Institutional Conflict of Interest Guidelines

The University of Texas at Dallas (“UT Dallas”) is committed to conducting its business in an ethical and legal manner, including avoiding institutional conflicts of interest and providing full and open access to its work to its sponsoring agencies and prime contractors. UT Dallas has existing policies and procedures regarding the ethical conduct of research and conflicts of interest and commitment. Research and development activities will be performed in compliance with this mitigation plan in addition to the requirements of incumbent policies. UT Dallas is committed to avoiding or mitigating any Institutional Conflicts of Interest (“ICOI”) that may arise in the performance of research and development activities. UT Dallas also has existing information control and access procedures in place to sensitive information received by UT Dallas will not be shared without the necessary authorization. Conversely, public information will be broadly disseminated to maintain open and equal access to information. UT Dallas will regularly monitor its activities to ensure possible and actual ICOI are dealt with proactively.

Sec. 1 Quarterly Reporting

The Institutional Conflict of Interest Committee (the “Committee”) requests that institutional officials share information about their ongoing activities and relationships to help identify and anticipate future ICOIs. Institutional officials are asked to share information about the following interests or relationships to the Committee on a quarterly basis.

Financial transactions processed in the preceding quarter with external organizations that exceed $50,000
Financial transactions processed in the preceding quarter with individual persons that exceed $100,000
Transactions in which the responsible official accepted terms or conditions that significantly deviate from UT Dallas policy or industry standard practice
Any other situation in which the responsible institutional official believes an institutional interest or relationship will likely create the possibility for significant financial or reputational risk through future transactions with the sponsor

Institutional officials will provide the information listed above to the Conflict of Interest (“COI”) Office using the Quarterly Report Form. The COI Office will aggregate the responses into a single report for the Committee’s review. The COI Office will also include the following information in the quarterly report:

When a responsible institutional official has a financial interest in one or more of the sponsors mentioned in the quarterly report
When an active sponsor, vendor, donor, partner, or other affiliate of the institution is identified as subject to sanction, restriction, debarment, or other action by the US government

The Committee can initiate an ICOI evaluation about an interest or relationship shared with the Committee through quarterly reporting. In that case, the Committee will request the responsible institutional report the ICOI as described in Section 2 below.

Sec. 2 Specific ICOI Reporting and Evaluation Process

Institutional Official reports a possible Institutional Conflict of Interest.

Institutional officials are responsible for identifying and reporting institutional interests or relationships for evaluation by the Committee that the official believes creates the possibility for significant financial or reputational risk for UT Dallas.

Institutional officials can use discretion regarding the timing of ICOI reporting and may report possible ICOIs after execution of a related transaction, as long as the transaction complies with applicable UT Dallas policies.

See Section 3 below for the reporting guidelines recommended by the Committee. Institutional officials will disclose interests and relationships to the COI Office using the ICOI Reporting Form (see Appendix A).

COI Office performs internal review and shares results with the ICOI Committee.

Upon receipt of the ICOI report, the COI Office will conduct a reasonable search for the presence of other current or planned institutional activities with the external source of the institutional interest or relationship. The COI Office will submit the ICOI Report Form and information about other current and planned activities to the Committee.

The ICOI Committee evaluates the ICOI for significant financial or reputational risk.

The Committee will evaluate whether the reported ICOI creates the possibility for significant financial or reputational risk for UT Dallas and make a recommendation to the President about the significance and management of the ICOI.

See Section 4 below for the Evaluation Criteria that the Committee will use to decide whether the institutional interest or relationship creates significant financial or reputational risk.

Sec. 3 ICOI Reporting Guidelines

The Committee recommends that Institutional Officials reference the following thresholds related to the value of the interest or relationship when identifying institutional interests and relationships that may need to be reported for evaluation.

Payments from a person or entity for the licensing of intellectual property that, on aggregate, exceed $250,000 per calendar year;
Investment interests in entities held by the University where such interests (i) have a value of more than $1 million in the case of publicly-traded entities, as determined in reference to the company’s market capitalization, or (ii) are in an privately-held entity whose enterprise value exceeds $1 million.
Business contracts for goods or services, including research, in which the University generates revenue in excess of $1 million. Business contracts comprised of federal funds are only subject to disclosure if the funds are subcontracted from an entity for which the Committee is evaluating an ICOI because of a different interest or relationship between UT Dallas and the contracting entity.
Gifts of the following types and values:
- Cumulative gifts received within the past 10 years of (i) $2.5 million or more from a corporation, foundation, or organization, (ii) $5 million or more from an individual;
- Cumulative gifts received within a calendar year that support a school, department, center, or other unit of (i) $250,000 or more from a corporation, foundation, or organization, or (ii) $500,000 or more from an individual;
- One-time gift of (i) $250,000 or more from a corporation, foundation, or organization, or (ii) $500,000 or more from an individual.
Notes on terms.
- ‘Gift’ has the same meaning as provided in UTDBP3004.‘Market capitalization’ is the value of a company’s common stock.
- ‘Market capitalization’ is the value of a company’s common stock.
- ‘Enterprise value’ is the total cost to acquire a company, including the aggregate value of common stock, preferred stock, cash, and debt.

