If you determine that your financial interests require you to disqualify yourself from making or participating in the making of a University decision, you are required to submit a "disqualification statement" under the following procedures. You must notify in writing your Conflict of Interest Coordinator, your department head, and your immediate supervisor, briefly stating the reasons, including disclosure of the specific disqualifying interest(s) leading to your determination not to make or participate in making the University decision. Disclosure of the financial interest prompting disqualification must be made with a level of specificity at least equal to the disclosure of financial interests on the annual statement of economic interests. The supervisor must place a copy of the disqualification statement in your Personnel File and shall reassign the matter to another employee and record the name of the substitute employee with all copies of the disqualification statement. You must then refrain from participating in any way in the decision; and you must not use your official position to influence any other person with respect to the matter.

If you have questions or require assistance please call or e-mail your local Conflict of Interest Coordinator.

Because of concern that the Act would operate to prohibit faculty and other members of the University with teaching and research responsibilities from making various decisions in the course of academic instruction and research, the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) adopted an academic decision regulation, which provides:

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), neither disclosure of financial interests nor disqualification is required...in connection with:

(1) Teaching decisions, including the selection by a teacher of books or other educational materials for use within his or her own school or institution, and other decisions incidental to teaching;

(2) Decisions made by a person who has teaching or research responsibilities at an institution of higher education to pursue personally a course of academic study or research, to apply for funds to finance such a project, to allocate financial and material resources for such academic study or research, and all decisions relating to the manner or methodology with which such study or research will be conducted. Provided, however, that the provisions of this subsection (2) shall not apply with respect to any decision made by the person in the exercise of institution- or campus-wide administrative responsibilities respecting the approval or review of any phase of academic research or study conducted at that institution or campus.

(b) Disclosure shall be required...in connection with a decision made by a person or persons at an institution of higher education with principal responsibility for a research project to undertake such research, if it is to be funded or supported, in whole or in part, by a contract or grant (or other funds earmarked by the donor for a specific research project or for a specific researcher) from a nongovernmental entity, but disqualification may not be required...in connection with any such decision if the decision is substantively reviewed by an independent committee established within the institution.

Two University documents provide for University implementation of the academic decision regulation:

1. University Policy on Disclosure of Financial Interest in Private Sponsors of Research (APM-028-0)

2. Guidelines for disclosure and Review of Principal Investigator's Financial Interest in Private Sponsors of Research (APM-208-10)

Questions about the Academic Decision Regulation or the conflict of interest filing obligations of principal investigators may be directed to the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.