1. Reconsider UC policy guidance on what is appropriate academic enterprise

University Regulation 4 was issued by UC President Sproul in 1958 after extensive consultation with faculty in order to provide a clear understanding both by UC faculty and the public of the appropriateness of activities and services that the University provides to industry. Regulation 4 presents the basic principles that determine such appropriateness and addresses the conditions under which a project may be conducted by the University. According to Regulation 4, as it stands today, it is appropriate for UC faculty members to participate in tasks and investigations which lead to the extension of knowledge or to increased effectiveness in teaching. Routine tasks of a "commonplace type" and tests of a purely commercial character, however, are precluded; work is to be conducted so as to be generally useful with the right of publication reserved to the University; results of the research are the property of the University; and sponsors must pay all direct and indirect costs of a project.

At the President's Retreat, an advisory group developed a first draft of a proposed revision they considered to be consistent with the University's teaching, research and public service mission and responsive to changes in the University's expanding research relationships with industry.

Building on the work of the Retreat Advisory Group on Appropriate Academic Enterprise, members of the faculty at each UC campus and scientists at each of the UC-managed DOE Laboratories, will be asked to consider revisions to University Regulation 4. Any proposed revision should be consider in the context of the range of research relationships being sought by faculty and industry today, including proprietary research, product development, business incubators, sale of University facilities or services, exclusive support of research teams by individual companies, joint ventures, and others.

Revision of this foundational policy provides an opportunity for the University community to ask itself anew, what kinds of activities are appropriate to the academic environment?

This priority item will be coordinated by the Provost.

2. Develop a new policy structure for managing intellectual property rights granted to UC research partners

University campuses and Laboratories are entering into new and complex research relationships with industry that are of increasing importance to the University's research, education, and public service mission. These relationships include collaborations and consortia among university, industry, and governmental participants; transfers of research materials both into and out of the University; "bridging" technology licensing agreements to follow-on research agreements; exchanging scientific personnel; and other research arrangements involving commercial interests. Such arrangements were not fully anticipated under the current Schedule of Support and Patent Privileges originally approved by The Regents in 1956. In this new environment, the historical University policy parameters and practices concerning patents rights arrangements with industry within research agreements are becoming less relevant and useful.

In response to the evolving relationships with industry and the need for more campus flexibility, the University intends to provide campus negotiators with new and flexible authority and guidance. The goal is to empower campus negotiators to develop, negotiate, and execute a broad range of patent rights arrangements which can be tailored to the individual circumstances of each industry supported project or program. Such revised authority and guidance, however, would be accompanied by strong accountability mechanisms to ensure that the campuses and Laboratories will continue to carry out the primary University mission, meet legal and fiduciary obligations, and protect the institution from inappropriate risk or liability. In conjunction with providing campuses and Laboratories greater authority and more flexible policy guidance in their negotiations with industry, the Office of the President would provide training and enhanced guidance in intellectual property issues to campus and Laboratory negotiators.

This priority item will be coordinated by the Senior Vice President -- Business and Finance.

3. Develop appropriate organization, staffing and accountability for research interactions with industry

The creation of a more flexible policy structure for managing intellectual property rights coupled with greater authority in industry negotiations as described above makes it imperative for the University to develop appropriate organization, staffing and accountability related to this function. It is critically important for the University to properly staff its expanding research interactions with industry. University employees charged with developing relationships with industry must possess a complex package of traits, experiences, and capabilities if the University is to be successful in this area. They must be able to meet with faculty and industry representatives to determine their individual and mutual scientific and technology interests; become fluent in the various statutes, regulations and internal policy parameters under which University-industry relationships are established; and negotiate appropriate contractual arrangements in a timely manner to establish the relationship. These individuals generally must have a strong scientific background, be experienced in negotiating with industry, understand intellectual property issues, and appreciate the interests, principles, and organization of the University. The University should be proactive in ensuring that campus personnel with such capabilities are in place to provide strong support of UC's expanding research and technology transfer relationships with industry.

In addition, new ways must be developed to make sure that all University faculty, researchers, students, postdocs and visitors participating in a technology transfer arrangement are apprised of intellectual property rights and obligations associated with that arrangement and acknowledge their understanding. Central UCOP and campus organizational structures and staff responsibilities should be reviewed to ensure the sponsored research, technology transfer, and licensing functions are appropriately integrated. Each Chancellor and Laboratory Director and the University Sr. Vice Presidents will be asked to assess how well their local organizational and staffing capabilities are equipped to support expanded delegations of authority to campuses/Laboratories under flexible policy guidance for managing complex intellectual property rights matters in UC research and technology transfer interactions with industry and to consider changes to better support this function.

This priority item will be coordinated by the Senior Vice President--Business and Finance.

