COI: Instructions for L&S OAR Reviewers

Department Chairs, Center Directors and their equivalents throughout the college (L&S) will be asked to serve as primary reviewers annually for the OARs submitted for their UDDS for the previous calendar year.  The purpose of the review may vary by unit, but fundamentally, reviewers look for the completeness of the OAR, potential conflict of interest (COI) or conflict of commitment.

Basic Instructions for Completing Your Reviews:

1. You should review the OARs submitted for your UDDS annually (the deadline for the submission of OARs is April 30th each year for the previous year). 
2. On the Graduate School's COI/OAR webpage, select "Reviewer's Tools" under "Tools" on the right hand side of the page.  Be sure to select "Reviewer's Tools," as "OAR Submission Lookup" is available to everyone and will only tell you whether or not an OAR has been submitted for the previous calendar year.  "COI Training Lookup" is also available to anyone, and will tell you whether or not an individual or group of individuals have completed the UW training on Conflict of Interest required every 4 years.  For more information on COI Training see this KnowledgeBase document COI in L&S: Conflict of Interest Training .
3. If the link to the Reviewer's Tools does not work for you (for example, you are a new Chair and have not conducted reviews previously), please contact the L&S Dean's COI representative, Breeana Hubbard to be granted reviewer designation for your UDDS.
4. To begin your reviews, please select the appropriate UDDS from the drop down menu in the gray "My Reviews" search box and click the "Search" button.  (Note: do not fill in any names in the boxes, as this will limit your search to only those names.)
5. Once you have clicked "Search," your results will populate in table format below the search box.  The table will list the names of all individuals eligible to file an OAR for the previous calendar year.
   • Individuals who have NOT filed their annual OAR will be highlighted in yellow.  You should remind them to file their form immediately - they will have already received several reminders from the Dean's Office.  If you believe these individuals are listed under your UDDS in error (e.g. they have left the University), please contact the L&S Dean's representative for COI, Breeana Hubbard.
   • For each individual listed, you may click on that person's name, to view that person's OAR form in another window (note that the software will only open one additional reviewing window, so if you have an OAR open and go to open another one, it will close the first).
6. When you have finished reviewing an individual or group, you may save your reviews by clicking the Review check box (or "Approve All") and then clicking Save Reviews above the Review/Comment column on the right.  Once saved, your NetID and the date of review will appear under the "First Review" column.

What to Look For in Your Review:

1. Individuals highlighted in yellow have not yet submitted their annual review.  You should remind them to file their form immediately - they will have already received several reminders from the Dean's Office.  If you believe these individuals are listed under your UDDS in error (e.g. they have left the University), please contact the L&S Dean's representative for COI, Breeana Hubbard.
2. Look for completeness on the OAR.  You are unlikely to know all outside activities of faculty and staff, but if you are aware of any unreported activity, a reminder of the duty to report is warranted. 
3. Look for time spent - the amount of time reported for outside activities should not interfere with the individual's ability to perform their University duties.
4. Look for the use of University facilities - UW facilities should not be used in support of outside activities without an explicit agreement signed by the Chair.  In addition, it is possible that a facility use agreement may need to be put into place (consult with UW-Madison Legal Affairs.)
5. Look for the involvement of students or staff - participation of students or supervised staff in outside activities should be supervised by the Chair, and may require a management plan outlining student/staff involvement.

Following your review a second review is conducted by the Dean's Office.  All OARs are also reviewed at a high level by the COI Office staff.

Questions?  Contact:
Breeana Hubbard, Ph.D.
Conflict of Interest
College of Letters & Science
breeana.hubbard@wisc.edu