Conflict of Interest Policy for Recipients of NASA Financial Assistance Awards

In December 2020, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published report GAO–21–130, Federal Research: Agencies Need to Enhance Policies to Address Foreign Influence. This report included two recommendations for NASA that pertained to (1) updating NASA's conflict of interest policy to include a definition of non-financial conflicts, such as conflicts of commitment, and (2) documenting procedures, roles, and responsibilities for addressing and enforcing failures to disclose required information. In response to GAO–21–130, NASA published a proposed conflict of interest and conflict of commitment policy in the Federal Register in January 2023 (88 FR 5930, pages 5930–5932, January 30, 2023). After reviewing public comments and feedback, NASA revised the proposed policy to only address financial conflicts of interest.

The revised policy is designed to standardize NASA's conflict to interest disclosure requirements with those of other Federal research funding agencies. In summary, the policy requires NASA grant and cooperative agreement recipients to maintain and enforce a conflict of interest policy that requires the disclosure of significant financial interests to an authorized official prior to application submission. Prior to the expenditure of grant or cooperative agreement funds, the institution shall review disclosed significant financial interests, determine if a conflict of interest exists, and determine what conditions or restrictions, if any, should be imposed to manage, reduce, or eliminate such conflict of interest. Institutions shall notify NASA of any conflict of interest that cannot be managed, reduced, or eliminated in accordance with the institution's policy.

This policy is intended to signify that Union College, in applying for or receiving NASA funding from a grant or cooperative agreement, shall comply with the conflict of interest policy and notification requirements in section 3.3, Conflicts of Interest Policy, of the NASA Grant and Cooperative Agreement Manual (GCAM), as amended by the new policy and term and condition in final form found in Grant Information Circular (GIC) 23-07. Furthermore, this policy is intended to demonstrate that Union College has documented procedures in place and made available on a publicly accessible website to ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements. As documented in 88 FR 60243, all NASA grant and cooperative agreement recipients are required to maintain and enforce a conflicts of interest policy that requires the disclosure of significant financial interests to an authorized official prior to application submission. This policy applies to both prime and subrecipient institutions, domestic or foreign, and to each investigator who is responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of research funded or proposed for funding by NASA.

This policy is designed to assist the College and Investigators in identifying potential and actual conflicts of interest and to ensure compliance with government regulations by establishing standards that provide a reasonable expectation that the design, conduct, or reporting NASA-funded research.

This policy and related terms and conditions are effective December 1, 2023 and are applicable to all Investigators applying for NASA funding, as well as to new and amended awards at that time.

1) Conflict of Interest (COI): a situation in which an investigator, or the investigator's spouse or dependent children, has a significant financial interest that could directly and significantly affect the design, conduct, or reporting of NASA-funded research.

2) Significant Financial Interest (SFI): anything of monetary value, including, but not limited to, salary and any payment for services not otherwise identified as salary (e.g., consulting fees or honoraria), equity interest (e.g., stock, stock options, private equity, or other ownership interests), venture or other capital financing, and intellectual property rights (e.g., patents, copyrights, and royalties from such rights). The term does not include the following:

1. Salaries, royalties, or other remuneration paid by the proposing institution to the investigator if the investigator is currently employed or otherwise appointed by the institution;
2. Any ownership interests in the proposing institution if the institution is a commercial or for-profit organization;
3. Income from investment vehicles, such as mutual funds and retirement accounts, as long as the investigator does not directly control the investment decisions made in these vehicles;
4. Income from seminars, lectures, or teaching engagements sponsored by a public or nonprofit entity;
5. Income from service on advisory committees or review panels for a public or nonprofit entity;
6. An equity interest that, when aggregated for the investigator and the investigator's spouse and dependent children, meets both of the following tests: (1) does not exceed $10,000 in value as determined through reference to public prices or other reasonable measures of fair market value and (2) does not represent more than a 5 percent ownership interest in any single entity; or
7. Salaries, royalties, or other payments that, when aggregated for the investigator and the investigator's spouse and dependent children, are not expected to exceed $10,000 during the prior twelve-month period.

3) Institution: any domestic or foreign, public or private, entity or organization that is applying for, or that receives, a NASA research grant or cooperative agreement.

4) Investigator: the principal investigator, project director, and any other person, regardless of title or position, identified on the proposed project who is responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of research funded or proposed for funding by NASA. This definition may also include other key personnel, collaborators, or consultants.

5) Designated Official(s) (DO): the staff in the Union College Office of College Grants and Sponsored Programs responsible for soliciting and reviewing disclosures of significant financial interests.

1) Scope

This policy is applicable to all Investigators applying for or receiving NASA new or amended funding from a grant or cooperative agreement on or after December 1, 2023.

Investigator activities shall be conducted in a manner that avoids any COIs. COIs may occur when there is a divergence between an Investigator’s private interests and professional services to the College. All Investigators are required to disclose to the College’s DO all SFIs of the Investigator and/or the Investigator’s spouse, domestic partner, and/or dependent children. A COI exists when the Institution’s designated official reasonable determines that an Investigator’s SFI could directly and significantly affect the design, conduct, or reporting of NASA-funded researchers.

A subrecipient relationship is established when federal funds flow down from an awardee institution to another individual or entity. Accordingly, as a recipient of federal funds from an awardee Institution, the COI regulation applies to subrecipients (e.g. subcontractors or consortium members). The awardee Institution is responsible for ensuring subrecipients’ compliance with the regulation and reporting of identified COIs that cannot be satisfactorily managed, reduced, or eliminated in accordance with the Institution’s policy.

