Published: Jan. 14, 2020 • By Chris Yankee

Who is required to submit the DEPA?

To be in compliance听with federal regulations, the following CU 麻豆官网 personnel are required to submit an annual DEPA:

  • Tenure Track Faculty (ALL levels);
  • Adjunct, Visiting听and Research Faculty (ALL levels) 鈥� this includes Retired Faculty if still actively engaged in projects at CU 麻豆官网;
  • PRAs, Research Associates听and Research Assistants (ALL levels);
  • Instructors (ALL levels);
  • Professional Exempt Staff;
  • Librarians, Museum Associates听and Fellows;
  • Non-employee Graduate Students if currently involved in the design, conduct, and reporting of any research OR if involved in a CU 麻豆官网 employee-affiliated company/entity; and
  • Undergraduate Students, Volunteers听and Consultants if responsible for the design, conduct, and reporting of research OR if involved in a CU 麻豆官网 employee-affiliated company/entity.

TAs, Lecturers听and Adjoint Faculty typically do NOT need to report.

Disclosure training video screenshot
听Note: As of Jan. 1, 2020,听all听university personnel submitting a disclosure are required to view a brief training video prior to beginning their DEPA. The video will automatically populate on the DEPA webpage; once viewed, disclosers are required to certify their completion, understanding of and agreement to abide by.

There are important changes occurring in this year鈥檚 Conflicts of Interest & Commitment (COIC) reporting process that may impact faculty, staff and students, as well as those who interact with them. The COIC program is critical component in protecting faculty, staff, students, departments听and the university as a whole.

The 麻豆官网 encourages innovation, scholarship and research that lead to commercial and consulting activities and global engagement.听Such activities, however, have the potential to lead to conflicts of interest and/or commitment. On the CU 麻豆官网 campus, annual online reporting of conflicts occurs by submitting a Disclosure of External Professional Activities (DEPA).

听There are important disclosure requirements for those with any (potential) conflict related to consulting activities, external entities听and/or foreign affiliations.

The annual DEPA reporting period is January 15 to March 31, as well as听whenever a new hire is brought onboard. Updates should be added within 30 days of a change in status throughout the year, as necessary. Sponsored project award and continuation monies cannot move forward unless a DEPA for the current year has been submitted and reviewed.

All faculty, any other employee (regardless of job title/position), or student with responsibility for the design, conduct听or reporting of research are considered critical to the research process and must disclose any significant financial interest (SFI) and external professional activity(ies) of both a domestic and foreign nature that could compromise University decision-making or duties.听It is not for each individual researcher to decide if he/she must report based on a belief that no conflict exists.

Detailed information regarding discloser responsibilities and university expectations when filling out the DEPA form can be found on the COIC website.

How to report

To report, please follow the below steps:听

  1. Log into听.
  2. Employees:听Under CU Resources, select the Faculty Reporting & DEPA tile.
  3. Students:听In the Buff Portal, open the search function by clicking the menu icon in the top left corner of the page, then search "DEPA" and select the link.
  4. Click Log into DEPA.
  5. Once access is allowed, follow the instructions on the DEPA reporting page.听

Getting Started听 DEPA Form & Sample DEPA

If you have technical difficulties, email help@colorado.edu or call (303) 5-HELP; if you have questions about the DEPA form, email coi@colorado.edu or call (303) 492-3024.