Research@UIC > Conflict of Commitment and Interest > Managing Conflicts > What is the Process in Creating a Conflict Management Plan?

What is the Process in Creating a Conflict Management Plan?

Background Information
Developing a Conflict Management Plan (CMP)
Getting the Proposed CMP Approved
Utilizing the CMP

Background Information

A conflict of interest arises when an academic staff member is in a position to influence either directly or indirectly University business, research, or other decisions in ways that could lead to gain for the academic staff member, the staff member's family, or others to the detriment of the University's integrity and its missions of teaching, research, and public service. (University Policy)
A conflict of commitment exists when the external activities of an academic staff member are so substantial or demanding of the staff member's time and attention as to interfere with the individual's responsibilities to the unit to which the individual is assigned, to students, or to the University. (University Policy)
A conflict of interest or commitment is in the situation, not one’s behavior. All situations involving a conflict must be managed to help prevent a perception that one’s behavior might be suspect. Management always begins with disclosure and sometimes involves formal Conflict Management Plans.
UIC encourages active participation by academic staff members in outside activities that enhance the professional skills of staff members, or constitute a public service activity. (University Policy)
Conflicts of commitment and interest occur because of the type and scope of activities engaged in by the University and its academic staff members. The mere existence of a conflict, real or potential, will not necessarily exclude a particular activity since conflicts can span a wide spectrum, from those that are minor and inconsequential to those that have serious consequences and cannot be permitted. The University and its academic staff members have ethical and legal obligations to conduct themselves and their University activities in accordance with the highest standards of integrity. (University Policy)
University guidelines are generally to allow (with prior approval), the equivalent of up to one day per week for full-time faculty, or about 52 days per calendar year appointment, and 40 days per academic year appointment. The amount approved will vary among individuals, from discipline to discipline, from one type of proposed activity to another. Because conflicts are based in a situation, the regulations and policy are not concerned with the precise timing of the activities. The University contract period includes evenings, weekends and holidays during the term of employment.
Family, according to University Policy, is one's spouse and children.
Federal regulations define Significant Financial Interest as a financial interest exceeding either $10,000 investment or income or 5% ownership interest regardless of dollar value.

Developing a Conflict Management Plan (CMP)

Work with your Unit Head to draft a CMP. Contact the Conflict of Interest Officer for instructions and the CMP form.
If more than one university employee is in a conflict situation, each may need his or her own CMP.

The Conflict of Interest (COI) Office will provide feedback to guide revisions. Works in progress should be exchanged with the COI Office via email. Continued work with the COI Office ensures the plan is sufficiently developed to be brought before the Conflict Review Committee (CRC). Continued work with the Unit Head facilitates the administrative review and approval process required after the CRC recommends that the Vice Chancellor for Research accept the plan.
When the proposed Conflict Management Plan is ready to be brought to the CRC, attach your most recent Report of Non-University Activities (RNUA), and a company business plan (or executive summary). All documents to be distributed to the CRC are due to COI office two weeks prior to the CRC meeting.
If you need to update your RNUA to reflect the activity described in the CMP, please do so, and begin the process of getting two levels of administrative review and approval for the revised RNUA form. The two levels of review are usually the Department Head and the Dean. The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research website at www.research.uic.edu/conflict provides the RNUA form, instructions, and other resources.
The CRC may agree to evaluate a CMP that is accompanied by an RNUA lacking two levels of administrative review and approval, but will always make two levels of RNUA approval a condition of any recommendation that the Vice Chancellor for Research accept the plan.

Getting the Proposed CMP Approved

The CRC evaluates the CMP and makes its recommendation to the Vice Chancellor for Research. The committee may recommend that the Vice Chancellor approve the CMP, or approve it pending specified changes. Depending on the nature of the changes, the CRC may request the plan be brought back to the committee before making a recommendation to the Vice Chancellor.The CRC may recommend the activities not be allowed.
The COI office reports committee’s recommendation to the investigator. If the committee recommends that the Vice Chancellor accept the CMP, or accept it pending changes, the investigator has 30 days to incorporate any requested changes and obtain the necessary signatures indicating administrative review and approval. These signatures reflect the two levels of review analogous to the two levels of review required for the Report of Non-University Activities.

Before the CMP will be approved by the Vice Chancellor, the investigator must attach copies of letters to any faculty, staff or students named in the CMP as being involved in the investigator’s external activities. Notifying the individuals named in the management plan is required by CMP. The COI office recommends using the following templates:

The investigator retains a file copy of the signed CMP and submits the original documents to the COI office in the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Research.

Utilizing the CMP

Annual Report required by CMP
Annual reports are required by the CMP and a schedule is available in the COI Office.
Proposal Approval Form (PAF)
When presenting a PAF any investigator, or individual responsible for the design, conduct or reporting of research, must disclose the conflict. The PAF form has a conflict of interest certification section. The conflicted investigator must prepare a Conflict of Interest Statement for Explanation And Management (SEAM) following the guidelines. Do not attach a copy of the CMP to the PAF. The Office of Research Services (ORS) will notify the COI office when the PAF is submitted. The COI office will work with the conflicted investigator(s). Once the COI statement receives administrative approval from the COI office, the COI office will confirm to ORS that the conflict has been managed.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Applications
When presenting an IRB application (this includes new applications, application for modification, and continuing review applications, whether reviewed by the IRB or exempt) any investigator, or individual responsible for the design, conduct or reporting of research, must disclose the conflict. The IRB forms have a conflict of interest certification section. The conflicted investigator must prepare a Conflict of Interest Statement for Explanation And Management (SEAM) following the guidelines. Do not attach a copy of the CMP to the IRB application. Submit your COI-SEAM with your IRB application and the Office for the Protection of Research Subjects (OPRS) will forward it to the COI office.
With rare exceptions, COIs are disclosed in the informed consent documents. The COI office offers templates of model language for disclosing financial conflict of interest to potential research participants. The COI office can work with you to adapt the disclosure language for your study.

A COI committee on Human Subjects Research will evaluate whether the conflicts are sufficiently disclosed and managed and make a recommendation to the IRB. The IRB has final authority for approving research protocols, which includes evaluating whether the conflict management techniques are sufficient to protect the rights and welfare of the subjects.

If NIH/PHS grants are involved, the OVCR must notify the granting agency of any potential conflict of interest, even if it is managed. The COI office will send you an email copy of the notification to NIH indicating that the conflict is managed.