• MSU Staff Handbook
• Employee Guidelines - Rules Governing Persnal Conduct of Employees (p 16)
  

• Summary of the Faculty Conflicts of Interest Policy requirements
  
• Model College Procedure (MS Word and Adobe Acrobat in fillable formats) for reporting conflicts of interest under the Policy
• Checklist of Important Considerations when reviewing and assessing reported conflicts of interest
• Guidelines for preparing plans to manage reported conflicts of Interest
• Handouts for Discussions and Presentations
  

Faculty and academic staff members are responsible for disclosing to his/her academic unit administrator a conflict of interest (COI) as soon as he/she is aware of the conflict. Like all other faculty, deans, chairpersons, directors, and executive managers must also disclose their conflicts of interest with respect to their academic responsibilities. Such disclosure should be given in writing using the model college procedure or the procedure for any college that establishes its own under the Policy.

The high degree of professional autonomy granted to faculty carries with it the professional responsibility for disclosing a personal interest that could reasonably be viewed by others as biasing the faculty member’s professional judgment. The faculty member’s personal belief that the competing personal interest would not actually bias his/her actions should not be a factor in the faculty member’s decision whether to disclose the interest under the Policy. Even with the guidance provided by the COI Handbook, there may remain questions or differences of opinion about whether a disclosure is required. The Policy supports openness and erring on the side of disclosure.

A conflict of interest exists “when a faculty member’s financial interests or other opportunities for tangible personal benefit may compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, the independence of judgment with which the faculty member performs his/her responsibilities at the University.” The presence of a conflict of interest does not mean that there has been or will be a misdeed; however, failure to disclose a conflict of interest may properly be viewed as a misdeed. An unreported conflict of interest may result from a failure to disclose a conflict of interest or, even more seriously, a false certification of the absence of a conflict of interest. Failure to report or providing a false certification of a conflict of interest constitutes noncompliance with the Policy and may be cause for disciplinary action.

Disclosure is required for each situation when the faculty or academic staff member has a “Significant Financial Interest” that is related to his/her academic activities. An explicit expectation now exists for disclosure of conflicts of interest at the time of submission of proposals for all sponsored projects regardless of the source of funding, or prior to the authorization for start of a project in the event that funding results from other than a written proposal.

• Sponsored Projects:  Conflicts of interest must be disclosed prior to the submission of proposals for all sponsored projects where the principal investigator and any other person who is responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of the project holds a Significant Financial Interest regardless of the source of funding, or prior to the authorization for start of the sponsored project in the event that funding results from other than a written proposal.
  
       Please Note:  The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Public Health Service (PHS) have requirements for disclosure of Significant Financial Interests for all persons responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of funded research, or research proposed for such funding (see NOT-OD-08-063; Updated FAQ).  Therefore, any person responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of research with a significant financial interest, including graduate students and non-academic employees, that 1) would reasonably appear to be affected by the research and / or (2) in entities whose financial interests would reasonably appear to be affected by the research must disclose those interests at the time the proposal is submitted to the NSF / PHS or as soon as a significant financial interest arises after submission of the proposal to the NSF / PHS while it is still being reviewed for possible funding or after funding begins.  Please use the Model College Procedure (MS Word, and Adobe Acrobat formats).
  
        Federal SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) and STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) programs are designed  to stimulate technological innovation and provide opportunities in three phases for small business (See SBIRWorld.com).  SBIR opportunities are available from 11 agencies and permit partnering with universities up to 33% under Phase I and 50% under Phase II awards.  STTR opportunities are available from 6 agencies and require partnering with universities from 30 to 60% under the award.  Even though the Federal conflict of interest requirements noted previously for NSF and PHS do not apply to Phase I SBIR & STTR awardees, faculty are expected to report conflicts of interest under the Policy for all projects, including subcontracts under Phase I SBIR & STTR awards.

