Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology

SDG 16 · Policy

Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

01 Policy Statement

RUET is committed to building a peaceful, just and inclusive university community, governed by strong, transparent and accountable institutions. To fulfil this commitment, RUET will:

  • Maintain transparent, accountable, ethical, and participatory governance.
  • Strengthen grievance redress, anti-harassment, anti-ragging, and integrity mechanisms.
  • Promote professional ethics and responsible conduct.
  • Ensure transparency and accountability in procurement and decision-making.
  • Promote anti-corruption practices and public accountability.

02 Actions23 actions

  1. 1

    Govern through the statutory bodies established under the RUET Act, including the Syndicate and the Academic Council; publish key decisions, the annual report and the budget summary; and include representatives of faculty, officers, staff and students in relevant committees in line with Section 3.

  2. 2

    Proactively disclose information and respond to information requests under the Right to Information Act, 2009, through a designated information officer, and maintain a published Citizen’s Charter for university services.

  3. 3

    Maintain and publicize the institutional Grievance Redress System, the Sexual Harassment Prevention Committee (SDG 5), the anti-ragging committee and notification (SDG 10) and the National Integrity Strategy structures; publish the reporting route for each; and report annually on cases received and resolved.

  4. 4

    Include engineering and professional ethics in curricula, adopt and publish codes of conduct for students, faculty members, officers and staff, and provide research integrity and responsible conduct training for researchers and postgraduate students.

  5. 5

    Conduct procurement and financial activity in accordance with government and university rules, promoting fairness in procurement, transparency in financial transactions, proper documentation, appropriate authorization, accountability for expenditure and protection of university resources, including transparent procurement and e-tendering, with tender notices and award results published.

  6. 6

    Require members of the university community involved in decision-making to disclose relevant conflicts of interest, and require a person with a significant conflict to withdraw from a decision where participation could compromise impartiality.

  7. 7

    Prohibit and act against bribery, corruption and misuse of authority. The following are not permitted:

    • aoffering, requesting, giving or accepting bribes;
    • bmisuse of university authority or position for personal benefit;
    • cfraudulent or dishonest financial practices;
    • dmanipulation or falsification of university records;
    • eimproper influence in procurement, recruitment, admission, examination or other institutional decisions;
    • fundisclosed conflicts of interest;
    • gmisuse or unauthorized use of university funds, assets or resources;
    • hfacilitation of corrupt practices by another person.
  8. 8

    Require caution regarding gifts, hospitality, favors and other benefits that may influence, or reasonably appear to influence, official decisions, and require disclosure and management of any gift or benefit that creates an actual or perceived conflict with official responsibilities.

  9. 9

    Provide a route for any person to report suspected bribery, corruption, fraud or serious conflict of interest through the appropriate university authority or institutional mechanism; investigate allegations through the competent authority under applicable procedures; and take administrative or disciplinary action where misconduct is established. A person reporting in good faith shall not be subjected to retaliation, intimidation or adverse treatment.

  10. 10

    Average awareness and training programmes on integrity, anti-corruption, conflict of interest, ethical decision-making, financial accountability and responsible institutional conduct, consistent with the National Integrity Strategy activities and ethics structures within the university’s governance framework.

  11. 11

    Protect academic freedom in teaching, so that faculty members may:

    • aselect appropriate teaching approaches;
    • bexplain relevant scholarly perspectives;
    • cencourage critical thinking;
    • ddiscuss evidence and alternative interpretations;
    • edevelop academic materials consistent with approved curricula;
    • fencourage students to question and to engage in constructive discussion, consistent with approved curricula, academic regulations, professional responsibilities and applicable law.
  12. 12

    Protect academic freedom in research: identification of research questions, exploration of new ideas and methodologies, independent scholarly investigation, publication of findings subject to applicable requirements, presentation at academic forums, and interdisciplinary and collaborative research — subject to research ethics, safety requirements, intellectual property rules and institutional procedures.

  13. 13

    Treat professionally expressed academic disagreement as legitimate scholarly exchange and not, by itself, as misconduct, and protect academic staff and researchers from improper interference in legitimate academic or research activity.

  14. 14

    Uphold academic integrity in all teaching and research: honesty, objectivity, proper citation and attribution, responsible authorship, research integrity, avoidance of plagiarism, appropriate data management and ethical research practice; and require research involving human participants, animals or sensitive information to follow applicable ethical requirements and institutional procedures.

  15. 15

    Provide a route through the academic, administrative or grievance mechanism, including the institutional Grievance Redress System, for concerns about academic freedom or improper interference.

  16. 16

    Researchers may define legitimate functional and performance requirements, but no person may direct selection of a particular vendor or brand except where objectively justified and permitted under applicable procurement rules.

  17. 17

    Direct community-oriented research toward practical challenges in energy, environment, climate change, water and sanitation, infrastructure, transportation, urban development, disaster resilience and digital technology.

  18. 18

    Conduct all stakeholder engagement with respect, transparency, professionalism, non-discrimination and accountability; record the nature of collaboration, participating organizations, activities undertaken, outcomes and lessons learned; and collect stakeholder feedback to improve future programmes and partnerships.

  19. 19

    Protect university data through backup arrangements scaled to the criticality of the information, the frequency of data changes, recovery requirements, available storage, security risks and technical feasibility. Where appropriate:

    • abackup schedules shall be established for critical systems;
    • bbackup procedures shall be periodically reviewed;
    • cbackup records shall identify the relevant systems and data;
    • drecovery procedures shall be documented;
    • ebackup copies shall be protected from unauthorized access;
    • fimportant backup copies shall be held separately from the primary system where technically feasible;
    • gbackup arrangements shall be tested periodically to verify recoverability.
  20. 20

    Protect confidential and sensitive information through access controls, encryption, secure authentication, controlled storage, secure transmission and appropriate monitoring, with access to university information systems granted on the basis of legitimate institutional requirement.

  21. 21

    Require users to protect passwords and authentication credentials, avoid unauthorized sharing of accounts, use university systems responsibly, follow ICT security procedures, and promptly report suspected unauthorized access, data breach, malware infection, phishing, loss of devices containing sensitive data or unusual system activity through the appropriate ICT or administrative channel.

  22. 22

    Maintain recovery procedures for hardware failure, software failure, accidental deletion, cybersecurity incidents, data corruption, disaster and other significant disruptions, so that essential university operations can continue.

  23. 23

    Retain and dispose of university data according to university requirements, legal obligations and institutional needs, taking appropriate measures to prevent unauthorized recovery or disclosure of sensitive information from data or storage media no longer required. Failure to comply may result in administrative or disciplinary action under applicable rules.