Research Administration | Research Compliance & Integrity | Conflict of Interest – COI | External Professional Activities | Conflict of Commitment: Notice of Intent

Conflict of Commitment: Notice of Intent

This form is for the reporting period of July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. For questions about the form, jump to General Information.

General Information

**Important Changes**

All external professional activities, regardless of pay, are now required to be reported.
The external professional activities form has been replaced by the Notice of Intent form. This must be completed and approved at least 10 days prior to beginning any new external professional activity.

Who must submit this form:

  • Covered Individuals, who plan to engage in an External Professional Activity.

External Professional Activities are any activity paid or unpaid that:

  • Is not included within one’s University Duties;
  • Is performed for any entity, public or private, other than UNC Greensboro; and
  • Is based upon the professional knowledge, experience and abilities for which UNC Greensboro employs the Covered Individual.

Participation of employees in External Professional Activities is an important characteristic of academic employment that often leads to significant societal benefits, including economic development through technology transfer.

External Professional Activities are to be undertaken only if they do not:

  • Create a Conflict of Commitment by interfering with the obligation of the individual to carry out all University Employment Duties in a timely and effective manner;
  • Create an unmanageable Conflict of Interest;
  • Involve any inappropriate use of University resources;
  • Make any use of the name or marks of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for any purpose other than for professional identification; or
  • Claim, explicitly or implicitly, any institutional responsibility for the conduct or outcome of the External Professional Activities.

What to Disclose

  • Paid authorship from any entity.
  • An apparent conflict of interest may be present when textbooks and other educational materials produced by an instructor are required for a class that instructor teaches, and where the sale of such materials produces financial gain for the instructor. In these instances, an external review of the text and its appropriateness for the course may be needed.

  • Engagement with a Foreign Talent Program or other organization that appear related to your institutional responsibilities.
  • Paid or unpaid positions of influence, by you or your family members, with an entity in which the interests of the entity appear related to your institutional responsibilities.
  • Student Involvement:
    • Situations in which an activity (e.g., employment of students in a startup based upon UNCG intellectual property, or participation of students in consulting engagements) could create a potential conflict of interest or commitment with respect to a faculty member’s mentorship responsibility.

  • Situations where you may be working with either a family member or other person in which you may have an interpersonal relationship.

  • Intellectual Property (IP) in which you or your family members, have an existing or proposed licensing interest.
  • IP rights held (or in negotiation) for a pending or issued patent in which you or your family members are listed as inventors.
    • This includes intellectual property rights assigned to UNCG and subject to a share in royalties related to such rights.

  • Equity or other ownership interest in publicly or non-publicly traded entities (e.g. stock, stock options, warrants, or other ownership interest) held by your or your covered family members that appears to be related to your institutional responsibilities.
    • Note that investments in which you do not directly control investment decisions, such as mutual funds or retirement accounts, do not need to be disclosed.

  • Any ownership or equity interest from any entity whose stock is not publicly traded, by you and your covered family members that appears to be related to your institutional responsibilities.

  • Any reimbursed or sponsored travel not paid for by UNCG or a sponsored research award to UNCG
  • Any travel not reimbursed, sponsored or paid for by a U.S. government agency, a U.S. higher education institution, a U.S. academic teaching hospital, medical center, or a U.S. research institute affiliated with a U.S. higher education institution

Definitions

Covered Individual

Any faculty employee, Exempt Professional Staff (EPS), Senior Academic and Administrative Officer (SAAO), or any individual, regardless of employment type or status, supported by a sponsored research award, who is designated as senior/key person for the project and is responsible for the design, conduct, reporting, or funding of such research. The definition of Covered Individual may be expanded for a particular sponsored project when required by the federal award terms.

Covered Individual’s Immediate Family

A Covered Individual’s spouse (including a person whom one is married or with whom one lives together as a domestic partner), children, parents, and siblings.

Reporting Period

The current Fiscal Year (July 1 – June 30th of the following calendar year)

Primary Duties

Consist of assigned teaching, scholarship, research, institutional service
requirements, administrative duties and other assigned employment duties.

Secondary Duties

Professional affiliations and activities traditionally undertaken by Covered Individuals outside of the immediate University employment context. Secondary Duties may include the receipt of honoraria, remuneration or the reimbursement of expenses, and include membership in and service to professional associations and learned societies; membership on professional review or advisory panels; presentation of lectures, papers, concerts or exhibits; participation in seminars and conferences; reviewing or editing scholarly publications and books without receipt of compensation; and service to accreditation bodies. These activities, which demonstrate active participation in a profession, are encouraged and often valued in promotion and tenure and other performance reviews, provided they do not conflict or interfere with the timely and effective performance of the Covered Individual’s Primary Duties or with related University policies.

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