• Research Involving Human Subjects:  Conflicts of interest related to studies involving human subjects must be disclosed. This is particularly important, as a factor that must be considered by an IRB in assessing whether a financial interest in the outcome of the study affects the rights and welfare of the people who agree to be subjected to a particular research protocol. Individual disclosures to inform IRB deliberations may concurrently be needed for complying with requirements for externally funded projects as noted previously.  This also must be done to comply with FDA requirements for clinical studies submitted in a marketing application that the applicant or FDA relies on to establish that the product is effective or is used to show equivalence to an effective product, and any study in which a single investigator makes a significant contribution to the demonstration of safety.

• Commercialization of Intellectual Property: Disclosure of conflicts of interest related to the commercialization of faculty-created intellectual property is important for two reasons. First, MSU’s Patents and Development of Copyrighted Materials policies specify that a portion of the net income from licensing the rights to a patent and marketing of University-owned works will be distributed to the inventor(s)/author(s).  The major administrative unit also receives a portion of the net patent income.  Second, commercialization of intellectual property may involve the formation of new companies, in which faculty have financial interests.  Because of the faculty interest, agreements to license intellectual property rights to the start-up company must be approved by the Board of Trustees.

• salary, consulting fees, royalties or other payments of any kind from a single entity which exceeded $10,000 over the last 12 months or which are expected to exceed $10,000 over the next 12 months,
• ownership interests in a single entity which have a fair market value of more than $10,000 or are more than one percent (1%) of its equity,
• intellectual property rights which have a fair market value of over $10,000 or which generate, or are expected to generate, revenues of over $10,000 per year,
• unvalued stock options or other options for ownership in a privately held company,
• paid or unpaid service on a governing or advisory board, or in a fiduciary or managerial role, for, or as a general partner of, an entity,
• serving as a trustee for a trust or estate, or having a beneficial interest in a trust or estate, whose value exceeds $10,000,
• indebtedness to or from a single entity exceeding $10,000, and
• receipt of gifts of goods, property, or services, like airline tickets, resort or hotel accommodations, or other recreational or personal amenities whose value exceeds $250 from a single entity.

The following financial interests are excluded from consideration under the Policy:

• salary or other remuneration from the University or paid at the University's behest (including remuneration from a University-approved practice plan),
•  income from seminars, lectures, service on committees or review panels, or other educational activities sponsored by public or not-for-profit entities,
• any financial interest arising solely by means of investment in a mutual, pension, or other institutional investment fund over whose management and investments neither the faculty member nor any immediate family member of the faculty member exercises control (e.g., TIAA-CREF), and
• indebtedness from a bank, credit union, or other commercial lender.

Review, Management, and Resolution of Reported Conflicts of Interest

The academic unit administrator assumes a leadership role for reviewing reported conflicts in coordination with his/her dean, unless either individual also has a conflict of interest related to the situation. Their written recommendation, or recommendations if they differ, is reviewed independently by an appointed Conflict Review Committee before presentation to the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies for a final determination. To assist with the review of reported conflicts, examples of important considerations are provided in a Checklist.

Michigan’s Contracts of Public Servants with Public Entities Law

In addition, Board of Trustees approval is required for any contract between the University and the following:

• an employee of the University;
• any partnership or unincorporated association of which the employee is a partner, member, or employee;
• any private corporation of which the employee is (1) a director, officer, or employee; or (2) a stockholder owning more than one percent (1%) of the total outstanding stock of any class if the stock is not listed on a stock exchange or stock with a total market value in excess of $25,000 if the stock is listed on a stock exchange; or
• any trust of which the employee is a beneficiary or trustee.
  

A faculty member’s disclosure of a financial interest in a company or other business planning to enter into a contract with the University triggers the need for Board action to approve that contract. The Board’s consideration relates to the extent and nature of the faculty member’s relationship to the activities to be conducted under the contract; not solely the appropriateness of the contract. So, the disclosure under the Policy is the key to the Board action, not the other way around.

Please see the dates for future Board Meetings in order to plan for a timely consideration.