Disclosure of Interests

This policy requires all officersOfficersIncludes Officers of the University and Officers of the Administration.  Defined in Regent Article 3:  Officers of the University and Administration. to submit an annual disclosure of outside financial interests and activities to be reviewed for possible conflicts of interest.  Furthermore, this policy requires additional employees designated by officers, or self-designated, as appropriate, to submit this disclosure, as designated or as appropriate.

The purpose of the policy is to identify all outside interests (not just conflict of interests) in order to:

1. determine all potential conflict of interests have been properly mitigated;
2. fulfill the university’s obligation to disclose related party transactions under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP); and
3. fulfill the university’s obligation to include certain organizations in the university’s financial reporting entity under GAAP.

The responsibility to report annually under this policy does not relieve officers or other employees of their obligation on a prospective basis to identify, seek guidance and mitigate conflicts of interest as they arise.

1. University Controller Responsibility
   
   The University Controller shall establish officer disclosure requirements, which at a minimum shall include the information specified in section II.B. The campuses may identify additional disclosure requirements at their discretion.
   
   The University Controller shall also develop an officer disclosure form and submission process for system officersOfficersIncludes Officers of the University and Officers of the Administration.  Defined in Regent Article 3:  Officers of the University and Administration., which the campuses may choose to adopt pursuant to section II.C.
    
2. Officer Responsibility
   
   Consistent with the University Controller’s disclosure requirements, all officers must disclose annually the following types of information in any case where associated compensation exceeds $5,000:
   
   • outside employment;
   • outside professional association, nonprofit or business board service;
   • outside financial interests (but excluding the value of managed investment accounts);
   • immediate family membersImmediate family membersImmediate family is a spouse, domestic partners, civil union partner or dependent child.’ professional services to the university; and
   • other interests related to the university.
   
   As part of the annual disclosure process, officers must also disclose in good faith any other outside interest or activity which may give rise to a perceived conflict of interest, regardless of dollar amount.
   
   Disclosures that do not involve doing business with the university or competing with the university are considered to be confidential personnel matters. Disclosures that involve doing business with the university or competing with the university are considered to be matters of public record. The disclosure of outside financial interests and activities is deemed to be included in the personnel file of the individual who submitted it.
    
3. Campus Responsibilities
   
   Each campus is responsible for:
   
   • determining when to expand the disclosure population to employees beyond the officer level, based upon fiscal role and level of fiscal authority;
   • designing its own online disclosure form, submission process and timeframe should the campus determine any of these are more appropriate than the system form, process and/or timeframe; 
   • developing a process to review disclosure statements after they have been submitted, including (at minimum) a review of all employee disclosures;
   • designating a campus coordinator to oversee and monitor compliance with the disclosure; and
   • determining the appropriate action to take when an officer, or other designated individual, fails to submit the disclosure report.
   
   Specifically, the designated campus coordinator is responsible for:
   
   • providing the University Controller with all information received through the disclosure process that will impact the university’s financial statements; and,
   • sharing with the University Controller information included in any disclosure statement that meets the definition of related party transaction so that a determination can be made as to whether or not the information should be disclosed in the university’s annual financial statements in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

1. Related Administrative Policy Statements (APS)
   • APS 2006 - Retention of University Records
   • APS 4016 - Fiscal Code of Ethics
   • APS 5012 - Conflicts of Interest and Commitment in Research and Teaching
2. Related Forms
   
   Disclosure forms are online. Each campus may have its own unique form.
   • System: Disclosure of Interests
   • Boulder: Disclosure of Interests
   • Colorado Springs: Conflict of Interest site
   • Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus: Office of Regulatory Compliance Conflict of Interest site

Italicized terms used in this APS are defined in the APS Glossary of Terms.

• Adopted:  June 30, 2005.
• Revised:  December 1, 2007; January 17, 2013, to include information from the rescinded Finance Procedural Statement Officer Disclosure of Interests and to update links to campus forms; July 1, 2015, to identify a materiality threshold per change in underlying regent policy 3.B; July 1, 2017, Officer Disclosure of Interests revised and renamed to emphasize that all employees and not just officers follow this policy to disclose outside financial interests and activity, per changes in APS 5012 that restrict the latter policy to employees involved in research and teaching; July 20, 2020, non-substantial change to update reference to regent policy 8.B.1:  Conflict of Interest (previously, regent policy 3.B); January 1, 2021, non-substantial change to strike reference to respective personnel appointing authority in section II.C – the latest revisions to regent policy 8 does not specify who must review the disclosures.
• Last Reviewed:  January 1, 2021.

Officer, disclose, disclosure, interests, financial, outside, activities, GAAP