You need to complete an Immediate Family Waiver. An Immediate Family Waiver is a pre-approval request and is distinct from your disclosure profile.

In the Disclosure Profile workspace, look for and click the Request Pre-Approval button on the left. Then select Immediate Family Waiver as the type of request.

In RAMP COI, an Entity is an organization in which you have a personal interest, an organization for which you perform an outside activity, or an organization in which you have a Significant Financial Interest.

If you do not find your organization name in the Entity drop-down list, you can create a Write-In Entity. To do this, click the ellipsis button under “If you cannot find the entity in the above list, enter the details here.” The Write-In Entity form allows you to add your organization name.

Yes. You can update the information in your disclosure profile at any time. You should update your profile whenever there is a change in your personal interests or outside activity.

You will receive an email notification from RAMP confirming that you have successfully disclosed in the RAMP system.

All benefited employees are required to submit an annual COI disclosure.

Additionally, investigators on sponsored projects are required to disclose, for each sponsored project, whether any of their Significant Financial Interests are related to the project.

Yes. After your proposal has been submitted, a research certification will be created. If necessary, additional steps may need to be taken depending on what information is disclosed.

Outside activities may need to be disclosed depending on the nature of the activity, the time commitment involved, and whether the activity may create a Conflict of Commitment or overlap with university responsibilities.

Email all questions and concerns to [email protected].

A pre-approval request, also known as a PAR, provides information about what types of activities require prior approval, who needs to submit a PAR, and where to submit a PAR.

All faculty covered by the Faculty Handbook and all investigators on sponsored projects may be required to disclose Conflicts of Commitment. Adjunct faculty are typically not required to submit a disclosure unless they are investigators on sponsored projects.

Conflicts of Commitment are generally situations in which a researcher is dedicating time to personal activities in excess of the time permitted by institutional policy, or to activities that may detract from their primary responsibility to the institution.

• A faculty member dedicating more than the permitted time to personal consulting.
• A faculty member accepting an unpaid position with a company while sponsoring the company member’s research.
• A faculty member using university resources, office space, laboratory space, or staff support for personal consulting.

The policy only applies to graduate research assistants or postdocs if they are investigators on sponsored projects.

University Policy 4021 establishes three kinds or levels of outside activities: activities that do not need to be reported, activities that must be reported but do not need prior approval, and activities that must be reported and require prior approval from your Dean.

Chairs and Deans should refer to University Policy 4021, the University Policy 4021 procedures, and their School or College procedures in deciding whether an activity is acceptable.

They may also refer questions to the Office of Institutional Compliance, the Office of Research Integrity and Assurance, or Human Resources. Questions may be emailed to [email protected].

The amount of time and effort required for reviewing and approving disclosures will vary depending on what is disclosed. Most disclosures require far less time and effort than setting up a COI waiver. Some activities, such as those involving a foreign talent program, may require more time and consideration.

Chairs and LAU Heads know faculty workloads, institutional responsibilities, and disciplinary norms regarding professional activities. For this reason, they are often best positioned to evaluate whether an outside activity has the potential to create a conflict of commitment.

No. Activities may need to be reported whether or not compensation is received.

A range of disciplinary actions may be taken depending on the severity of the issue, similar to the range of outcomes that result from findings of different types of employee misconduct.

Yes. The policy generally only applies to faculty when they are under contract with George Mason. Unless 9-month faculty have a separate summer engagement with George Mason, University Policy 4021 does not apply to them during the summer.

However, outside professional activities associated with a foreign entity may require pre-approval regardless of when the activity occurs.

Yes. Foreign appointments and affiliations may need to be disclosed, and pre-approval may be required before engaging in these activities.

If a Chair is aware of noncompliance by a faculty member, they should report the noncompliance to the appropriate office. In this case, noncompliance may be reported to the Office of Institutional Compliance or the Office of Research Integrity and Assurance via [email protected].

A Dean may change the procedure for their college at any time by submitting a revised procedure to the Office of Institutional Compliance and the Office of Research Integrity and Assurance for review. Deans will communicate any changes to their faculty.

The required RAMP guidance acknowledgment is embedded within the Disclosure Profile Update. To complete the required guidance acknowledgment, log into your Disclosure Profile in RAMP using your GMU SSO credentials.

Find the “Instructions and Policies” page of the Disclosure Profile Update and click the checkbox at the bottom of the page in RAMP certifying that you have reviewed the information. Be sure to complete the additional steps in RAMP afterward to update your Disclosure Profile with any significant financial interests or outside professional activities as appropriate.

Contact [email protected].