The UNC Policy
Manual
300.2.2.3[R]
Adopted 06/21/12
Amended 06/05/24
I. Purpose. The purpose of
these guidelines is to provide a framework for Constituent Institutions in the development,
implementation, publicizing, training, monitoring, and enforcement of implementing
Institutional policies and procedures for the UNC Policy on Conflict of Interest
and Commitment (see UNC Policy Manual 300.2.2). These guidelines are organized to
provide definitions and examples of conflicts of interest and commitment within
the context of the policy; however, Constituent Institutions shall adopt their own
policies, regulations, and rules that best fit their Constituent Institution’s regulatory
framework not inconsistent with federal and state law and University policies. The
System Office and Constituent Institutions will be compliant regarding conflict
of interest and commitment standards as required by the terms of its agreement with
external sponsors, which may change from time to time. As federal agencies may have
differing requirements, standards and reporting on these research projects will
be responsive to the standards and guidelines set by those agencies.
II. Categories of Potential Financial Conflicts
of Interest. Activities that may involve a Conflict of Interest may be categorized
under four general headings: first, those that are allowable and are disclosed;
second, those that are allowable with administrative approval and are disclosed;
third, those that generally are not allowable and require an approved conflict of
interest management plan; and fourth, those that are not allowable under any circumstances.
The following examples are merely illustrative and do not purport to include all
possible situations within the four categories:
A.
Activities that are
allowable and are disclosed.
The examples cited
below involve activities external to University Employment, and thus may present
the appearance of a financial conflict of interest but have little or no potential
for affecting the objectivity of the Covered Employee’s performance of University
Employment Responsibilities; at most, some such situations could prompt questions
about conflicts of commitment.
1. A Covered Employee receiving royalties from
the publication of books or for the licensure
of patented inventions subject to the UNC Patent and Copyright Policies.
2. A
Covered Employee receiving compensation in the form of honoraria or expense reimbursement,
in connection with service to professional associations, service on review panels,
presentation of scholarly works, and participation in accreditation reviews.
B. Activities requiring disclosure for further
administrative review and analysis.
The examples cited
below suggest a possibility of conflicting interests that can impair objectivity,
but disclosure and resulting analysis of relationships may render the activity permissible
and may result in the establishment of an approved Conflict of Interest Management
Plan.
1.
A Covered Employee
requiring students to purchase the textbook or related instructional materials authored
by the employee or members of their immediate family, which produces compensation
for the employee or family member.
2.
A Covered Employee
receiving compensation or gratuities from any individual or entity doing business
with the University. Nothing in this subsection authorizes accepting compensation
or gratuities where prohibited by federal or state law.
3.
A Covered Employee
serving on the board of directors or scientific advisory board of an enterprise
that provides financial support for University research
where the employee or a member of their immediate family may receive such financial
support.
4.
Covered Employee
participating in a Foreign Government Talent Recruitment Program as defined in UNC Policy
Manual, Section 300.2.2.
5. A
Covered Employee or a member of their immediate family (see UNC Policy Manual, Section 300.2.2, which includes the person’s
spouse and dependent children) having an equity or ownership interest in a publicly
or non-publicly traded entity or enterprise.
6.
External Professional Activities governed
by and approved pursuant to UNC Policy Manual, Section 300.2.2.1[R].
C. Activities
or relationships that are generally not allowable or permitted unless an approved
Conflict of Interest Management Plan is in place.
The examples cited
below involve situations that are not generally permissible, because they involve
potential financial conflicts of interest, or they present obvious opportunities
or inducements to favor personal interests over Institutional interests. Before
proceeding with such an endeavor, the Covered Employee would have to demonstrate
that in fact their objectivity would not be affected, and University interests otherwise
would not be damaged, and an approved Conflict of Interest Management Plan is in
place.
1.
A Covered Employee
participating in University research involving a technology
owned by or contractually obligated to (by license or an option to license, or otherwise)
an enterprise or entity in which the individual or a member of their immediate family
has a consulting relationship, has an equity or ownership interest, or holds an
executive position.
2.
A Covered Employee
participating in University research that is funded by
a grant or contract from an enterprise or entity in which the individual or a member
of their immediate family has an equity or ownership interest.
3.
