselves with the Code of Practice for Intimate Personal Relationships (PDF).

An intimate personal relationship can create both real and perceived conflicts of interest for both students and staff members. Such relationships may also give rise to the risk of abuse of power. Typically, but not in all cases, the balance of power is likely to rest with the most senior person in the relationship or with the individual who has the perceived ability to impact the other individual’s circumstances regardless of resistance. 

When are intimate personal relationships prohibited? 

There are some circumstances in which intimate personal relationships between students and staff are prohibited from the outset. Examples of prohibited intimate personal relationships include: 

• Where a student’s course involves specialist teaching that can only be provided by the relevant staff member with whom they are in an Intimate personal relationship;
• Intimate personal relationships between postgraduate research students and members of their supervisory team;
• Intimate personal relationships between members of staff and persons under 18 years of age or Adults At Risk.
• A member of staff who engages in a prohibited intimate personal relationship may be subject to misconduct proceedings under the Staff Disciplinary Procedure.

When do I need to report an intimate personal relationship to the University? 

In some circumstances, intimate personal relationships are not prohibited, but must be reported to the University. This is applicable where the member of staff in the relationship is a relevant staff member. A relevant staff member is someone who has direct academic or other direct professional responsibilities in relation to the student that they are in a relationship with.

In these circumstances, the intimate personal relationship should be reported to the University as soon as possible.

Relevant staff members can include (but are not limited to): 

• Teaching staff, such as lecturers or graduate teaching assistants;
• Dissertation or project supervisors;
• Professional/technical services staff who support teaching;
• Personal tutors and pastoral support staff;
• Any member of staff with decision making responsibility in relation to a student’s assessment and/or progression;
• Any member of staff with decision making responsibility in relation to a student’s employment prospects within the University;
• Senior members of staff with responsibility or oversight of wider institutional strategy, processes and delivery, for example, members of the Executive Board;
• Campus safety staff. 

Who is responsible for reporting the intimate personal relationship to the University and how should this be reported?

The onus to report is on the member of staff in the intimate personal relationship. Staff members must report their intimate personal relationship to their local HR business partner or their local HRA. Staff are advised to contact the HR advisory team (HRAdvisory@surrey.ac.uk) to find out who their local HR business partner is if unsure.

Whilst the onus to report is on staff, students are strongly encouraged to contact OSCAR (oscar@surrey.ac.uk) as soon as they become aware that they are in an intimate personal relationship where the staff member has direct academic responsibility or other direct professional responsibility for them. A failure to do so will not result in disciplinary proceedings against the student, however, it is considered to be within the student’s best interests to report such relationships. This will enable the University to ensure, as far as possible, that the student is not disadvantaged by the relationship and safeguard against conflicts of interest or abuses of power.

The University will endeavour to: 

1. Amend the responsibilities of the relevant staff member so that they are no longer a relevant staff member in relation to the student with whom they are in an intimate personal relationship;
2. Manage the academic and/or professional interaction between the relevant staff member and the student in the intimate personal relationship in order to protect the student’s academic, employment and pastoral interests from compromise or disadvantage.
3. This includes, but is not limited to, putting in place a mechanism to prevent the relevant staff member from influencing, or appearing to influence, the student’s academic results or reference;
   1. prevent against a potential or actual unfair advantage to the student, for example, in assessment, references or academic or employment opportunities, due to their intimate personal relationship with a relevant staff member, and
   2. promote avenues by which the student can report misconduct through a mechanism that does not involve the relevant staff member with whom they are in an intimate personal relationship. 

What happens if sufficient mitigations cannot be made?

• If the steps set out above are found to be infeasible, or insufficient to negate any conflict of interest, the intimate personal relationship will be deemed prohibited.