In accordance with West Virginia University Board of Governors Governance Rule 1.4 – Ethics, Conflict of Interest and Outside Consulting, certain University officials are required to submit an annual Institutional Conflict of Interest Disclosure each year prior to July 31 on significant financial interests they or their family members hold.
"University officials" is defined within the rule to mean:
- University Board Members
- President
- Campus Presidents
- Vice Presidents
- Vice Provosts
- Deans
- Associate and Assistant Vice Presidents and Provosts
- Assistant and Associate Deans
- General Counsel
- Director of Internal Audit
- All employees within the Office of Technology Transfer
If you haven't already, be sure to submit your Institutional Conflict of Interest Disclosure before the July 31 deadline.
BOG Governance Rule 1.4 – Ethics, Conflict of Interest and Outside Consulting provides guidance on real and perceived conflicts of interest – both in general and in the context of research activities. The rule also offers guidance on the solicitation and acceptance of gifts by WVU faculty and staff and defines when it is permissible to enter into consulting arrangements with third parties outside of a faculty or staff member's employment with the University.
Here are some helpful tips regarding disclosure:
- Stocks in Mutual funds and retirement accounts are not included in this requirement.
- Only stocks that are or appear reasonably to be related to your institutional responsibilities, based on your role/title, should be disclosed.
- If the professional decisions that you make while undertaking your role at WVU (e.g., institutional processes, research, business transactions or other activities at the University) could potentially be, or appear to be, biased by your stock ownership, board membership, or other external business activities, it must be disclosed.
- An attachment can be added at the end of the disclosure if you have a list or a spreadsheet that you would prefer to attach with additional information.
Thank you for doing your part to ensure WVU maintains the highest ethical standards across the University's operations.
Visit the policies.wvu.edu website for more information on BOG Governance Rule 1.4. The site includes general FAQs, all related approval and disclosure forms and an Outside Consulting Arrangements Do's and Don'ts document.
If you have any questions, contact Joy Edwards, director, conflict of interest, in the Conflict of Interest Office, at Joy.Edwards@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-5475.