A Covered Employee
assigning students, post-doctoral fellows, or other trainees to University research projects sponsored by an enterprise or entity
in which the individual or a member of their immediate family has an equity or ownership
interest.
D. Activities
that are not allowable under any circumstances.
1. A
Covered Employee making referrals of University business
to an external enterprise in which the individual or a member of their immediate
family has a financial interest.
2. A
Covered Employee associating their own name with the University in such a way as
to profit financially by trading on the reputation or goodwill of the university.
3. A
Covered Employee making unauthorized use of privileged information acquired in connection
with one's University responsibilities.
4. A
Covered Employee signing agreements that assign Institution patent and other intellectual
property rights to third parties without prior Institutional approval.
5. A
Covered Employee benefiting from a public contract in violation of G.S. 14-234,
accepting gifts or favors from vendors or contractors in violation of G.S. 133-32,
or engaging in activities prohibited under G.S. Chapter 138A.
6. Any
activity otherwise prohibited by law or University policy.
III. Federal and State Regulations. The following
resources are established to provide guidance to UNC Constituent Institutions in
the establishment of implementing policies for the avoidance of conflicts of interest
and conflicts of commitment in the conduct on university responsibilities including
teaching, research, and service. The Institution may have more stringent financial
disclosure requirements. Please refer to the constituent Institution’s conflict
of interest policy and confer with the Institution’s designated official(s) to determine
the Institution’s disclosure requirements.
A.
Public Health Service/US
Department of Health and Human Services
The
Public Health Service (PHS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
issued revised regulations on the “Responsibility
of Applicants for Promoting Objectivity in Research for which PHS Funding is Sought
and Responsible Prospective Contractors” (commonly known
as the Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) regulations) on August 25, 2011. These
regulations establish new standards and clarify previously issued standards to be
followed by Institutions that apply for or receive research funding from PHS Awarding
Components, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for grants, cooperative
agreements, and research contracts. The 2011 revised regulations were written to
increase accountability, add transparency, enhance regulatory compliance and effective
Institutional management of Investigator’s financial conflicts of interest, and
strengthen PHS’s compliance oversight. The primary goal is to promote objectivity
by establishing standards that provide a reasonable expectation that the design,
conduct, and reporting of research funded under PHS grants, cooperative agreements,
and research contracts will be free from bias resulting from Investigator financial
conflicts of interest.
Institutions
must maintain an up-to-date written Conflict of Interest policy, must ensure the
policy is enforced, and must make the policy available via a publicly available
website. The Institution must inform Investigators of their responsibilities regarding
disclosure of significant financial interests and the applicable federal regulations.
The full regulatory
citation for the PHS policy is located at the following URL: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/coi/
1.
Required Compliance/Implementation
Date
An Institution applying for or receiving PHS funding
from a grant or cooperative agreement must be in compliance with
all revised regulatory requirements no later than 365 days after publication of
the regulation in the Federal Register, i.e., August 24, 2012, and immediately upon
making the Institution’s Financial Conflict of Interest policy publicly accessible
as described in 42 CFR part 50.604(a). When the Institution posts its Financial
Conflict of Interest policy (or, if the Institution does not have a current presence
on a publicly accessible website, makes the policy publicly accessible by written
request), it signifies that the Institution applying for or receiving PHS funding
from a grant or cooperative agreement that is covered by the 2011 revised regulation
is in full compliance with all the regulatory requirements. The Institution must
be in compliance with the 2011 revised regulation no later
than August 24, 2012.
2.
Applicability of
Revised FCOI Regulations (Institutions)
The regulation is applicable to each Institution
that is applying for, or that receives, PHS research funding by means of a grant
or cooperative agreement. The revised regulation will apply to each grant or cooperative
agreement with an issue date of the Notice of Award that is subsequent to the compliance
dates of the final rule (including noncompeting continuations) no later than August
24, 2012 and immediately upon making its Financial Conflict
of Interest policy publicly accessible. Through their policies, however, Institutions
may choose to apply the revised regulations to all active PHS awards. The regulation
does not apply to Phase I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Small Business
Technology Transfer Research (STTR) applications.
3.
