June 5, 2013
New conflict of interest Board of Regents rules
Submitted by Susana L. Valdovinos
The Kansas Board of Regents recently changed its conflict of interest policy to reflect changes to federal conflict of interest reporting laws and lowered the threshold amount that must be reported from $10,000 to $5,000. The new definition of significant financial or managerial interests is all holdings greater than $5,000 or more than 5 percent ownership in a company.
In response to these changes, the office of academic personnel has updated the electronic conflict of interest declaration forms to lower the reporting threshold to $5,000 and to include the immediate supervisor level of review.
To assist employees with questions about filing the electronic conflict of interest form, we have created an Electronic Conflict of Interest Form Completion Tutorial for Employees. Likewise, to introduce immediate supervisors to the review and approval process, and update department heads, deans and unit administrators on the review and approval process, an Electronic Conflict of Interest Review and Approval Tutorial for Supervisors/Managers has been developed. These tutorials may be accessed online at http://www.k-state.edu/conflict/tutorial/.
The office of academic personnel staff will be happy to answer questions from members of the university community and Susana Valdovinos, svaldovi@k-state.edu, would be glad to assist and answer questions from immediate supervisors as they begin the approval process at this level. Contact us at 785-532-4392 or academicpersonnel@k-state.edu.