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Proposal:
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In May 2025, the Office of the President and the Division of Research created and approved revisions to the University of Maryland Policy on Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment (II-3.10]A]) (“the COI/COC Policy”) to address new federal/state laws and regulations, federal funding agency requirements, and new implementation processes that support these mandates, including the launch of the University’s inTERP disclosure system. The University of Maryland Policy on Institutional Conflicts of Interest (X-14.00[A]) (“the ICOI Policy”) is subordinate to the COI/COC Policy, and describes many of the same processes as are used for the COI/COC Policy. The significant revisions to the COI/COC Policy created a misalignment, as well as inconsistencies and inaccuracies within the subordinate COI policies (FCOI, ICOI, and OCI). The Division of Research took steps to make technical amendments to all three subordinate COI policies to align them with the structure, format, and content of the COI/COC Policy.
The ICOI Policy applies to University officials, who, by the nature of their positions, are able to commit the University’s significant financial resources and/or prestige to an endeavor. The ICOI Policy seeks to prevent institutional conflicts of interest (ICOIs), where a University official might affect, or appear to affect, the objectivity of institutional processes or decisions related to research, teaching, outreach, or administration. Technical amendments were made to the ICOI Policy in order to align with the COI/COC Policy. |