The Committee recommends that Institutional Officials reference the following topics when identifying institutional interests and relationships that may need to be reported for evaluation. Reporting to the ICOI Committee is particularly important if the requests by the sponsor may compromise, or appear to compromise, one of these institutional decisions, functions, or actions.

Decisions about faculty appointments or promotions
Decisions about student enrollment
Decisions about procurement transactions
Decisions about the design, conduct, and reporting of research
Service by an institutional official as an officer or director of the sponsor
Use of the sponsor’s course materials or educational tools
Allocation of university resources for the sponsor’s direct use

Sec. 4 Evaluation Criteria

The Committee will use the following criteria to evaluate the possibility for significant financial or reputational risk for UT Dallas and generate a recommendation to the President. When an ICOI is determined to create significant risk, the Committee will also recommend to the President whether the ICOI can be effectively managed.

Have any institutional decisions, functions, or actions been compromised, or appear to be compromised, because of this institutional interest or relationship?
Does this relationship comprise, or appear to comprise, decisions, functions, or actions of the institution as a whole?
Does this relationship comprise, or appear to comprise, decisions, functions, or actions within a specific school, department, center, or unit?
Are any terms or conditions of the institutional interest or relationship in ‘substantial conflict’ with UT Dallas policies or missions? Note: ‘Substantial conflict’ means the terms or obligations of the relationship requires UT Dallas officials to act in violation of UT Dallas or UT System policy, or in violation of contractual or regulatory obligations accepted by UT Dallas on behalf of its employees.
Could the risk to institutional decisions, functions, or actions be impacted by additional future interests or relationships with the sponsor?
Does this interest or relationship involve the personal financial interest of a responsible institutional official?

Sec. 5 Management Strategies

The Committee may use one or more of the following strategies, as well as others it may devise that are necessary to mitigate, reduce, or remove an actual or apparent ICOI. The management strategies implemented by the Committee are intended to support and protect the integrity of the institution and of institutional offices engaged in activities furthering the missions of UT Dallas. The Committee encourages institutional officials to share concerns if management strategies appear likely to interfere unduly with an institutional office’s ability to perform its responsibilities under university policy or activities in support of UT Dallas mission(s).

Divesting the institution of a financial interest or relationship with an external entity;
Placing institutional equity or investment interests in a blind or double-blind trust;
Declining to perform an institutional activity, such as a business contract or research project;
Use of an external Institutional Review Board, Data Safety Monitoring Board, or other means of affecting independent third party monitoring;
Disclosure of the ICOI to research sponsors, human subject participants, graduate students and trainees contributing to the research, and/or in public communication of the research results;
Recusal of an Institutional Official from decision-making or participation in an activity that would directly or indirectly involve the school, department, center, or other unit under the official’s oversight
Recusal of an Institutional Official from decision-making or participation in an activity that would directly or indirectly involve the official’s external financial interests or relationship; and,
Transfer of institutional responsibilities to an individual who does not have a conflict of interest.

Sec. 6 Standards for Institutional Officials

No institutional official may materially participate in any decision-making involving purchasing, procurement, or contracting for products or services under circumstances in which a reasonable person could infer that the decision-making could have been influenced by the desire for or expectation of direct or indirect personal financial gain. If the official’s expertise is necessary in evaluating the transaction, the official’s financial interest or relationship must be disclosed to the Committee and those responsible for decision-making in the transaction.

Institutional officials shall not offer, solicit, or accept any gifts or other benefits in exchange for a decision, opinion, recommendation, vote, or other exercise of official discretion. Institutional officials who exercise discretion in connection with contracts, purchases, payments, claims, or other pecuniary transactions shall not offer, solicit, or accept any gifts or other benefits from an individual or external entity the official knows is interested in or likely to become interested in any contract, purchase, payment, claim, or transaction involving the exercise of the official’s discretion.

Sec. 7 Training

Institutional offices responsible for managing interests and relationships that could create ICOI will complete annual awareness training.