Applicability of
Revised FCOI Regulations (Investigators)
The
regulation is applicable to each Investigator, through implementation of the regulation
by the Institution, who is planning to participate in, or is participating in PHS
research funded by means of a grant or cooperative agreement. The term Investigator
applies to the individual identified as the project director or Principal Investigator
and any other person, regardless of title or position, who is responsible for the
design, conduct, or reporting of research funded by the PHS, or proposed for such
funding and may apply to faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students.
For purposes of financial disclosure only, the regulation covers the Investigator’s
spouse and dependent children. The regulation also applies to those few cases where
an individual, rather than an Institution, is applying for or receives PHS research
funding. However, in those cases, the PHS will make case-by-case determinations
on the steps an Institution or an Investigator must take, consistent with the regulation,
to provide a reasonable expectation that the design, conduct, and reporting of the
research will be free from bias resulting from a Financial Conflict of Interest
of the individual.
4.
Applicability of
Revised FCOI Regulation (Subrecipients)
The revised regulation is applicable to each Institution
that applies for or receives PHS funding for research through grants or cooperative
agreements and, through the implementation of the regulation by each Institution,
to each Investigator planning to participate in, or participating in, such research.
A subrecipient relationship is established when federal funds flow down from or
through an awardee Institution to another individual or entity and the subrecipient
will be conducting a substantive portion of the PHS-funded research project and
is accountable to the awardee Institution for programmatic outcomes and compliance
matters. Accordingly, as a recipient of federal funds from an awardee Institution,
the Financial Conflict of Interest regulation applies to subrecipients (e.g., subcontractors
or consortium members). See 42 CFR 50.604 (c). The awardee Institution must determine
if the Conflict-of-Interest policy of the awardee Institution or the Subrecipient
will apply to the Subrecipient’s Investigator(s) and incorporate language into the
written agreement that designates the applicable Conflict of Interest policy.
5.
Organizational Structure/Designated
Official
An Institution may administer its policy through
whichever office or structure it chooses as long as the
policy is applicable to all Investigators and the policy meets all requirements
of the regulation. Each Institution must designate official(s) to review all financial
disclosures by Investigators and determine whether any Significant Financial Interest
is related to a PHS-funded research and a Financial Conflict
of Interests exists by making a reasonable determination that the Significant Financial
Interest could be affected by the PHS-funded research or is in an entity whose financial
interest could be affected by the research.
6.
Required Training
Institutions are expected to develop and implement
their Financial Conflict of Interest policies during the 365-day implementation
period provided in the 2011 revised regulation. Once the Institution implements
and posts their Financial Conflict of Interest policy as required under the final
rule, Investigators are expected to then complete required training prior to engaging
in PHS-supported research or by the issue date of the Notice of Award issued subsequent to the Institution’s implementation date. NIH has
issued a Conflict of Interest tutorial that can be incorporated
into campus training programs, which can be accessed from the URL cited at the beginning
of Section I of the Guidelines. Each Investigator (as defined by the regulation),
including Subrecipient Investigator(s), must complete training prior to engaging
in PHS-funded research and at least every four years, and immediately under specifically
designated circumstances:
a.
Institutional Financial
Conflict of Interest policies change in a manner that affects Investigator requirements;
b.
An Investigator is
new to an Institution; or,
c.
An Institution finds
that an Investigator is not in compliance with the Institution’s Financial Conflict
of Interest policy or management plan.
7.
Disclosure
a.
Institutional
responsibilities:
1. Under
the revised FCOI regulation, Significant Financial Interests that are subject
to disclosure by an Investigator to an Institution are those that reasonably appear
to be related to the Investigator’s ‘‘Institutional responsibilities,” as defined
by the Institution. As a result, when read in conjunction with the revised Investigator
disclosure requirements under 42 CFR 50.604, the revised Significant Financial Interest
definition results in the disclosure by Investigators to Institutions of a wider
array of interests on a more frequent basis. In addition to their own, Investigators
are required to disclose the Significant Financial Interests of their spouse and
dependent children.
b. Monetary
threshold:
1. The
Significant Financial Interest de minimis threshold is $5,000 and, in some
circumstances, monetary thresholds for disclosure may be $0.
