TO: IUPUI Faculty Council

FROM: FC Faculty Affairs Committee

DATE: 31 March 2004

Approved by the IUPUI FC on April 6, 2004

SUBJECT: Resolution to Clarify the 3/9/04 UFC Vote on the

New Conflicts of Interest in Research Policy

Whereas faculty governance and proper legislative procedures should be—and in most instances, are—the guiding principle in Faculty Council (and University Faculty Council) matters, especially in policies that directly affect faculty members; and

Whereas in the matter of the new Conflicts of Interest in Research Policy (“CIP”), introduced at the 2/10 UFC meeting in Indianapolis and adopted at the 3/9 UFC meeting in Fort Wayne, the guiding principle seems to have been celerity rather than propriety; and

Whereas it is impossible to trace the exact process of revision/conversion from the 9/12/2000 Academic Handbook CIP to that adopted on 3/9/2004 or to ascertain whether any duly constituted faculty committee had any part in its revision; and

Whereas no reaction to the revision was solicited from individual campuses and their representatives, and IUPUI’s opposition to it was apparently ignored; and

Whereas common sense suggests that, instead of adopting a narrow new CIP, we should adopt—simultaneously—a tetrad of integrated policies (on conflicts of interest, conflicts of commitment, textbooks, and several relevant state laws), and submit CIP materials at the time of Faculty Annual Reports submissions;

Be it therefore resolved that, at its 4/27/04 meeting, the University Faculty Council affirm its commitment to present the CIP to the Trustees only when matters related to teaching, professional service, and conflicts of commitment can also be presented; further, the UFC be willing to entertain revisions in the recently approved CIP until such time as it may be presented to the Trustees—and thereby follow proper legislative procedures and accord individual campuses and their representatives the opportunity to discuss important new policies before they are voted on.