Conflict of Interest Management Plan
For____________________________________ with respect to _________________________
Context for need for Conflict of Interest Management Plan: ________________________ is an
employee (“Employee”) in the Department/Division of ______________________________________
at the Desert Research Institute (“DRI”). The Employee is also an
[officer,
member of the board of directors, scientific advisor, owner] of
(“Company”),
a _____________________________________ founded for the purpose of _______________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
1. Conflict of Interest Summary – Check all those that may apply:
A conflict of interest (COI) may exist because:
Company is or may be contracting with DRI.
The Employee’s commitment to Company activities could impact the Employee’s commitment
to DRI.
It is anticipated that intellectual property (“IP”) might be created as a result of
Company-funded projects or cooperative projects with Company.
Students under the Employee’s supervision are working on or may work on Company-funded
projects.
Company may wish to use DRI equipment or other resources.
Other, please describe:
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Conflict of Interest Management Oversight
The Institutional Administrator (IA) shall be the Director of the DRI division in which the Employee is
employed or, if the Employee is not employed in a division, the IA shall be chosen by the relevant Vice
President. The responsibilities of the IA include initial implementation of the management plan (“MP”),
monitoring and reporting as specified in this MP, and recommending modification of the MP to the
Director of Sponsored Projects and Compliance for DRI (“Designated Official”) as needed. By
December 31st of each year, the IA will submit an annual report to the Designated Official. The report
will be a summary of the documented activities in each of the MP areas outlined in Section 3 and 4
below.
3. Conflict of Interest Management Plan
The following MP outlines areas in which COI situations arise, and in which COI management
procedures will be implemented by the Employee and the IA. DRI employees may have more than one
role and it is difficult to specify in advance all possible COI situations. The Employee shall follow the
relevant COI guidelines, including those in Sections 2.01.04-2.01.06 of the Desert Research Institute
Administrative Manual.
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A. Commitment to DRI: The Employee reasserts her/his commitment to abide by State laws,
the NSHE code, and DRI policies and procedures related to teaching, research, and service
responsibilities. In carrying out these responsibilities, the Employee will be alert to any real
or perceived conflict of interest or conflict of commitment. Through regular communication
with the IA, the Employee will be responsible for disclosing in a timely fashion any changes
in activities that may give rise to a perceived or actual conflict of interest or commitment.
B. Sponsored Research Agreements: The Employee shall disclose to the Office of Sponsored
Projects, and the relevant division Business Manager, the Employee’s affiliation with the
Company on each DRI regulatory compliance protocol and sponsored proposal submission
and for each grant/contract that also involves the transfer of materials to or from the
Company and/or any collaboration with the Company. All research occurring under a
sponsored research agreement (SRA) will be performed under prevailing, commercially
reasonable financial terms. In addition, in the event the SRA involves public funding, the
Employee shall provide DRI with a full accounting of how all public funding received by
the Company and associated with the SRA will be spent. The overall use of such public
funding must be in the public interest.
C. Department/Division commitment: The Employee agrees to monitor his/her commitment
to the Company and communicate with his/her supervisor and the IA to assure that this
commitment does not adversely impact the Employee’s various responsibilities and
commitments to DRI, including other non-Company research projects and teaching
responsibilities. Should the IA, in consultation with the Employee’s supervisor, determine
that the Employee’s commitment to the Company is affecting the Employee’s performance
as a DRI employee, appropriate changes will be made in consultation with the IA. Any
changes implemented will be documented and maintained by the IA, with copies of the
change(s) sent to the Designated Official.
