The Division of Institutional Compliance & Privacy manages a comprehensive online disclosure form to collect relevant information related to conflicts of interest, conflicts of commitment, and related topics in accordance with state and federal regulations, and applicable University policies.

A conflict of interest on the part of a public employee exists when their private interests and their official job responsibilities are competing. A conflict of interest occurs when an employee or immediate family member has a personal interest in or receives a personal financial, economic, professional or personal gain or advantage of any kind from the employee's position in a manner that may influence the employee's judgment, compromise the employee's ability to carry out University responsibilities or impair the University's integrity.

A conflict of commitment is any outside employment or profesional activity, paid or unpaid, by a public employee that could interfere with the performance of the employee's primary institutional responsibilities.

It is for the benefit and protection of the individual employee to disclose and manage any real or perceived conflicts in order to avoid violations of university policies, the Alabama State Ethics law, the Alabama nepotism law, and/or Federal regulations regarding sponsored research. Failure to complete and maintain an accurate disclosure form could lead to discipline up to and including termination. Failure to disclose research conflicts may also jeopardize the investigator's and the University's ability to receive federal grant funding.

No. Completion of the Employee Conflict of Interest Disclosure fulfills the disclosure requirements of the Auburn University Conflict of Interest Policies and federal requirements involving sponsored research, technology commercialization, and related activities. Completion of this questionnaire will not fulfill the Alabama Ethics Commission’s requirement to file an annual Statement of Economic Interests (SEI). Similarly, completion of the SEI does not fulfill the AU COI disclosure requirement.

All four divisions of Auburn University (Auburn University, Auburn University at Montgomery, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station) are institutions of public trust. As public employees, University employees must be objective and impartial in acting and making decisions on behalf of the university in order to maintain public confidence in the integrity of our State institution. Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest and/or commitment are necessary to identify, manage, and/or eliminate these conflicts.

All full-time permanent employees of any of Auburn University's four divisions (Auburn University, Auburn University at Montgomery, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station), including faculty, staff, administrators and executives; researchers and anyone involved in sponsored projects or human subjects research; anyone with signature authority on behalf of the University; and any University personnel authorized to conduct purchasing activities and/or influence/affect the process or outcome of any expenditures must complete the disclosure. This does not include TES employees, Graduate Assistants, or Graduate Teaching Assistants, unless required to do so as part of a federal contract or grant.

You will receive an e-mail notification generated from the Endeavor system with a link to the online disclosure and instructions to complete your disclosure profile. If you are not sure, ask your supervisor or contact the Division of Institutional Compliance & Privacy.

The online COI/C disclosure must be completed annually (at least once every 365 days). The deadline is on a rolling basis and the system will notify you if you have not updated your disclosure in 365 days. You are also responsible for updating your disclosures in the system within 30 days of any material change in the status of any real or perceived conflict, or of any triggering event that might create a new conflict (engaging in new consulting work, starting an outside business, your family member starts working for the university, etc.). Newly hired employees must complete the COI/C disclosure within 30 days of their hire date.

Common triggering events include but are not limited to:
  • starting a business that you have an ownership interest in;
  • starting an outside job for which you receive compensation;
  • being elected or appointed to a Board (Board of Directors, Advisory Board, etc.);
  • family member (to 4th degree of consanguinity or affinity) being hired by the Auburn University system (spouse, son/daughter, parent, sibling, grandchildren, grandparents, first cousin, niece/nephew, aunt/uncle);
  • publishing a book and receiving income or royalties;
  • outside consulting engagements;
  • acquiring intellectual property rights (e.g. a patent);
  • getting married when your spouse is also a University system employee;
  • family member or close friend becomes a vendor for the university.

  • Anything of value held or received by you personally or an immediate family member from an outside entity, including but not limited to dividends, paid authorship, ownership interest, stock or stock options, intellectual property rights, royalties, or paid travel, that is related to your professional expertise or institutional responsibilities, or when the entity does or plans to do business with or sponsor research at the university.
  • Any compensation from outside entities including companies and non-profit organizations, including foreign institutions and foreign governments.
  • Board positions (board of directors, advisory board, etc.) or leadership roles (CEO, owner, investor, partner, etc.) for any companies or organizations, including foreign, that are related to your professional expertise or institutional responsibilities, or when the entity does or plans to do business with or sponsor research at the university.
  • Any professional undertaking which has the potential to improperly influence sponsored research or technology commercialization, including but not limited to an equity interest in or remuneration from a non-publicly traded entity, providing outside professional services, or state funded contracts.

  • Stocks, bonds, mutual funds or other investment vehicles as part of an overall investment portfolio or retirement account (401k).
  • Ownership interest of less than 5% of a publicly traded company (nominal stock ownership).
  • Income paid by Auburn University to the employee in addition to his/her salary (e.g. teaching as an adjunct professor or a contract instructor at Auburn University at Montgomery).
  • Intellectual property rights assigned to Auburn University.
  • Reimbursed or sponsored travel reviewed and approved as University business by the appropriate designated department official, or travel sponsored by a domestic (U.S.) governmental entity or another institution of higher education in the United States.
  • Income from seminars, lectures, teaching engagements, advisory committee service, or review panels sponsored by a domestic (U.S.) governmental entity or another institution of higher education in the United States.
  • Unpaid leadership positions with U.S. professional organizations in which you are acting in your AU role and representing AU.

