"in academia, conflicts of interest are not considered an absolutely unethical thing that must be avoided at all costs." Also outside Academia.

@Dan Romik I'm not suggesting that you are trying to get the OP or his Department off the hook but such a strictly legalistic answer is not addressing either the OP's problem or its primary cause. Clearly common sense must also play a part in dealing with these situations. An unethical (in accepted general sense) Chair could subtly affect junior colleagues to go easier on his child's exam marking. Here the actual educational wrong would be done by the junior in circumstances where blame for abuse of power is hard to prove. Avoiding potential conflict is key to anti-corruption for >100 years.

@Anon No. But should be wherever practicable.

@AnonymousPhysicist yes, also outside academia, but I think only in some situations, not all. There are different norms that would apply in different contexts, and some COIs would be considered as absolutely unacceptable.

@Trunk I’m confused. Which part of what I said is “trying to get the chair off the hook? And off the hook for what specifically? For all we know given the minimal detail provided in the question, the chair could be doing nothing wrong and may even be following their institution’s policy to the letter, filing relevant disclosures and developing a plan to mitigate the conflict, etc.

There is no institutional policy on my situation. It is a mere fait accompli. I was not consulted as to whether I view the situation as acceptable. Despite stated concerns, there has been no attempt at mitigation: only denial that even an apparent or potential conflict exists. It has been treated by the administration as a matter of pure expediency.

The question which you actually submitted to Academia SE was/is about whether or not it is ethical for the child of a departmental chair to take classes within that department. The answers you have gotten have all stated that there is no a priori ethical issue here. I further noted that if an ethical issue were to arise, then there are steps that you can take to mitigate that problem. You now seem to be arguing that, in fact, such ethical violations have already occurred. In that case, I suggest that you follow the advice I gave you in my answer:

(1) go over the chair's head to the dean, (2) contact an ombud, or (3) get in touch with your union rep (if you have one). Make sure that you have documented the ethical violations.

No, my question makes clear that my concern is about the coming fall semester. And no, not all the answers agree with your position that the situation is proper just because nothing terrible has happened yet.

I'm confident that many cases of nepotism have occurred through history where "nothing bad happened." Perhaps a given corporation was riddled with nepotism and by the economic "bottom line" metric everything was splendid. This does not make nepotism a good idea.

@buoyant to clarify, my answer doesn’t deal with the practical question of what to do. Probably you should seek an appropriate outlet to express your concern to — not the chair, since they are the subject of your complaint, but someone above them. And research the policy some more beforehand: while your specific situation is not covered, it’s likely a general policy against corrupt practices, favoritism, or coercion may still apply. Also show them the UMN policy to bolster your case. Not all institutions have equally well thought out policies, but it doesn’t mean they don’t want to do better.

@buoyantforce as for the ethics, I said it’s not clear that something unethical is going on, but it’s also not clear that something unethical isn’t going on. So I’m not disagreeing with your premise to the extent you seem to be thinking I am. Mostly I feel it depends on specific details that you haven’t provided.

@Dan Romik You are essentially implying that the ethics of this situation are what are lain down for such eventualities in OP's or similar university regulations. If no explicit or general regulations are mentioned therein, you imply this situation of a Chair's child being taught and examined by a junior subordinate of his own is "okay". You provide a legalistic answer to OP's concerns. That is what I mean by "getting Chair or OP off the hook". We have to be cautious of using general university regulations: these are open to varying interpretations. But common sense ethics say it's hazardous.

@Trunk please reference the exact sentence where I say something you find objectionable. I stand by everything I said, but only what I actually said, not what you incorrectly think I am “essentially implying”. To clarify again, the summary of my views on the ethics is: I agree this is ethically fraught territory in general and that some caution/vigilance is warranted, but we weren’t given enough information to say that anyone is/has been actually behaving unethically.

@Dan Romik What you said is not objectionable: it's as precise as it can be - but all within the limits of your chosen remit, i.e. the existing explicit regulations on such matters. What I disagree with is this legalistic approach to education ethics. It ignores the clear moral hazard of having your child's career-affecting capabilities evaluated by a junior subordinate of your own. Universities' reputations stand or fall on the public's trust. We can't ignore public perception and everyday common sense in this type of scenario. These things have to be included in ethical assessments too.

@Trunk okay, I’m truly sorry but I see literally no connection between my answer and your interpretation of it, so from my point of view you’re attacking an army of straw men. Thanks for your thoughts in any case.

@Dan Romik You know well that merely following existing policies and companion documents from a selection of US universities is not even good management of ethical conflicts let alone leadership. Ethical blinkering will only beget bigger ethical violations. This matter demands a more human understanding and more careful precautions if the existing education benefits are to be - at least till a better system is introduced - continued for faculty.

@Trunk Dan Romik seems to have already addressed that point in their answer: "This is the case here: your situation certainly warrants a healthy dose of caution and awareness on the part of the involved parties, and compliance with university policy and fairly obvious ethical principles. But, since you ask about the ethics, I wouldn’t say that the situation (based on the few specific details you described) is necessarily evidence of any unethical behavior." Where is Dan suggesting "ethical blinkering"?!

@Xander We shouldn't dissect Dan's viewpoint without him here - he's able to speak for himself. And I'm not suffering third-man tacklers against Dan on my behalf, should they arrive. We both made our perspectives clear enough, I think.

@Trunk Dan already did speak for himself. You are attacking a point which was never made. I don't think that it is unreasonable for a third party to point this out. Attack the argument, not the messanger.