Frequently Asked Questions
The form will need to be completed by individuals who meet ANY of the following criteria:
- Anyone who is responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of research as well as anyone listed as key personnel on sponsored projects or human subjects research
- Anyone with an University, Campus or School Leadership role (VPs, Provosts, Chancellors, Vice Chancellors, Deans, etc.)
- Full-time faculty
- School of Medicine part-time faculty
- Staff employees in the following job classification career levels and/or functions within any job family:
Levels Functions Advanced Development & Advancement Expert Finance Operational Sr. Operational Strategic Executive - Anyone with signature authority on behalf of the University
- All fiscal officers
- University personnel authorized to conduct purchasing activities and influence or affect the process or outcome of any expenditures
- Anyone that is otherwise directed by their department or school to complete a form
- All academic appointees and employees shall disclose to their unit head any situation in which the employee has a real or potential conflict of interest through the Conflicts of Interest and Commitment Disclosure form.
A conflict of interest is an activity with the potential or the appearance of having the potential to compromise a university employee's professional judgment or objectivity. Conflicts of interest should be eliminated when possible or otherwise formally disclosed and managed.
Some examples include:
- A contract with IU in which an employee holds a financial interest. Please also see the State COI page of our website.
- Gifts, gratuities, or other benefits received from university contractors or vendors.
- Nepotism - Supervision (even indirect) or influence over another IU employee with whom you have a personal or familial or personal relationship. This can also include relationships that involve the academic progress of students with whom you have a personal/intimate or familial relationship. Please see the Nepotism page of our website for more information.
- Teaching classes that directly compete with Indiana University for other institutions (in-person or online).
A conflict of commitment refers to the time or effort an employee devotes to external activities to the extent that the outside activity interferes with the employee's fulfillment of university responsibilities or if an employee uses university resources during an external activity. Conflicts of commitment are not allowed for IU employees.
University resources, including but not limited to vehicles, trademarks, facilities, and supplies, should not be used for external activities. There are important differences in this area between the approaches that Indiana University takes with academic appointees, and those with other employees.
Academic Appointees
- All academic appointees are required to meet the professional obligations of their appointments.
- Academic appointees may engage in Outside Professional Activities if they do not constitute a conflict of commitment, which arises either when outside professional activities interfere with the fulfillment of an academic appointment, when an activity is undertaken for another organization in competition with Indiana University, or when externally funded research is managed entirely outside of Indiana University.
- Full time tenured and tenure track academic appointees may spend, on average, one non-weekend day per week on Outside Professional Activities.
All other employees
- University work activities are expected to be devoted to official functions of the university.
- Non-university activities may not interfere with university duties and responsibilities, and must be done on the employee’s own time.
- Employees should not accept compensation from other entities for work performed in the course of their employment at IU.
Some examples include:
- Engaging in outside activities (paid or unpaid) that require a time commitment that is incompatible with your job at IU
- Utilizing university resources (including, but not limited to, facilities, equipment, intellectual property, and electronic resources) to support an employee's external activities.
Indiana University is an institution of public trust and consistent with our Principles of Ethical Conduct, we have an obligation to be objective and impartial in making decisions on behalf of the University. To ensure this objectivity, we are expected to:
- Prevent individual or institutional conflicts of commitment in their assigned duties for the University;
- Disclose potential conflicts of interest and adhere to any requirements created to manage or eliminate any conflicts of interest;
- Ensure personal relationships do not interfere with objective judgment in decisions affecting University employment or the academic progress of a Community Member or a student; and
- Ensure their assigned duties for the University receive their full effort, attention, and commitment.
This form also satisfies the requirement for disclosure of outside interests from researchers; as before, this will assist in meeting the university’s policy and federal regulatory requirement to reduce, manage, or eliminate potential conflicts of interest to protect the university’s design, conduct, and reporting of research.
Any existing or new research funding or approvals may be withheld until the disclosure is completed and/or updated.
University Compliance and Policy Office provides access to reports to the applicable Department Chairs, School Deans, Human Resources, and the Office of the Vice President & General Counsel, as needed, for follow-up.
Violations of university policies, including the failure to avoid a prohibited activity or disclose a conflict of interest in a timely manner, will be dealt with in accordance with applicable university policies and procedures for university employees, which may include disciplinary actions up to and including termination from the university.
Yes, you can assign a delegate to complete portions of your disclosure form. However, you must certify and submit your disclosure yourself. Please see the instructions on our website's "How to submit a disclosure" page.
You will not be contacted after your form is completed unless additional information or further action is needed from you. If additional information is needed from you, the assigned Unit Viewer for your unit will contact you.
If you are involved in research, you will receive a system notification once the form has been approved through the research COI process if you disclose any outside entities.
There are two possible reasons that your disclosure is not showing up in these systems:
- The first reason could be due to the roles you selected at the beginning of the form. You must select the second role of PI, co-investigator, or Key Personnel on any research/sponsored project having responsibility for the design, conduct, or reporting of IU research to get the research COI questions.
- The second reason is that your form is still In Progress and has not been submitted. When you log into Kuali COI, your dashboard will show your current disclosure status.
There are three possible reasons that your disclosure is not showing as Up to Date.
- The first reason could be due to the roles you selected at the beginning of the form. You must select the first role of University employee, including faculty and academic employees, student academic appointees, and staff and temporary employees to get the general non-research conflicts of interest and commitment questions.
- The second reason is that your form is still In Progress and has not been submitted. When you log into Kuali COI, your dashboard will show your current disclosure status.
- When you change positions to a different school or unit after submitting your disclosure, your new assigned Unit Viewer may be unable to access it. For example, if you submitted your disclosure while working at the School of Education and then transferred to the College of Arts and Sciences, your new Unit Viewer at the College of Arts and Sciences won't be able to view it. You can fix this by resubmitting your disclosure or sharing a PDF copy with your new Unit Viewer.