In May, the Ohio State Board of Trustees approved a comprehensive Outside Activities and Conflicts policy effective as of Sept. 1. This replaces four policies (faculty conflict of commitment, faculty paid external consulting, faculty financial conflict of interest, and conflict of interest and work outside the university) to address university ethical expectations, research conflicts of interest regulations, and other federal and state laws governing financial and fiduciary conflicts of interest. The new policy supports the university’s efforts to encourage faculty and staff participation in outside activities, which advance mutually beneficial partnerships, contribute to social and economic development, and increase knowledge.
Under the new policy, most outside activities will continue to be approved by the colleges and units as they are now. Approval of outside activities meeting certain criteria, however, will be elevated to a Conflicts Approval Committee (CAC). The CAC, an extension of the existing committee that reviewed significant potential conflicts under the Faculty Financial Conflict of Interest policy, has a core of experienced members who represent faculty and staff from numerous colleges and units.
- The new policy can be found at policies.osu.edu/assets/policies/outside-activities-policy.pdf.
- The new reporting form can be found at orapps.osu.edu/coi/instructions.
- Questions can be directed to tobias.80@osu.edu.