Month: January 2012

Changes coming to COI rules

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At its January 17 meeting, the Faculty Council heard a report from David Wynes, Vice President for Research Administration, on major changes forthcoming from the government to conflict of interest rules governing individual faculty receiving federal research funding. The new regulations will take effect with grants awarded in August 2012. Among the changes:

  • The threshold for review of interest in outside activity is now $5,000 in combined income and equity;
  • All outside activities related to professional appointment (not just research) must be reported;
  • All travel directly reimbursed to an individual and not funded by an institution of higher education or the government must be reported within 30 days to the institution;
  • The institution is required to either post on a website the names of all individual faculty with a financial conflict of interest or alternatively to provide the information to anyone who requests it within five days;
  • Every faculty member who receives external support must undergo an initial and ongo- ing training every four years in conflict of interest policies.

 

Improved Faculty Access to Emory Clinic

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At the January meeting, Emory Clinic direc- tor Doug Morris presented an overview of options available to Emory faculty for improved access to Emory Healthcare. He first described Emory Employee Health and Wellness and Occupational Medicine, located in the basement of Emory Hospital, room HB53. It is chiefly responsible for occupa- tional injury management but also serves as an employee clinic for minor ailments. Hours are Mon through Fri, by appointment only, but a nurse practitioner is on call 24 hours for work-related injuries at 686-8587. Morris also discussed the Emory Employee Line (8-EVIP), which provides appointment access within 14 days, and the new Patient- Centered Primary Care program, a pilot for a new model of coordinated care between providers, specialists, and other settings such as the ER. Morris urged faculty to enroll in this new program by contacting 8-2050 or visiting emoryhealthcare.org/pilot.

Around Campus: Law School & Emeritus College

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The inherent tensions between the changing economic environment of the practice of law and the aims of a legal education were discussed at length during the January meeting, in keeping with the new practice of asking one or two council members per meeting to report on discussion topics from his or her school. Law professor Barbara Woodhouse spoke about that issue, as well as desires to increase diversity among law school faculty and students, expand university support for cross-departmental collaborations, and iden- tify the school’s areas of strength and distinction. Emerita professor Yung-Fong Sung also presented an overview of Emeritus College concerns, emphasizing its goals of doubling membership by next year, developing a research fellowship, expanding its mentoring programs, creating guided excursions and tours of other institutions’ emeritus colleges, and hosting an annual meeting of such organizations in the near future.