Office of Research Integrity and Assurance

Reminder: Annual Mason Conflict of Interest (COI) Disclosure

All Mason employees who receive benefits (benefited employees) are required to access the site https://coi.gmu.edu/ and disclose whether or not they have any COI.

  1. First, click the “Submit Your Disclosure” button and sign in with your Mason ID.
  2. From the drop-down menu, choose the VP, Dean, or other senior leader to whom your position reports.
  3. You will read through a one-page Training document describing what needs to be disclosed.
  4. You will then click Yes or No when asked if you have any COI to disclose.
  5. If you have an immediate family member (defined as a spouse or someone who lives in your house and is your dependent) who also works at Mason, you will also be required to disclose the name of your immediate family member.
  6. If you do not have any COI to disclose, then the declaration process is complete. If you do have COI to disclose, you will be asked to further describe the COI.

Personal Interest in a Contract: Virginia law (§ 2.2-3106 of the Virginia Code) prohibits employees of Mason from having a personal interest in any contract or transaction with Mason unless there is a COI waiver in place. The law defines a personal interest as more than $5,000 in annual income or 3% ownership interest. If any employee has such a personal interest, they must disclose it and Mason’s COI Committee will determine whether a waiver can be granted. All disclosures made through the COI website will be reviewed by the COI Committee to determine whether a waiver is required.

**If you do not know whether an entity has a business relationship with Mason, you can sign in here to Search for vendor’s G number or contact ewoodley@gmu.edu.**

Significant Financial Interests (SFIs) and Research Proposals: Significant financial interests related to institutional responsibilities must be disclosed prior to proposal submission. Significant financial interests include more than $5,000 in equity for publicly traded firms, or annual income or any ownership interest in a privately held firm.

All benefited employees must complete this disclosure at least once annually. Keep in mind that if your disclosure changes at any time, you must update it throughout the year. On 10/26/2019, I will forward a list of employees who have not yet completed their disclosures to Mason’s Deans and Vice Presidents, who will follow up with their employees who have not yet completed the disclosure.

If you have questions about COI or SFI disclosures, you may contact Elizabeth Woodley, University Ethics Officer and Policy Manager, or Chris DiTeresi, Associate Director, Research Integrity.

Note to Statement of Economic Interest (SOEI) filers, you know who you are!: This disclosure is in addition to your SOEI, is made to Mason directly rather than the Commonwealth, and is much simpler.

 

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