The VA COI Statute prevents this arrangement UNLESS you assure, with a
written record, that the spouses report to different individuals, AND that
a higher authority (I'd suggest a dean level) confirms that the consultant
spouse  a) is an expert in the field, and  2) the rate of pay for the
consultancy is "market price" for that expertise.  If you are putting this
into a proposal, it would be wise to indicate (maybe in budget
justification) that these judgements have already been made.  I'd suggest
this even if the spouses have different professional names -- CYA!

Professional couples with similar interests often work together in
academia, but you need to ensure that COI is MANAGED by application of
judgement by a higher authority.

If you have a COI Committee, its approval should be obtained.  In your
case, however, follow the steps outlined above because of Va COI Statute is
satisfied in that way.

Chuck

At 12:20 PM 11/19/2004, you wrote:
>Good afternoon,
>I was wondering if any universities have conflict of interests policies
>that address the following type of scenario.
>
>A PI wants to hire his spouse to be a consultant on a grant that he
>received. The PI claims that his spouse is one of the experts in the field.
>
>Would your institution view this as a conflict of interest, and if so, how
>would you address this issue?
>
>Susan
>
>
>Susan Metosky, MPH
>Research Compliance Coordinator
>2035 Hughes Hall
>Old Dominion University
>Norfolk, VA 23529
>Telephone: 757-683-3686
>Fax: 757-683-5902
>xxxxxx@odu.edu
>
>
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Herbert "Chuck" Chermside, CRA
Director Emeritus, VCU
Executive Director, Research Administrators Certification Council
1915 Robindale Rd.
Richmond, VA 23235-3931
804-320-5502
xxxxxx@verizon.net

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