Procedures
A.
Disclosure of Non-University Activities
B. Role of the Unit Executive
Officer
C. Management of Non-University
Activities (Remedies)
D. Approval/Denial of
Non-University Activities
E. Sanctions for Violation
of This Policy
F. Appeals
A.
Disclosure of Non-University Activities
Except for activities specified in Section III. E, each
academic staff member of the University of Illinois is required
to obtain prior written approval from the University before
undertaking, contracting for, or accepting anything of value
in return for consulting or research from any external person
or organization. Each academic staff member must complete
annually a "Report of Non-University Activity,"
which requires retrospective and prospective disclosure
of external activities. Throughout the year, additional
disclosure is necessary whenever a substantial change in
external activities occurs or when required by granting
agencies.
On the Report,
the academic staff member must disclose external activities
that constitute actual or potential conflicts of commitment
or interest. These include:
1. consulting
or other financial relationships with a sponsor of one's
research;
2. managerial
role or significant financial relationship with a company
in one's field of research or a company that does business
with the University;
3. external activities
or business that involve University students or employees;
4. relationships,
commitments, or activities on the part of the academic staff
member or his/her family that might present or appear to
present a conflict of commitment or interest with regard
to one's University appointment. These relationships may
be of a financial, fiduciary, or uncompensated nature.
B. Role of the Unit Executive Officer
The unit executive officer reviews submitted reports, evaluates
the nature and extent of actual or potential conflicts,
and works with each academic staff member having such conflicts
to manage or eliminate them. Further, the unit executive
officer may initiate an inquiry of an academic staff member
when he/she believes that a conflict of commitment or interest
may exist. The unit executive officer can require sufficient
specificity to ensure that he/she understands the nature
and extent of the conflict. The unit executive officer must
respond within fourteen calendar days to a written request
for approval of an external activity or within fourteen
calendar days of receiving a response to inquiries regarding
the nature and extent of any conflict. If fourteen days
pass without a response, the academic staff member has the
right to take the request to the next higher administrative
level.
C. Management of Non-University Activities
(Remedies)
It is incumbent upon the academic staff member and the unit
executive officer to manage or resolve real or apparent
conflicts. Remedies may include modifying the research plan,
appointing an oversight panel or person to monitor research,
appointing an impartial person to monitor the use of students,
disclosing significant conflicts at presentation of results,
abstaining from promotional decisions for staff, removing
purchasing decision authority, divesting financial interests,
and severing relationships that constitute actual or potential
conflicts. The academic staff member may apply for a leave
of absence with or without pay as a remedy. In trying to
reach a mutually acceptable remedy, the advice of the dean
or Vice Chancellor for Research may be sought.
Arrangements
agreed upon to minimize or manage the conflict must be reduced
to writing by the unit executive officer, signed by the
staff member and attached to that member's Report of Non-University
Activity. This Report shall be routed through regular reporting
channels for approval (e.g., unit executive officer, dean,
Vice Chancellor for Research).
If voluntary
agreement on how to manage or eliminate the conflict is
not reached, the unit executive officer shall record that
fact on the academic staff member's Report and forward it
with information about the conflict and proposed remedy
through regular reporting channels. The academic staff member
will be afforded the opportunity to respond before the proposed
remedy is transmitted to the next administrative level.
Monitoring of
University agreements regulating conflicts shall ensure
conformity with predetermined goals, and shall act to have
project expenditures (including travel) reviewed and approved
in accordance with established procedures. Any person inv
olved in negotiating or administering such arrangements
has an absolute duty to disclose in writing any actual,
apparent, or potential conflict that he/she has in the matter
and may not participate further in the process unless approved
in writing by the University.
D. Approval/Denial of Non-University
Activities
The President or the President's designee has final responsibility
in all matters concerning conflicts of commitment or interest.
The President's designee is the Vice President for Academic
Affairs. The Vice President has delegated authority to the
Vice Chancellor for Research on each campus as follows:
1. In all matters of conflict of commitment, the Vice President
delegates authority for implementation of this Policy to
the Vice Chancellor for Research.
2. Conflict of
interest matters that did not receive unanimous approval
as they moved through regular reporting channels shall be
sent to the Vice President for Academic Affairs for a final
decision. If the approval is unanimous, final authority
shall rest with the Vice Chancellor for Research.
3. The President
remains the only person who can authorize a contract on
behalf of the University with an entity in which a University
employee has an interest.
In matters of
conflict of commitment or interest, the Vice Chancellor
for Research is advised by a Conflict Review Committee.
This committee will consist of at least three academic staff
members appointed after consultation with the executive
committee of the respective Senate. If a mutually agreeable
remedy is not reached, a remedy may be imposed by the Vice
Chancellor for Research and, in matters of conflict of interest,
with concurrence of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
E. Sanctions for Violation of This Policy
Sanctions are warranted for failure to report potential
conflicts or to abide by a remedy. The University has the
right to impose sanctions consistent with the rights of
academic staff members under the University Statutes. Severity
of sanctions d epends on the extent of the violations of
the Policy. Inadvertent, unintentional, and minor breaches
require lesser sanctions, whereas knowing, deliberate, and
major violations demand the severest sanctions. Any sanctions
for violations of this Policy shall be carefully examined
with due regard for the academic freedom and rights of the
academic staff member and the interests of the University.
While gross non-compliance with this Policy could constitute
due cause for dismissal, this Policy does not abrogate any
of the procedural protection afforded by tenure.
Sanctions shall
be reduced to writing, attached to the Report of Non-University
Activities and any associated documents and routed through
regular reporting channels. The academic staff member will
be afforded an opportunity to respond before the p roposed
sanction is forwarded to the next administrative level.
F. Appeals
When approval of an external activity is denied or when
a remedy or sanction is imposed, an academic staff member
shall be afforded the opportunity to respond before the
request is transmitted to the next level of review. These
administrative appeals are up to and including the Vice
Chancellor for Research in all matters of conflict of commitment
and to the Vice President for Academic Affairs in matters
of conflict of interest.
An academic staff
member is entitled to make a final appeal of sanctions to
the Chancellor in matters of conflict of commitment or to
the President in matters of conflict of interest. This appeal
must be made in writing and within 45 calendar days.
The Chancellor
or President will solicit the advice of the Faculty Advisory
Committee (in the case of faculty) or the Professional Advisory
Committee (in the case of academic professionals) who will
investigate the matter, afford a hearing to the academic
staff member, and make a recommendation to the Chancellor
or President. The Chancellor's or President's decision shall
be final and shall be based on whether, in light of institutional
obligations, fundamental fairness was afforded the academic
staff member.
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