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To: Non-UIHC faculty and staff

From:

Lois Geist, associate provost for faculty
Cheryl Reardon, chief human resources officer and associate vice president
J. Martin Scholtz, vice president for research

Intent: Remind faculty and staff to complete the electronic Conflict of Interest (eCOI) Annual Disclosure by April 30.

Date: Feb. 20, 2024

To protect the integrity of University of Iowa academic, health care, business, research, and teaching endeavors, and to address potential or actual conflicts of interest, the Conflicts of Commitment and Interest and Health Care Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment policies require certain faculty and staff members complete an annual disclosure of outside professional activities and interests. While few activities are prohibited, disclosure allows for potential and actual conflicts to be reviewed and managed appropriately.

Completion of the electronic Conflict of Interest (eCOI) Annual Disclosure of Outside Professional Activities and Interests fulfills the annual reporting requirements of the following UI policies:

The certification process also asks whether an individual has an outside personal or business relationship with someone over whom they exercise supervisory authority. This question assists with identifying relationships that may require a management plan under the policy on Conflict of Interest in Employment (Nepotism).

The certification process also includes questions about international engagement to assist with identifying possible risks to research integrity and security, which may require conflict of interest management or adherence to other federal regulations.

Who is required to complete an eCOI Annual Disclosure?

  1. All UI employees engaged in research, which is defined as being named “key personnel” on a UI routing form submitted to either Sponsored Programs or to an Institutional Review Board (IRB).
  2. All UI Health Care faculty, professional and scientific (P&S) staff, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) staff, and merit exempt employees with 50% or greater appointments.
  3. All UI faculty and staff members with 50% or greater appointments in the following categories: 
    • Regular faculty (tenure-track, tenured, clinical-track, research-track, instructional-track)
    • Regular P&S staff compensated at pay levels 7 and above (see ePersonnel File in Employee Self Service for pay level)
    • Regular P&S staff compensated at pay level 6 and below who are administrative supervisors.  
  4. All university officials as defined by the policy on Institutional Conflict of Interest in Human Subjects Research, including: 
    • Administrators with faculty appointments (e.g., associate provosts, associate vice presidents, department executive officers (DEOs), directors)
    • Institutional officers (e.g., president, executive vice president and provost, vice presidents, treasurer, deans, university librarian)

Instructions

To complete the annual disclosure, login to ecoi.uiowa.edu with your HawkID. You will be asked a series of screening questions to determine if you have any outside professional activities, financial interests, or other considerations related to your university responsibilities or in the same field of expertise as your position at the university. If you have nothing to disclose, completion of the annual certification will take less than five minutes. If you have outside activities to disclose, complete an Entity Report for each outside entity.

Deadline

Faculty and staff who are required to complete the eCOI Annual Disclosure must do so by April 30, 2024. Faculty and staff will use the same eCOI reporting system to keep their disclosures updated throughout the year if their situation changes. Employees may go to the Compliance and Qualifications (CQ) system to view completed, due, or unfulfilled requirements.

Please refer questions to the contacts listed below:

Thank you for your assistance in ensuring UI academic, health care, business, research, and teaching endeavors are free of potential or actual conflicts of interest.