RESEARCH INTEGRITY AND COMPLIANCE
Research compliance promotes the responsible conduct of university research and requires adherence to institutional policies and applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations in the following areas: the use of human subjects in research, the use of animals in research, bio safety, conflict of interest issues, export controls, and time and effort reporting. Individual investigators are responsible for obtaining and maintaining any applicable research compliance reviews and approvals prior to performing their research.

Click here for UTSA's Office of Research Integrity and Compliance Web site.

SPONSORED PROGRAM

All requests for funding support to external sponsors, including all federal, state, county and local government agencies; foundations; nonprofit organizations; private corporations; and private groups and individuals who award grants to universities, contract with universities or otherwise enter into agreements with universities to provide funds to support specific projects, for the performance of a specific scope of work, must be processed through the Office of Sponsored Programs, per UTSA HOP Chapter 32 Sponsored Program Administration http://www.utsa.edu/hop/chapter9/9-32.cfm.  University faculty and staff members who direct sponsored programs have the principal responsibility to carefully manage these programs. The Office of Sponsored Programs will provide administrative and financial services to assist in these responsibilities and has established procedures to help meet sponsor and University administrative requirements. The Office of Sponsored Programs works very closely with the Office of Research Integrity and Compliance to ensure proposals are in compliance with Federal, State, UT System and UTSA rules and regulations.

EXPORT CONTROLS

The Office of Research Integrity and Compliance oversees compliance with all federal Export Control regulations. Export Control regulations impact a wide variety of University activities that involve controlled technologies or interactions with non-U.S. entities.  The ORIC office works with the Office of Sponsored Programs and researchers to evaluate what research conducted at UTSA is subject to Export Controls, and ensures that measures are in place to prevent the unauthorized export of controlled technology.   Additionally, the ORIC office evaluates Export Control risks relating to foreign travel and purchasing from or contracting with non-U.S. entities.   For more information, visit the ORIC website at http://vpr.utsa.edu/oric/export.

PHOTOCOPYING OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
Permission must be obtained from the copyright owner to reproduce copyrighted materials where:

a) copying is not fair use
b) advice of the Office of General Counsel (OGC) has not been received
c) copying extends beyond the boundaries of the guidelines contained in Appendix I of the UT System Photocopying Copyrighted Materials policy.

Click here for additional information regarding University of Texas System Copyright Policy.

Click here for UTSA's Copyrighting policy found in the HOP.

Most works should be presumed to be copyright protected unless further information from the copyright holder or express notice reveals that the copyright holder intends the work to be freely used by the public.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
It is the basic policy of The University of Texas System and its institutions that intellectual property be developed primarily to serve the public interest. The UT System also encourages the development of inventions to serve the needs of the creator and research sponsors, if any, by permitting timely discourse and protection of such intellectual property whether by development and commercialization, by publication, or both. The UT System generally does not assert its interest in certain copyrights such as scholarly or educational materials.

Intellectual property includes copyright materials, inventions, discoveries, trade secrets, artwork, technology, creations, scientific or technological developments, computer software or other forms of expression. This applies to persons employed by UTSA, anyone using university facilities under the supervision of university personnel, undergraduates, candidates for master’s and doctoral degrees, and pre- and post-doctoral fellows.

If intellectual property is developed by an employee of UTSA or invented at UTSA facilities under the supervision of UTSA personnel, the Board of Regents of the UT System owns the intellectual
property. Each inventor must assign his or her rights in the intellectual property to the Board. This includes all faculty, staff and students..

An inventor must disclose the intellectual property created to the university as early in the development process as possible by completion of an Invention Disclosure Form, which can be obtained at www.utsa.edu/techdev. The form should be submitted to the Office of the Associate Vice President for Research. Disclosure should occur well before submitting any information about intellectual property for publication, or making any public disclosure, oral or written, or even a private disclosure. The university has Intellectual Property Advisory Committees that review and make recommendations on whether the university should assert its interest in certain intellectual property.

Click here for UT System's Intellectual Property policy.

Click here for UTSA's Intellectual Property policy found in the HOP.

Q: I had a great idea while eating lunch at home. Do I own my idea?

A: While ideas are your own, there are many conditions that need to be cleared that may indicate institutional ownership of such intellectual property developed while with the university. If your idea is related to your job, is developed on UTSA time, was supported by UTSA, or you used UTSA resources, the UT System Board of Regents has the ownership rights to the idea. Call the Office of the Associate Vice President for Research for more information.