Kuali's Conflict of Interest (COI) software has been expanded to help institutions become certified with the state of California in order to electronically file the Statement of Economic Interests For Principal Investigators (Form 700-U). Without certification, institutions are limited to manual processes that can be time consuming and confusing, resulting in delays, errors, and possible fines. California institutions can leverage Kuali's proven solution and experience to simplify their disclosure processes and begin filing Form 700-U electronically.
Manually filing Form 700-U with every applicable research project can be a burdensome process for an institution's Researchers and Administrators, but the state of California only allows electronic filing for institutions who have had their system certified by the state.
Kuali partnered with UC San Diego to develop an expansion to its COi module that allowed UC San Diego to receive the needed certification. This solution simplified the disclosure process and allowed for electronic completion, review, and filing of multiple forms, including Form 700-U.
The University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) is one of the largest research universities in the country, with over $1.28 in annual research expenditures.
Historically, UC San Diego's Conflict of Interest (COi) Office handled thousands of manual paper COi disclosures each year, with faculty required to complete and submit three separate paper disclosure forms, two federal forms and the California Statement of Economic Interests For Principal Investigators (Form 700-U) form.
For positive disclosures, additional paper forms were also required. With many fields being duplicated across forms (some forms were required to be completed pre-award while others were required at post award notification), the paper form process created a burden felt across the entire research enterprise, especially for the Researchers.
This process resulted in confusion on form type, delays in form completion and an overall inefficient process for the Researchers and the COi Office. Adding to the challenge, the state of California only permits filing the Form 700-U electronically after the electronic system has been certified by the state.
With UC San Diego's sponsored programs offices preparing to move to Kuali Research's software solution for pre and post award management, UC San Diego selected Kuali's COi product to automate and streamline the COi processes. UC San Diego's COi Office and Kuali partnered to develop an enhancement to address the California Form 700-U electronic certification requirements. In November 2019, UC San Diego successfully received an official approval from the state of California.
Within the first quarter after go-live, UC San Diego Researchers already benefited from the reduced administrative burden. Jennifer Ford, UC San Diego's COi Director, noted that UC San Diego Researchers were eager to submit their COi disclosures electronically even before they had projects to disclose.
The clear and transparent process of the Kuali COi system has assisted Researchers who were unclear on which COi form to use and their disclosure obligations. One of the features implemented included an automatic approval of negative disclosures.
This auto-approval feature frees up the COi Office staff time to focus on activities that better leverage their professional expertise. Ford remarked, "We really appreciate that we no longer have to spend time on disclosures that do not require further analysis." Kevin Chou, UC San Diego's Director of Enterprise Systems, mentioned the additional benefits from their move to configurable cloud software and do-it-yourself configurable approach have "increased [the] level of sophistication in how our offices work together."
This partnership sets the tone for how we work with partners and vendors .
KEVIN CHOU - DIRECTOR OF ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS ,UC SAN DIEGO
The strong partnership between Kuali and UC San Diego made the California state approval process smooth and efficient. While working with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) on the approval process for the Form 700-U, KuaIi was able to quickly and easily modify the system design, which, according to Ford, was key in making things happen.
"This was a wonderful story about partnership, and collaborating... and how versatile KuaIi has been in adapting to the needs of our business, our systems, and the regulations. We seem to have the right balance of providing feedback and relying on expertise." Chou said there was a lot of flexibility offered by Kuali, and team members were able to pivot quickly. Plus, "the closeness of the relationship with Kuali exceeds that of our typical software vendors. This partnership sets the tone for how we work with partners and vendors."
This deep level of collaboration allowed Kuali to develop a proven process that will help additional California institutions achieve certification for electronic filing of the Form 700-U. With the Form 700-U certified, UC San Diego's COi Office and Kuali are continuing to enhance the operational requirements of this complex three form system for COi Office and usability of the system for the Researchers.
Kuali's goal is to provide value to higher education while enabling institutions to keep more money in their mission of teaching and research. Our Kuali Research Suite, delivered through the cloud, provides full online research administration and compliance management to simplify processes and improve insights.
To provide flexibility, the research suite is built with modules for Pre-Award and Post-Award management, Conflict of Interest/Commitment disclosures, and Protocols for human and animal research.
What began as a group of colleges and universities joining together to improve their tools and processes has evolved into a revolutionary software company used by campuses across North America.
Kuali provides continuous Saas delivery and an intuitive interface that can be configured to meet individual users' needs.
See how the Kuali Research Suite can improve your processes today. Learn More
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