Conflict of Interest
Guidance: Membership on Boards of Directors or Service as an Operating Officer
Faculty and other researchers may be permitted to serve on the Board of Directors or as an Operating Officer of a for profit company including a start-up*.
A faculty member or researcher who has assumed a Board seat or serves as an Operating Officer with any for profit entity should recognize that his or her ability to conduct research at Health Science Center that is sponsored by the venture, especially research involving human subjects, will be restricted because of the conflict created by the fiduciary relationship with the venture.
Faculty members and researchers who assume Board seats or serve as Operating Officers of start-ups should also be sensitive to the need to recuse themselves from all Board decisions that involve conflicting duties to the start-up and to the University.
Consulting arrangements are also subject to the requirements of HOP, Section 10.1.8 “Conflict of Commitment (Faculty and A&P Staff)” and any additional requirements established by the Dean of the individual’s school.
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* relatively newly formed, privately held, for profit companies that are generally based on intellectual property developed at the Health Science Center