4. Develop an integrated approach to issues relating to outside professional activities and relationships, including conflicts of interest and involvement of students and postdocs

Members of the UC faculty must increasingly balance their primary professional allegiance to the University with responsibilities and commitments that arise from their external activities, such as consulting, participating in a private commercial enterprise, or performing pro bono public service work. Conflicts of commitment may result when the time and intellectual energies devoted by the faculty member to outside activities exceed the limits permitted by University policy, or when a full-time faculty member's primary professional loyalty is not to UC. A conflict of interest occurs when there is an entanglement of an individual's private interests and his or her professional UC obligations such that an independent observer might reasonably question whether the individual's professional actions or decisions are determined by considerations of personal gain, financial or otherwise. Such conflicts are of increasing concern, and perhaps are unavoidable, as the University aggressively pursues a technology transfer mission. Two important means of accomplishing this mission are faculty consulting and the commercialization of technologies derived from University research. It is generally agreed that it is appropriate that faculty be rewarded for their participation in these types of activities, but that it is inappropriate for one's University actions or decisions to be determined by considerations of personal financial gain.

Members of the faculty at each UC campus, and scientists at each of the UC-managed DOE Laboratories, will be asked to review and restate the University's fundamental policy toward financial conflicts of interest. Specifically, faculty and Laboratory staff will be asked to revise and consolidate the University's current panoply of financial conflict of interest policies and policies regarding outside professional activities. They will be asked to assess the efficacy of expanding routine disclosures of personal financial information to the University as a mechanisms for enforcing the University's conflict of interest rules (that is, beyond projects where such disclosures are already required by State law or Federal regulation), or to identify alternative enforcement mechanisms. Faculty and Laboratory staff will also be asked to develop guidelines for governing the involvement of students in their outside professional activities or in industry-supported projects, such as hiring of students as employees of faculty-owned companies or consulting groups or assigning students to work on industry-sponsored research projects.

This priority item will be coordinated by the Provost.

5. Establish systemwide Web and database services to support UC faculty/industry relationships in research and technology transfer

Several Advisory Groups at the Retreat called for the University to consider how to make better use of the World Wide Web in creating more "user-friendly approaches" to facilitating University/industry interactions.

Accordingly, the Office of the President has convened an advisory task force to consider the kinds of Web and database services that should be provided by UCOP to further University goals in research and technology transfer. The Task Force will advise OTT and the Technology Transfer Advisory Committee on the development and use of resources that will serve the information needs of UC faculty and other researchers and members of the industrial community who wish to enter into productive research and technology transfer partnerships, consistent with University principles and practices.

In conjunction with this assignment, Senior Vice President Kennedy has asked OTT to assess which aspects of the UC ACCESS pilot program should be continued and how they could best be implemented (with special attention to how they relate to other programs at the University). In addition, the Task Force will consider recommendations from Advisory Groups that convened at the President's Retreat, including how UC can use electronic systems to assist UC faculty and other researchers, and industry partners as they attempt to navigate through the University's organizational and programmatic complexities. This priority item will be coordinated by the Senior Vice President -- Business and Finance.

6. Consider academic recognition and incentives for technology transfer activities

In recent years, many voices within the University community have called for faculty to engage in increased technology transfer activities with industry. The conduct of commercially relevant industry-sponsored research, as well as protecting and licensing University research results represent two primary modes of transferring technology from the academic environment to the industrial community for the public benefit. With current academic recognition and reward directed at traditional academic endeavors, however, it is uncertain how proactive faculty will be in their support of such technology transfer activities. The President's Retreat Advisory Group on Faculty Incentives recommended that in evaluating research and scholarship of faculty, the social and economic impact of their work on the wider world should be considered if real progress is to be made in developing meaningful relationships with industry in research and technology transfer. For example, such achievements as receiving patent or copyright protection and licensing important University-generated research results and the beneficial impact on government and the local economy may be appropriate for recognition and reward in the academic review process. To bring about this academic recognition and reward, the academic personnel criteria on promotions would need to be expanded to allow consideration of such activities for those faculty who can engage the process, and when such activities have appropriate academic stature.

Appropriate recognition and reward in the academic review process may be imperative if real progress is to be made in developing meaningful relationships with industry in research and technology transfer. These issues deserve consideration by our Academic Senate.

This priority item will be coordinated by the Provost.

7. Consider steps the University can take to contribute further to the State's economic development

Universities, including UC, are increasingly being asked to be active participants in economic development efforts. Universities are now providing a wide range of services and programs - technical assistance programs, incubators, research parks, workforce training, manufacturing extension services, economic research - in support of regional development efforts. While these activities frequently enjoy high visibility in the community and are important aspects of the University's relationships with industry, they often are only tangentially related to the traditional roles of the University and their results frequently do not meet the expectations of either the University or the community. It is clear that universities can do many things. It is less clear what the University should do and under what circumstances.

In a group of recommendations, the Advisory Group on UC's Role in Economic Development suggested that UC "culture" should embrace the various ways in which community/economic interactions enrich the student educational experience and facilitate research activities. They also found that UC needs to do a better job of reporting its diverse contributions to regional economies by developing new metrics of its impact on the State through new jobs, graduates, policy, public forums and economic growth. The Advisory Group recommended ways UC could play a greater and more organized role in local, regional and global competitiveness. These recommendations will be transmitted to the Chancellors and the Senate for consideration. They call for identifying special roles for each UC campus to play in its regional economy, establishing processes for public input, metrics, and reporting.

This priority item will be coordinated by the Provost.

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