With political campaigning for local and statewide races currently underway, Mississippi State's Office of General Counsel offers the following reminder of the university’s policy on political activities. Below are several guidelines that employees should keep in mind when engaging in any form of political activity:
* It is unlawful for any employee of MSU to influence or attempt to influence, directly or indirectly, another employee to vote or not to vote for any particular person or group of persons in any election.
* When engaging in any form of political activity, employees should not use their university title after their names in letters, graphic presentations, or advertisements (with the exception of a candidate who can use his/her title for identification purposes only).
* Any endorsement of a candidate or issue by an employee (whether oral, written, or in graphic form) should never imply in any way that the candidate or issue is endorsed by the university or a component of the university.
This is not an exhaustive list of guidelines that pertain to political activity. The political activity policy is quite comprehensive and can be found online at
www.msstate.edu/dept/audit/0114.html. The Office of General Counsel encourages each employee to review this policy in its entirety to make certain you are fully aware of your rights and responsibilities.