The University System of Maryland (USM) was established pursuant to Md. Code Ann., Education, § 12-101 as a body corporate and politic, and instrumentality of the State, and a public corporation. The USM is a consolidated system of public higher education, comprised of twelve constituent institutions, two regional higher education centers and a system office. As a public educational system, USM’s mission is to improve the quality of education through teaching and research, and to extend its benefits to encourage the economical use of the State’s resources. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a constituent institution of the USM.
Maryland State Ethics law and USM policy encourage public higher education institutions to promote economic development in the State and increase their financial resources through private sector relationships. UMBC is dedicated to the highest ethical and professional standards of conduct and complies with all applicable laws and regulations related to all University affairs. As such, UMBC has created a Code of Ethics for all members of the campus community to observe for maintaining the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct while practicing honesty and integrity that comply with applicable laws and regulations, including CFR 52.203-13 and 52.203-14.
There are three generally recognized categories of Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCIs):
- Unequal access to information could arise when an organization has access to nonpublic information, such as acquisition planning or budget data, as part of the performance of a government contract,
- Biased ground rules could arise when an organization has an opportunity to affect the ground rules for another Government contract,
- Impaired objectivity could arise when an organization performs work under one contract and then is asked to evaluate its own work product or proposed support in some fashion.
The UMBC Vice President for Research (VPR) is responsible for execution and oversight of Conflict of Interest (COI) plans; COI management is supported by the Office of Research Protections and Compliance (ORPC). Procedures have been implemented to 1) identify potential organizational conflicts of interest, 2) avoid potential organizational conflicts of interest, and 3) establish risk mitigation plans in order to prevent organizational conflicts of interest from occurring.
Disclosing OCI
The disclosure will indicate if the investigator have access to the sponsor’s proprietary data provided by other contractors while completing this work that would give UMBC an edge in future government contracts (Unfair Competitive Advantage), the ability to provide any advice for writing statements of work or specification for future sponsor solicitations that would benefits UMBC (Biased Ground Rules) or the ability to perform evaluation of proposals or of work performed for the sponsor by UMBC or any competitors (Impaired Objectivity) – (FAR Subpart 9.5).
The objectives of the OCI management program are to identify actual or perceived conflicts and if appropriate disclose them to the sponsor and mitigate or manage the conflict. The goal of this is to prevent or manage circumstances where UMBC may have biased judgement or an unfair competitive advantage.
Procedures
In the event a potential OCI is identified and related to proposed or ongoing research at the university, the ORPC will work with the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), the Office of General Counsel (OGC), the government’s contracting officer/program manager, project Principal Investigator personnel and their departments and others as necessary to neutralize or mitigate the OCI. Management of the OCI may include recusal from certain activities, maintaining confidentiality of data or review of work by an independent third party.
UMBC also ensures that there is a written agreement with subcontractors regarding required flowdown clauses from contracts or agreements regarding COI management. Subcontractors shall provide a certification that their policy on organizational conflicts of interests complies with the minimum applicable contract or agreement requirements. If the subcontractor cannot provide such a certification, the subcontract agreement shall state that subcontractor is subject UMBC procedures.
Forms
Please download the OCI disclosure form and submit to compliance@umbc.edu. The ORPC will review and contact the investigator with any questions or approve the disclosure.
The Kuali COI module does not currently have an OCI component. Once available, such disclosures will be submitted via Kuali. Disclosure information will be stored in the ORPC file system.