Review of Draft Board of Trustees Policies on Conflicts of Interest Related to Research, Faculty Outside Activities, and Institutional Conflicts of Interest
March 10, 2022
The UMass President’s Office recently convened a subcommittee of the university’s System Conflicts of Interest (COI) Committee to review the Board of Trustees Policy on Conflicts of Interest Relating to Intellectual Property and Commercial Ventures and Policy on Faculty Consulting and Outside Activities --policies which are crucial to institutional integrity and the university’s continued compliance with federal regulations and requirements. This group also drafted a new policy on Institutional Conflict of Interest, which was also in response to federal regulations and requirements.
The COI Subcommittee completed its work and provided draft policies to the campus for comment. Those comments are coordinated across the campuses by the Board Policy Working Group (BPWG), where we are represented by Dr. Rolanda Burney. At the request of Dr. Burney, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement (VCRE) is now requesting input from the campus about these revised policies from administrators, faculty, staff, and students.*
Once campus feedback is obtained, the BPWG concludes its review by recommending to the COI Subcommittee consideration of changes to the draft policies deemed appropriate before they are finalized for consideration by the Board of Trustees according to their Policy for Creating and Establishing Board Policy and Standards.
Your input is important and will help improve our policies and processes. We are grateful for your time and attention to this opportunity.
For your review and feedback, the current drafts of the Policy on Conflicts of Interest Related to Research, Policy on Faculty Outside Activities, and Policy on Institutional Conflicts of Interest are linked here. Please review the draft policies and provide comments, if any, below by April 15, 2022.
- Conflicts of Interest Related to Research (Word - must log in)
- Faculty Outside Activities (Word - must log in)
- Institutional Conflicts of Interest (Word - must log in)
Update June 13, 2023
We are no longer accepting comments in response to this solicitation. Feedback received by April 15, 2022 was considered by the COI subcommittee.
VCRE Campus Communications Log
Below is a list of the dates when communications and consultations were shared with campus groups about the policy revisions.
- Chancellor’s Council, 3/2/22
- Faculty Senate, 3/2/22
- Graduate Student Senate, 3/4/22
- Student Government Association, 3/4/22
- Deans Council, 3/8/22
- MSP, 3/9/22
- Research Policy Committee, 3/11/22
- Research Administration Advisory Board, 3/16/22
- Research Council, 3/25/22
- Department Heads/Chairs (via Faculty Senate), 3/25/22
- Chancellor’s Council, 4/7/2022
- Technology Transfer Office, 4/7/2022
- Business Managers, 4/12/22
Presentation (PDF- must log in)