University Committee Annual Report to the Shared Governance Council

Committee on the Conflict of Interest in Employment (COIE)
Report Year: 2025-2026

Committee Chair(s)Isandra Martinez-Marrero, Staff Co-Chair
Cheryl Reardon, Committee Advisor for Staff Co-Chair
Alaina Hanson, Faculty Co-Chair (February 2026-present)
Barry Thomas, Ex-Officio for Faculty (Co-Chair June 2025-January 2026)
Committee MembersTom Arne Midtrod, Associate Professor, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Lemuel Benedict Non, Clinical Assistant Professor, Carver College of Medicine
Patricia Groves, Associate Professor, College of Nursing
Phuong Nguyen, Associate Professor, Graduate College
Erin Turnis, HR Director, State Hygienic Lab
Hilary Jensen, Senior HR Specialist, University Human Resources
Donna Wong-Gibbons, Manager, Office of the Vice President for Medical Affairs
Committee ChargeThe Committee on Conflict of Interest in Employment reviews and considers for approval management plans that are developed by college/org administrators for associated individuals where a supervisory relationship or decision-making authority exists. The committee may approve, approve with modifications, or deny proposed management plans.
Current Year Meeting DatesGiven the recent policy and staffing changes (staff and faculty co-chairs, Jan Waterhouse and Lois Geist, retired), there were 2 meetings in Spring 2025 on April 30 and May 1, in lieu of the annual meeting to introduce the committee to the new policy and procedures.
Please indicate the typical frequency of meetings (e.g., first Tuesday of month at 4 pm). If there are subcommittees, please indicate the frequency of those meetings, too.Work was conducted through monthly committee meetings, held as needed, to review and vote on management plans for approval, approval with modifications, or denial. A Teams channel was created to support collaboration on proposed management plans and provide access to committee documents, including the committee membership list and signed MOU. The Co-Chairs meet approximately one week prior to the committee meeting to review incoming plans and align on recommendations for committee consideration.
Current Year ActivitiesIn April 2025, the committee began work in the scope of the revised Conflict of Interest in Employment policy, which significantly impacted the committee members’ duties and increased committee authority. The new framework of committee structure has allowed for a streamlined review and approval process, where collaboration is completed through a Teams channel to review plans and hold monthly meetings.
• Received and approved 16 management plans.
• Conducted annual reviews on 34 ongoing management plans to date and closed 10 management plans that were no longer conflicts.
• Sent an annual review request to senior HR leaders for all management plans housed in University HR for review and necessary changes.
• Followed up with all self-disclosed potential conflicts through the annual certification process.
• Managed and maintained committee database on past and current cases.
Topics your committee will address during the coming year
  • Evaluation of new COIE submissions and continued monitoring of existing management plans.
  • Effectiveness of the changed process in reviewing and evaluating new COIE submissions and expanded scope of committee members.
Other issues of concernExploration of a central website to improve awareness of different COI units on campus and increase usability in the current practices and processes.
What should we tell applicants for this committee regarding expectations of members (anticipated workload, existence of subcommittees, etc.)?
  • Committee work is confidential.
  • Monthly recurring meetings to review, discuss, and vote on conflict of interest in employment submissions.
    • Sporadic ad-hoc meetings to review and discuss time-sensitive COIE submissions.
  • Committee members are the decision makers of the outcome for proposed management plan submissions involving conflict of interest in employment.
  • MOU of committee members' responsibility must be reviewed and signed by all members.
Recommendations, if any, to the shared governance groups.None