AB 946

This bill creates institutional and individual disclosure requirements

applicable to institutions of the University of Wisconsin System and to UW System

employees and others relating to research and to contracts with and gifts from

foreign governments, companies, and individuals. The bill also requires each UW

institution that conducts research to have a research best practices policy.

Current law requires the Board of Regents of the UW System to report to the

legislature annually on the number and outcome of certain classified research

contracts and biennially on the purpose, duration, cost, and anticipated completion

date of research projects funded with general purpose revenue. In addition, the

chancellor of UW-Madison on behalf of UW-Madison, and the Board of Regents on

behalf of the other UW institutions, must annually submit to the legislature an

accountability report that identifies, among other economic-development-related

data, the amount and source of research funds, the number of government contracts

received, and the number of research projects in progress or completed.

Current law also prohibits any UW System employee from acting as an agent

for another if it would create a conflict of interest with the terms of the employee's

service in the UW System and also requires the Board of Regents to promulgate rules

relating to conflicts of interest. These rules prohibit specified persons, including

faculty and academic staff, from engaging in outside activities if doing so conflicts

with his or her public responsibilities to the UW institution or to the UW System.

In addition, the rules require such a person to annually report to his or her institution

the following: 1) associations with organizations related to his or her fields of

academic interest or specialization; 2) private remunerative relationships with

nongovernmental sponsors of university research for which the person is a principal

investigator; and 3) remunerative outside activities in his or her field of academic

interest or specialization. The rules also require each UW institution to develop

policies and procedures relating to outside activities, including those relating to use

of university facilities, absences from regular duties, and conflicts of interest.

Also under current law, with exceptions, it is a crime for a public employee to

participate in a contract in both an official and private capacity if the employee has

a private pecuniary interest and also an official function requiring the exercise of

discretion. Among the exceptions, the provision does not apply to a contract between

a research company and the UW System or a UW institution for the purchase of goods

or services, including research, if the interest that a UW System employee has in the

research company has been evaluated and addressed in a management plan for

evaluating and managing potential conflicts of interest and this plan complies with

the Board of Regents' policy for such management plans.

Federal law also requires each UW institution to annually submit to the federal

Department of Education a publicly available disclosure report containing certain

information if the institution receives a gift from or enters into a contract with a