2) Disclosure of Significant Financial Interests and Maintenance of Records

1. Investigators must complete, prior to the submission of a proposal for a NASA grant or cooperative agreement, the Union College Financial Disclosure Form for All Investigators Conducting Research Supported by NASA Funding, which is available online (https://www.union.edu/grants/forms-templates). Upon completing the form, the signed copy will be submitted to the DO.
2. Investigators must provide all required financial disclosures no later than the time of submission of a proposal for NASA-funded research
3. Investigators must update and resubmit financial disclosures:
   1. Within 30 days of discovering or acquiring (e.g. through purchase, marriage, inheritance, etc.) a new reportable SFI; and
   2. Annually during the period of the award.
4. Union College’s Office of College Grants and Sponsored Programs will maintain all COI-related records for at least three years from the date that the final expenditures report is submitted to NASA or as specified 2 CFR § 200.334, where applicable.

3) Process for the Review and Management of Financial Disclosures

1. The DO will solicit and review each disclosure of SFIs (including those of the Investigator’s spouse, domestic partner, and/or dependent children) by investigators that would reasonably appear to be affected by research funded or proposed to be funded by NASA or in entities whose financial interest would reasonably appear to be affected by such activities.
2. Prior to the expenditure of any funds under a NASA-funded research award, the DO will review Investigators’ disclosures of SFIs, determine whether a potential COI exists, and, if so, consult with the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty (VPAA/DOF) to determine what conditions or restrictions, if any, should be imposed by the Institution to manage, reduce, or eliminate such COI. Examples of conditions or restrictions that the Institution or subrecipient might impose to manage, reduce, or eliminate a conflict include, but are not limited to:
   1. Public disclosure of the COI (e.g., when presenting or publishing the research),
   2. Monitoring of research by independent reviewers,
   3. Modification of the research plan,
   4. Change of personnel or personnel responsibilities,
   5. Disqualification of personnel from participation in all or a portion of the NASA-funded activity,
   6. Divestiture of significant financial interests that create the COI (e.g., sale of an equity interest), or
   7. Severance of relationships that create the COI.
3. A Management Plan will be developed and implemented by the DO in consultation with the VPAA/DOF no later than sixty days after determination that a COI exists. The Management Plan is intended to formally document and serve as a guide for any conditions or restrictions imposed by the Institution for risk mitigation.
   1. In accordance with the College’s responsibility to ensure subrecipients’ compliance with the regulation and reporting of identified COIs, the agreement between Union College and the subrecipient will be amended to include requirements to comply with any applicable Management Plan and continued annual disclosures until the project is complete.
   2. The Investigator will be consulted on the design and implementation of the Management Plan and the Investigator must agree in writing to the plan before NASA-funded research can proceed.

4) Notification Requirements

1. If the DO, VPAA/DOF, and Investigator cannot agree to the terms of a Management Plan prior to the expenditure of any funds under a NASA-funded research award, the NASA Grant Officer(s) listed on the related award(s) will be notified in writing by the DO that the COI cannot be satisfactorily managed, reduced, or eliminated in accordance to the Institution’s policy.
   1. In cases in which the Institution identifies a COI and manages, reduces, or eliminates it prior to the expenditure of NASA-awarded funds, the institution is not required to submit a COI notification to NASA.
2. After the expenditure of award funds, the Institution will notify NASA with 60 days of any subsequently identified COI that cannot be managed, reduced, or eliminated.
3. Notifications shall include sufficient information to enable NASA to understand the nature and extent of the COI (e.g., award number, name of investigator with the COI, nature of the significant financial interest, etc.).

5) NASA Post-Notification Processes

When the Institution notifies a NASA Grant Officer of a COI that cannot be eliminated, managed, or reduced, the cognizant Grant Officer or one of their delegates will:

1. Report the conflict to the NASA Shared Services Center's (NSSC) at the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) and copy the award's Technical Officer. The NSSC OGC then will inform HQ OGC of the reported conflict. In consultation with OGC and the relevant Technical Officer, the Grant Officer must review the COI and take appropriate action, as necessary
   1. When an institution notifies NASA of a COI that involves any foreign governments, their instrumentalities, or any other entities owned, funded, or otherwise controlled by a foreign government, the cognizant Grant Officer must review the COI and take appropriate action, as necessary, in consultation with the award's Technical Officer, OGC, and the NASA Office of International and Interagency Relations (OIIR).
   2. If fraud, misrepresentation, or related misconduct is suspected in relation to any COI notification submitted to NASA, then the Grant Officer or Technical Officer also will refer the matter to the NASA Office of Inspector General and OGC's Acquisition Integrity Program.
2. If a Grant Officer must take appropriate actions after conducting the reviews described above, then they will do so in accordance with the remedies for noncompliance and termination provisions in 2 CFR § 200.339 through § 200.343. Remedies for noncompliance include but are not limited to:
   1. Temporarily withholding payment,
   2. Disallowing all or part of the cost of an award activity,
   3. Wholly or partly suspending or terminating the award,
   4. Initiating referrals for consideration of suspension or debarment proceedings, and
   5. Withholding further Federal awards for the project or program.
3. A Grant Officer intending to take action per paragraph (b) of this section, with the exception of paragraph (b)(iv), will notify each institution about the specific reason for the action and will adhere to the requirements in GCAM section 7.13, Appealing a Suspended or Terminated Award, as necessary. However, notice of suspension or debarment proceedings will be issued consistent with 2 CFR § 180, as adopted by NASA at 2 CFR § 1880. Additionally, if NASA determines that an investigator will be disqualified from participating on an award due to a COI that cannot be managed, reduced, or eliminated, then NASA will offer the institution an opportunity to address the COI prior to taking action on the award.