2. The
definition also differentiates between remuneration to the Investigator (and the
Investigator’s spouse and dependent children) from a publicly traded entity and
remuneration from a non-publicly traded entity. With regard to
a publicly traded entity, a monetary threshold of $5,000 applies to the aggregated
amount of any remuneration received from the entity in the twelve months preceding
disclosure and the value of any equity interest as of the date of disclosure. With regard to a non-publicly traded entity, a Significant Financial
Interest exists if the value of any remuneration received from the entity in the
twelve months preceding the disclosure, when aggregated, exceeds $5,000, or when
the Investigator (or the Investigator’s spouse or dependent children) holds any equity interest (e.g., stock, stock
option, or other ownership interest).
c. Timing:
1. The
revised Significant Financial Interest definition applies to any remuneration received
from an entity in the twelve months preceding the disclosure. Any Investigator who
is planning to participate in PHS-funded research must disclose the Investigator’s
Significant Financial Interests no later than the time of application for PHS-funded
research. In addition, each such Investigator must submit an updated disclosure
or Significant Financial Interests within thirty days of discovering or acquiring
(such as through purchase, marriage, or inheritance) a new Significant Financial
Interest.
d. Reimbursed
or Sponsored Travel:
1. Investigators
must disclose the occurrence of any reimbursed or sponsored travel (i.e., that which
is paid on behalf of the Investigator and not reimbursed to the Investigator so
that the exact monetary value may not be readily available), related to the Investigator’s
Institutional responsibilities. However, the disclosure requirement does not apply
to travel that is reimbursed or sponsored by the following:
a. a federal, state, or local government agency,
b. an
Institution of higher education as defined at 20 U.S.C. 1001(a),
c. an
academic teaching hospital,
d. a
medical center, or
e. a
research institute that is affiliated with an Institution of higher education.
e. Exclusions:
1. The
revised regulation modifies the types of interests that are specifically
excluded from the Significant Financial Interest definition.
The exclusions are:
a. salary,
royalties, or other remuneration paid by the Institution to the Investigator if
the Investigator is currently employed or otherwise appointed by the Institution;
b. intellectual
property rights assigned to the Institution and agreements to share in royalties
related to such rights;
c. any
ownership interests in the Institution held by the Investigator, if the Institution
is a commercial or for-profit organization;
d. income
from investment vehicles, such as mutual funds and retirement accounts, as long
as the Investigator does not directly control the investment decisions made in these
vehicles;
e. income
from seminars, lectures, or teaching engagements sponsored by a federal, state,
or local government agency, an Institution of higher education as defined in 20
U.S.C. 1001(a), an academic teaching hospital, a medical center, or a research institute
that is affiliated with an Institution of higher education;
f. income
from service on advisory committees or review panels for a federal, state, or local
government agency, or an Institution of higher education as defined at 20 U.S.C.
1001(a), an academic teaching hospital, a medical center, or a research institute
that is affiliated with an Institution of higher education.
f. Paid Authorships:
1. Paid
authorships are considered payment for services under the revised regulations and
must be disclosed.
8.
Consequences of Investigator
Non-Compliance
a. When
an Investigator fails to comply with the Institution’s Financial Conflict of Interest
policy or the management plan, the Institution shall within 120 days:
1. complete
a retrospective review of the Investigator’s activities and the PHS-funded research
project to determine any bias in the design, conduct, or reporting of research;
2. document
the retrospective review consistent with the regulation; and
3. document
the Institution’s determination as to whether any PHS-funded research, or portion
thereof, conducted during the period of time of the Investigator’s
non-compliance with the Institution’s Financial Conflict of Interest policy or a
Financial Conflict of Interest management plan, was biased in the design, conduct,
or reporting of such research.
4. If
bias is found, the Institution shall notify the PHS promptly and submit a mitigation
report to the PHS that shall address the following:
a. impact
of the bias on the research project, and
b. the
Institution’s plan of action or actions taken to eliminate or mitigate the effect
of the bias.
5. Thereafter,
the Institution shall submit FCOI reports annually, in accordance with the regulation.
Depending on the nature of the Financial Conflict of Interest, an Institution may
determine that additional interim measures are necessary with
regard to the Investigator’s participation in the PHS-funded research project
between the date that the Financial Conflict of Interest is identified and the completion
of the Institution’s independent retrospective review, in accordance with 42 CFR
50.605(a)(3) and 42 CFR 50.605(b)(3).