No. Your participation in professional organizations related to your Auburn role is beneficial for you and for Auburn. Auburn encourages its employees to engage in professional development activities such as attending conferences, giving presentations, and serving on committees. Similarly, journal publication and editing is considered part of your institutional responsibilities and scholarly activity as a faculty member. Auburn expects its faculty to publish papers and to review journal articles, and your work in this capacity benefits you and Auburn.

No, unless that entity is doing business with your department at Auburn University.

No, you do not need to disclose your spouse's employer, unless it is related to your institutional responsibilities, does business with Auburn University, or sponsors research at Auburn University.

No. You do not need to disclose stock in a retirement account or other investment account. You only need to disclose if you own 5% or more in a publicly traded company or any interest in a private company.

It depends on what interests you have to disclose, if any. It should take only a few minutes to complete and certify. If you are a researcher and/or have several disclosures it may take up to 30  minutes.

The information will be reviewed and evaluated by the Division of Institutional Compliance & Privacy together with the appropriate campus research office (AU or AUM). The General Counsel, relevant deans, department chairs, and supervisors, as well as Human Resources, will be consulted as needed. A Conflict of Interest Committee may review and make a determination or recommendation.

You will only be contacted by Institutional Compliance or Research Compliance if a real or potential conflict is identified, or if more information is needed to make a determination. It may take several weeks to be contacted as 6,700 employees submit disclosures. Please note that not being contacted is NOT tacit approval of your interests, activities, or relationships.

You must disclose any and all of the following affiliations. Many of these are common scholarly activities that do not pose any conflict of interest. However, some affiliations may pose serious national security concerns which is the reason for this inquiry. All foreign interests and activities should be disclosed.
  • Agreements or contracts
  • Research collaborations (including publications)
  • Talent recruitment programs or Friendship Awards
  • Positions, scientific appointments, and/or honors (including dean, guest, honorary, adjunct, or volunteer, with or without support)
  • Laboratories or office space outside the U.S.
  • Equipment, supplies, or employees
  • Gifts provided with terms or conditions
  • Financial support for laboratory personnel
  • Participation of student and visiting researchers supported by other sources of funding
  • Resources made available in support of and/or related to all of your professional R&D efforts
  • Financial interests
  • Intellectual property
  • AU-hosted visiting scholars
  • Travel or site visits paid for by a foreign source
  • Program evaluations paid for by a foreign source
  • Teaching or training engagements
  • Consulting engagements
  • Advising or mentoring engagements
  • Speaking engagements
  • Committees or boards
  • Contracts with or payments to a business owned by you
  • Other professional affiliations

If you were contacted by Institutional Compliance or Research Compliance and worked with their office and your supervisor to draft and sign an official Auburn University Management Plan, then your conflict is managed. If you have a previous departmental management plan, verbal or in writing, you should contact Research Compliance for research related conflicts or the Division of Institutional Compliance for all other conflicts to update and formalize an official management plan.

No. You must log in to the portal with your credentials to complete the disclosure profile and certify that the information you provided is complete and accurate.

The university expects its employees to read and comply fully and promptly with the COI Policy, including the requirements for disclosure. University employees who are required to complete the disclosure and fail to comply with the process by not responding or not providing complete and accurate information, or fail to have an appropriate management plan in place may be subject to discipline up to and including termination for violation of University policies. There may be additional consequences pertaining to research for violation of Federal regulations related to NSF, PHS, or other sponsored research.

No, you will have the ability to recertify your answers from the previous year in the Endeavor system. You will only need to make edits or additions as needed. If the questions are changed or additional questions are added, you may have to re-enter or add information.

There are three ways you may choose from to access Endeavor:

  1. Navigate directly to Endeavor at endeavor.auburn.edu!
  2. Click on the ''Go To Endeavor'' button on the Division of Institutional Compliance & Privacy COI webpage
  3. On the AU Access ''Employees'' tab you will find an icon link under 'Employee Tools'' to the Endeavor system.

Use single sign-on (your AU username and password) and DUO to login.

Click the "COI" tab and click ''Dicslosure Profile for [YOUR NAME]'' and click "Edit Disclosure Profile."

Proceed through the questions clicking “Save" and "Continue.” When finished click the "Complete Disclosure Profile" button and "OK" to certify and submit the questionnaire.

For inquiries about AU main campus research disclosures, please contact Milly Tye in the OVPRED at (334) 844-8601. For all other inquiries, please contact Kristin Roberts in the Division of Institutional Compliance & Privacy at (334) 844-4398. Please see our Conflict of Interest/Commitment guidelines for common examples of conflict situations and how they may be managed on the COI webpage. If you are not sure whether you have a conflict, it is best to disclose the circumstances and the reviewers determine that a conflict does not exist, rather than to find out later that a conflict does exist and it was not disclosed or managed properly.

Please send any concerns to the Division of Institutional Compliance & Privacy via email or call (334) 844-4389. You can also report any concerns anonymously via EthicsPoint or call 1-866-294-4871.
Last updated: 07/09/2024