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In a session at the Nebraska Union on Tuesday, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln announced it will be updating its Conflict of Interest Policy.
The first of two sessions was led by Deb Hamernik, the associate vice chancellor of Research, who helped co-author the updated policy along with Sara Conrad, the director of Research Compliance Services. Hamernik explained why the policy needed updating, the definition of conflict of interest, major changes to the policy and the timeline to get it all done.
The policy is being updated to be in compliance with the bylaws of the UNL Board of Regents policy that was updated in 2010 to accommodate the Department of Health and Human Services and the Public Health Service changes in regulations.
"HHS is the first federal funding agency to develop regulations for conflicts of interest related to research," Hamernik wrote in an email. "UNL receives a considerable amount of funding for research from HHS. Thus, UNL must comply with the HHS regulations."
In the presentation, Hamernik defined conflict of interest as a situation that may cause bias in a decision, and also that conflict of interest arises when a university employee has an opportunity to influence UNL's business or research decisions for personal gain.
A course of action was laid out during the listening session to ensure the policy updating goes through all the proper channels. Currently the policy is being shown to faculty and administrators for input.
Discussion with the UNL Deans Council is scheduled for March 20 and the incorporation for suggested revision is set for April.
The session was followed by a post-presentation questionnaire, fielded by Conrad. In the session, a faculty member addressed the issue of non-university income and how it is to be accounted for. Conrad said faculty must record non-university income on the Interest Reporting form if it exceeds $5,000.
According to Hamernik, the policy updates could affect certain research-driven colleges more so than others, and that the new policy would act as an umbrella, applying to graduate students and even undergraduates.
The entire UNL conflict of interest and conflict of commitment policy and procedures is available online at the university's research news website.
The second session will be held on Thursday at the East Campus Union.
westonpoor@dailynebraskan.com
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