9.
Clinical Research
to Evaluate the Safety or Effectiveness of Drug, Medical Device, or Treatment
The revised regulations contain special provisions
for Clinical Research. If the HHS determines that an PHS-funded project of clinical
research whose purpose is to evaluate the safety or effectiveness of a drug, medical
device, or treatment has been designed, conducted, or reported by an Investigator
with a conflicting interest that was not managed or reported by the Institution
as required by the regulation, the Institution must require the Investigator(s)
involved to disclose the Financial Conflict of Interest in each public presentation
of the results of the research and to request an addendum to previously published
presentations. Institution’s Financial Conflict of Interest policy may have additional
requirements.
10. Institutional Reporting of Identified Financial
Conflicts of Interest to PHS
Prior
to the Institution’s expenditure of any funds under a PHS-funded research project,
the Institution shall provide to the PHS awarding component any Investigator’s significant
financial interest found by the Institution to be conflicting and ensure that the
Institution has implemented a management plan in accordance with the revised regulations.
Further, the Institution will provide annual FCOI reports for the duration of the
project period. Any FCOI report required under the revised regulations shall include,
at a minimum, the following information:
a.
PHS-Funded Research
Project Number
b.
Name of the Principal
Investigator
c.
Name of the Investigator
with the financial conflict of interest
d.
Name of the entity
with which the Investigator has a financial conflict of interest
e.
Nature of the financial
interest
f.
Value of the financial
interest, or a statement if the interest is one whose value cannot be readily determined
through to public prices or other reasonable measures of fair market value
g.
Description of how
the financial interest relates to the PHS-funded research and the basis for the
Institution’s determination that the financial interest conflicts with the research
h.
Description of key
elements of the Institution’s management plan, including:
1.
Role and principal
duties of the conflicted Investigator in the research project
2.
Conditions of the
management plan
3.
How the management
plan is designed to safeguard objectivity in the research project
4.
Confirmation of the
Investigator’s agreement to the management plan
5.
How the management
plan will be monitored
6.
Other information
as needed
11.
Public Accessibility
of Identified Financial Conflicts of Interest
Prior
to the expenditure of PHS funds on or after August 24, 2012, the Institution must
ensure public accessibility (via publicly available website or response to written
request within five (5) business days of the request) of information concerning
significant financial interests disclosed to the Institution that are:
a.
Previously disclosed
and currently held by Investigators or Senior/Key Personnel;
b.
The significant financial
interest is related to PHS-funded research; and
c.
The Institution has
determined the Significant Financial Interest is a Financial Conflict of
Interest. The information the Institution must make publicly available must be updated
at least annually, must be maintained for a period of three years from the last
update, and must include the following data elements at a minimum:
1.
Investigator Name
2.
Investigator Title
3.
Investigator role
with respect to the research project
4.
Name of the entity
in which the Significant Financial Interest is held
5.
Nature of the Significant
Financial Interest
6.
Approximate dollar
value of the Significant Financial Interest, or a statement if the interest is one
whose value cannot be readily determined through to public prices or other reasonable
measures of fair market value.
B.
Definitions
See the notice announcing the availability
of new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to the 2011 revised regulations
for a list of definitions at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/coi/. Following are some key definitions:
1.
Senior/Key Personnel means the Project Director/Principal Investigator
(PD/PI) and any other person identified as senior/key personnel by the Institution
in the grant application, progress report, or any other report submitted to the
PHS by the Institution under the regulation.
2. Investigator means the project director
or Principal Investigator and any other person, regardless of title or position,
who is responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of research funded by the
PHS (e.g., NIH), or proposed for such funding, which may include, for example, collaborators
or consultants. Institutions should consider the role, rather than the title, of
those involved in research and the degree of independence with which those individuals
work. When the definition of Investigator is limited to titles or designations (e.g.,
to principal Investigators, key personnel, faculty) the risk increases that an unidentified
FCOI may comprise the research.