D. Invention Disclosures and Intellectual Property: The Employee is responsible for seeing
that everyone performing research under a SRA, including the Employee, maintains a lab
notebook to document all discoveries that may emerge from the sponsored research and, in a
timely manner, file with DRI’s Technology Transfer Office invention disclosures for any
potential intellectual property developed during the SRA. Any intellectual property
developed under the SRA will need to be documented for proper ownership and licensing
according to the DRI Intellectual Property Policy. A copy of each invention disclosure will
be sent to the IA and kept on file. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the Employee is
employed by DRI as a regular faculty member, DRI shall own any intellectual property
resulting in whole or in part from the Employee’s efforts under the SRA or otherwise
associated with the SRA, regardless of whether those efforts occurred at DRI or at the
Company and regardless of the allocation of funds under the SRA. The Company may be
given an option to license such intellectual property on commercially reasonable terms.
E. Student Involvement in Research: Undergraduate and graduate students may be involved
in Company sponsored research. Undergraduate and graduate students may also be
employed directly by the Company. The IA will assure that safeguards are in place to prevent
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undergraduate and/or graduate students from being harmed through delayed graduation,
reduction in research time, reduced commitment to coursework, compromised academic or
research program, compromised publication ability, or any other action caused by the
relationship of the Employee with the Company. Examples of an adequate process to protect
the student(s) include, but are not limited to, naming an academic co-advisor or involving the
graduate student’s advisory committee. Graduate student research results will be published in
a thesis/dissertation, and the students will be strongly encouraged to publish in peer-reviewed
journals and to present results at academic conferences consistent with the terms of the SRA.
F. Publications: In order to ensure objectivity and continued quality of the research results of
the DRI/Company project, research results will be presented at refereed academic
conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals as appropriate. When submitting a
manuscript for review when the Employee is an author, the association with both DRI and
the Company will be acknowledged. A listing of all Company-related publications, including
published patents and patent applications, will be provided by the Employee to the IA on an
annual basis.
G. Recusal: (check all that apply)
The Employee will recuse herself/himself from participating in any DRI capacity
associated with negotiations or decision-making with respect to any transaction
with or on behalf of DRI that involves the Company, and will request that any
related responsibilities be assigned to another individual, except as this MP may
otherwise specify. When engaged in negotiations with DRI on behalf of the
Company, it is incumbent upon the Employee to inform the DRI representative
involved that the Employee is negotiating on behalf of the Company not on behalf
of DRI or as part of the DRI position held by the Employee.
�
The Employee and members of the Employee’s family will abstain from any
Company board decisions involving research at DRI in which the Employee is
involved. The abstention in such votes will be documented in Company Board
minutes which will be sent in a timely fashion to the IA to be kept on file. The
Employee will refrain from engaging in negotiations on behalf of the Company
with DRI but, instead, will have professional management and/or legal counsel
for the Company perform such negotiations.
4. Use of DRI Resources:
The use of any DRI resources will be consistent with DRI policy and any agreements between DRI and
the Company. DRI resources, including, but not limited to, space (including the Employee’s DRI office
or laboratory space), personnel, equipment, and administrative support services may not be used for the
benefit of the Company without a properly documented agreement between the Company and the
University that includes compensation to DRI for such use.
5. Required Disclosure:
The following disclosure applies: “Nevada statutes, including N.R.S. §§ 281.230 and 396.255, create
individual and personal obligations for disclosing and managing conflicts of interest, including
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requiring employees of the Nevada System of Higher Education to follow procedures established by
their employing institution. A violation of such statutes can result in criminal sanctions. Thus, it is
recommended that the Employee seek their own legal counsel as they may deem appropriate to protect
their legal interests with respect to compliance with conflict of interest statutes.”
6. Additional Considerations:
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
All of the undersigned hereby acknowledge and agree to abide by DRI’s Conflict of Interest Policy
(Administrative Manual Sections 2.01.04-2.01.06) and agree to abide by the above stated management
plan.
Approved and Agreed:
____________________________________________
Employee
Date: _________
_____________________________________________
Institutional Administrator
Date: _________
_______________________________________________
Director of Sponsored Projects and Compliance
Date: _________
After review of this Management Plan, I approve the proposed transaction as I find it serves the public
interest, so long as the Employee complies with the terms of the management plan.
___________________________________
Executive Vice President for Research
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Date: _________