Published: Jan. 15, 2016

As the new year begins, university personnel are reminded to complete a Disclosure of External Professional Activities (DEPA) in order to meet conflicts of interest disclosure requirements. A 2016 DEPA is required of all faculty and other designated groups. In general, those other groups include all research personnel, staff who support department compliance reporting processes, and students engaged in research (i.e. all personnel responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of research). 

Each year we receive a number of emails from non-faculty employees and from students, asking if they need to report. PLEASE, check the categories below for that information.

Failure to report can result in:

  • a delay in the establishment, renewal and continuation of speedtypes
  • delayed processing of grant/contract proposals and awards
  • delays in procurement transactions
  • delayed approval from compliance review committees such as IRB, IACUC, etc.

In addition, following the required processes helps to safeguard you, your department, and the University, as a whole, in the event of an outside audit.

Critical Dates Regarding Grant & Contract Proposal Submissions and Awards

Proposals: Through March 31, 2016, having a current DEPA (within a year of the date of the proposal submission) on file will meet the DEPA requirement for proposal submission. However, after March 31st, all proposal submissions will require a 2016 reviewed DEPA to be on file.

Award Monies: Effective January 1, award monies will not be released until a 2016 DEPA has been submitted and preliminarily reviewed.

The CU-Boulder COI website has additional details and helpful links. http://www.colorado.edu/vcr/coi It is also important to remember the following:

  1. Self-authored instructional materials that are required or recommended for the author’s course must receive departmental approval in order to be in compliance with the Conflicts of Interest Policy. Please use the form located at: http://www.colorado.edu/vcr/coi/forms-checklists
  2. Regular and periodic consulting activities (per the 1/6th rule) require departmental approval: http://www.colorado.edu/vcr/coi/forms-checklists
  3. Researchers with current MOUs requiring annual monitoring need to report early so that monitoring reports can be solicited and reviewed. Proposal submission/award monies will be delayed if a monitoring report is not current. Please follow the new email instructions you receive once you submit your DEPA, as the monitoring process has changed.
  4. PHS/NIH Investigators have additional (federal) requirements:
    1. Travel Reporting. All PHS/NIH research personnel must report specific kinds of sponsored/reimbursed travel throughout the year. For more information: http://www.colorado.edu/vcr/coi/public-health-services-agencies-nih-requirements/travel
    2. Educational Training. All PHS/NIH research personnel must complete COI educational training once every four years in order be compliant. If you are involved in PHS/NIH research, your DEPA will not progress forward for review until your training is recorded in the system. If you have already completed the training, your information will pop up as you answer the questions. If you have not completed the training, the DEPA system will divert you to the quick COI NIH tutorial, specifically developed for the Boulder campus, and which does not require testing. Once you certify completion, the system will direct you back to the DEPA reporting form. For more information see: http://www.colorado.edu/vcr/coi/public-health-services-agencies-nih-requirements

Specific groups affected by the general DEPA reporting requirement include:

  • All Tenure track faculty (all levels); Adjunct, Visiting, and Research faculty (all levels) and select Retired faculty
  • All PRAs/RAs (all levels), Instructors (all levels), Librarians, Museum Associates
  • Graduate students/Fellows- IF they are responsible for the design, conduct or reporting of research
  • Undergraduate students, volunteers and consultants -ONLY IF they are responsible for the design, conduct or reporting of research
  • The following groups typically DO NOT need to report: TAs, Lecturers, Professional Exempts and Adjoint faculty

Reporting Logistics

We recommend using the latest versions of the following browsers: Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari.

  1. Log in to MyCUInfo at http://mycuinfo.colorado.edu/.
  2. Scroll down to the Faculty Reporting & DEPA tile and click "Details".
  3. Click on: Login to DEPA.
    In order to better prepare for the questions asked on the reporting form you may want to view the Sample Form available via the FAQs, on the left hand side, once you have accessed the DEPA reporting page

For Assistance:

  • IT Help: If you have technical difficulties logging into MyCUInfo, accessing the Faculty Reporting & DEPA tile, or accessing the link to the DEPA form, please email: help@colorado.edu or call: 303-735-4357 (5-HELP)
  • Note, you must be established in the CU personnel system with a UUID in order to access the DEPA reporting site. (UUIDs are automatically assigned when employees, students, and POIs are set up in their respective personnel systems. You do not need to know or keep track of this number- it is not the same as an employee, student or POI ID number.)
  • Content Help: If you have questions about the DEPA form, please see the Sample DEPA Form. Alternatively, email the Compliance Director, Conflicts of Interest and Commitment in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research: Pamela.Rosse@colorado.edu or, simply, coi@colorado.edu The contact number is 303-492-3024.
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