3. Institutional responsibilities are defined
by the 2011 revised regulation as an Investigator’s professional responsibilities
on behalf of the Institution, and as defined by the Institution in its policy on
Financial Conflict of Interest, which may include, for example, activities such
as research, research consultation, teaching, professional practice, Institutional
committee memberships, and service on panels such as Institutional Review Boards
or Data and Safety Monitoring Boards. The Institution can include other professional
responsibilities within the definition, as appropriate.
4. A
Financial Conflict of Interest exists
when the Institution, through its designated official(s), reasonably determines
that an Investigator’s Significant Financial Interest is related to a PHS-funded
research project and could directly and significantly affect the design, conduct
or reporting of the PHS-funded research.
5. Significant Financial Interest is defined
as follows:
a. A
financial interest consisting of one or more of the following interests of the Investigator
(and those of the Investigator’s spouse and dependent children) that reasonably
appears to be related to the Investigator’s Institutional responsibilities:
1. With regard to any publicly traded entity, a significant financial
interest exists if the value of any remuneration received from the entity in
the twelve months preceding the disclosure and the value of any equity interest
in the entity as of the date of disclosure, when aggregated, exceeds $5,000. For
purposes of this definition, remuneration includes salary and any payment for services
not otherwise identified as salary (e.g., consulting fees, honoraria, paid authorship);
equity interest includes any stock, stock option, or other ownership interest, as
determined through reference to public prices or other reasonable measures of fair
market value;
2. With regard to any non-publicly traded entity, a significant
financial interest exists if the value of any remuneration received from the
entity in the twelve months preceding the disclosure, when aggregated, exceeds $5,000,
or when the Investigator (or the Investigator’s spouse or dependent children) holds
any equity interest (e.g., stock, stock option, or other ownership interest); or
3. Intellectual
property rights and interests (e.g., patents, copyrights), upon receipt of income
related to such rights and interests.
b. Investigators
also must disclose the occurrence of any reimbursed or sponsored travel (i.e., that
which is paid on behalf of the Investigator and not reimbursed to the Investigator
so that the exact monetary value may not be readily available). See Section II.A.7.d
above.
c. The
term significant financial interest does not include the following types
of financial interests: salary, royalties, or other remuneration paid by the Institution
to the Investigator if the Investigator is currently employed or otherwise appointed
by the Institution, including:
1. intellectual
property rights assigned to the Institution and agreements to share in royalties
related to such rights;
2. any
ownership interest in the Institution held by the Investigator, if the Institution
is a commercial or for-profit organization;
3. income
from investment vehicles, such as mutual funds and retirement accounts, as long
as the Investigator does not directly control the investment decisions made in these
vehicles;
4. income
from seminars, lectures, or teaching engagements sponsored by a federal, state,
or local government agency, an Institution of higher education as defined at 20
U.S.C. 1001(a), an academic teaching hospital, a medical center, or a research institute
that is affiliated with an Institution of higher education; or
5. income
from service on advisory committees or review panels for a federal, state, or local
government agency, an Institution of higher education as defined at 20 U.S.C. 1001(a),
an academic teaching hospital, a medical center, or a research institute that is
affiliated with an Institution of higher education.
C. National Science Foundation
The full regulatory
citation for the National Science Foundation is located at the following URL: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/manuals/gpm05_131/gpm5.jsp#510
1.
NSF requires each
grantee Institution employing more than fifty persons to maintain an
appropriate written and enforced policy on conflict of interest. Guidance for such
policies has been issued by University associations and scientific societies.
2.
An Institutional
conflict of interest policy should require that each Investigator disclose to a
responsible representative of the Institution all significant financial interests
of the Investigator (including those of the Investigator’s spouse and dependent
children) (i) that would reasonably appear to be affected by the research or educational
activities funded or proposed for funding by NSF; or (ii) in entities whose financial
interests would reasonably appear to be affected by such activities.
3.
The term “Investigator”
means the principal Investigator, co-principal Investigators, and any other person
at the Institution who is responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of research
or educational activities funded or proposed for funding by NSF.
4.
The term “significant
financial interest” means anything of monetary value, including, but not limited
to, salary or other payments for services (e.g., consulting fees or honoraria);
equity interest (e.g., stocks, stock options or other ownership interests); and
intellectual property rights (e.g., patents, copyrights and royalties from such
rights).
