At VCU, the state Conflicts of Interests law applies (at least if the
consulting exceeds $10K/yr) because we are prohibited to have a financial
interest in a contract with our own state agency other than our contract of
employment. (The Act covers other things, too, but that's what applies
here.)  We have a procedure by which the VPResearch can grant an exception
-- in exxence, approving the concept that any conflict is being managed --
if she perceives a significant advantage to the institution.

The situation can be troubling, but it can also be rewarding.  Treat them
on a case by case basis.  For example, an STTR grant almost requires this
apparent conflict (which we deal with mostly by ensuring that the work is
structured so all inventions will occur in the Univ. subaward.  But the
ones that really burn my "eyeballs" are clinical trials where the company
is forthright in the research agreement that they are paying for consulting
or other services directly to the M.D. over and above the research/trial
work at the institution!

Chuck

At 10:49 AM 8/24/00 -0400, you wrote:
>Do any of you have language in your institutional Consulting Policy or
>Sponsored Projects Policy that specifically deals with the issue of
>whether a faculty member's research may be sponsored by a company for
>which s/he simultaneously serves as a consultant?  My own bias is that
>this is a VERY bad situation, since the intellectual property terms, for
>example, in most personal consulting agreements (the company owns it)
>collide "head-on" with intellectual policy terms in most institutional
>research agreements (the institution owns it), but I would be interested
>in the views of others on this issue.  I especially would be interested in
>seeing how other institutions have dealt with this issue in their
>policies, i.e., either to prohibit it or to "build a box" within which to
>permit it.
>
>If you would like to respond to me directly, I will post the responses
>without institutional or personal identifiers.
>
>thanks,
>doug
>
>Doug Wilkerson, Ph.D.              Phone:   (419) 383-4252
>Assoc. V.P. For Research          Fax:   (419) 383-4252
>Professor of Pharmacology         E-mail:   xxxxxx@mco.edu
>Research & Grants Admin.          Web: www.mco.edu/research
>Block Health Sci. Bldg., Rm. 148
>3035 Arlington Ave.
>Toledo, OH 43614-5804
>
>
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Herbert B. Chermside, CRA
Director, Sponsored Programs Administration
Virginia Commonwealth University
PO BOX 980568
Richmond, VA  23298-0568
Express Delivery Only:
 Sanger Hall, Rm. 1-073
 11th & Marshall Streets
 Richmond, VA  23219
Voice:  804-828-6772
Fax     804-828-2521
OFFICE e-mail   xxxxxx@VCU.EDU
Personal e-mail xxxxxx@vcu.edu
http://views.vcu.edu/ospa/

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