The term does not include:
a.
salary, royalties,
or other remuneration from the applicant Institution;
b.
any ownership interests
in the Institution, if the Institution is an applicant under the Small Business
Innovation Research Program or Small Business Technology Transfer Program;
c.
income from seminars,
lectures, or teaching engagements sponsored by public or non-profit entities;
d.
income from service
on advisory committees or review panels for public or nonprofit entities;
e.
an equity interest
that, when aggregated for the Investigator and the Investigator’s spouse and dependent
children, meets both of the following tests: does not exceed $10,000 in value as
determined through reference to public prices or other reasonable measures of fair
market value, and does not represent more than a 5% ownership interest in any single
entity; or
f.
salary, royalties,
or other payments that, when aggregated for the Investigator and the Investigator’s
spouse and dependent children, are not expected to exceed $10,000 during the twelve-month
period.
5.
An Institutional
policy must ensure that Investigators have provided all required financial disclosures
at the time the proposal is submitted to NSF. It must also require that those financial
disclosures are updated during the period of the award, either on an annual basis,
or as new reportable significant financial interests are obtained.
6.
An Institutional
policy must designate one or more persons to review financial disclosures, determine
whether a conflict of interest exists, and determine what conditions or restrictions,
if any, should be imposed by the Institution to manage, reduce or eliminate such
conflict of interest. A conflict of interest exists when the reviewer(s) reasonably
determines that a significant financial interest could directly and significantly
affect the design, conduct, or reporting of NSF-funded research or educational activities.
7.
Examples of conditions
or restrictions that might be imposed to manage, reduce or eliminate conflicts of
interest include, but are not limited to:
a.
public disclosure
of significant financial interests;
b.
monitoring of research
by independent reviewers;
c.
modification of the
research plan;
d.
disqualification
from participation in the portion of the NSF-funded research that would be affected
by significant financial interests;
e.
divestiture of significant
financial interests; or
f.
severance of relationships
that create conflicts.
8.
If the reviewer(s)
determines that imposing conditions or restrictions would be either ineffective
or inequitable, and that the potential negative impacts that may arise from a significant
financial interest are outweighed by interests of scientific progress, technology
transfer, or the public health and welfare, then the reviewer(s) may allow the research
to go forward without imposing such conditions or restrictions.
a.
The Institutional
policy must include adequate enforcement mechanisms and provide for sanctions where
appropriate.
b.
The Institutional
policy must include arrangements for keeping NSF’s Office of the General Counsel
appropriately informed if the Institution finds that it is unable to satisfactorily
manage a conflict of interest.
c.
Institutions must
maintain records of all financial disclosures and of all actions taken to resolve
conflicts of interest for at least three years beyond the termination or completion
of the grant to which they relate, or until the resolution of any NSF action involving
those records, whichever is longer.
D. North
Carolina General Statute 138A “State Government Ethics Act”
The purpose of the “State Government Ethics Act” is to ensure
that elected and appointed State agency officials exercise their authority honestly
and fairly, free from impropriety, threats, favoritism, and undue influence. To
this end, it is the intent of the General Assembly in this Chapter to ensure that
standards of ethical conduct and standards regarding conflicts of interest are clearly
established for elected and appointed State agency officials, that the State continually
educates these officials on matters of ethical conduct and conflicts of interest,
that potential and actual conflicts of interests are identified and resolved, and
that violations of standards of ethical conduct and conflicts of interest are investigated
and properly addressed. (2006‑201,
s. 1.)
The full general
statute is located at the following URL:
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter_138a.html
E. North Carolina General Statutes 14-234 “Public
Officers or Employees Benefiting from Public Contracts”
The
purpose of the Public Officers or Employees Benefiting from Public Contracts statute
is to ensure the making and administering of public contracts is free of bias, inappropriate
influence, conflict of interest, and does not result in personal benefit to the
public officer or employee.
The full general statute
is located at the following URL: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_14/GS_14-234.html
IV. Other Matters
A.
Effective Date. The requirements of this regulation
will be effective on the date of adoption of this regulation by the president.
B.
Relation to State Laws. The foregoing regulation
as adopted by the president is meant to supplement, and does not purport to supplant
or modify, those statutory enactments, regulations, and policies which may govern
the activities of public officials.