Annual MyDisclosures Period Opens March 15

The University is required to survey all faculty, certain staff and trainees annually to assure that outside professional activities and financial interests do not affect University responsibilities. To simplify and modernize the process, Pitt successfully piloted MyDisclosures, a new conflicts disclosure system, last year.

This year, the annual disclosure period begins on March 15 for Pitt and dual Pitt-UPMC employees, with disclosure forms due by April 15, 2021. Disclosers should not submit their forms until they receive an email from MyDisclosures. Supervisors should plan to complete their reviews by June 15, 2021.

One of the benefits of the new MyDisclosures system is that any information a discloser entered last year will automatically be populated into their form for this year. Most University members can simply login to verify their responses, make necessary updates and submit their disclosure.

Based on feedback from the pilot, several enhancements were made:

• Providing more help text and guidance
• Improving wording of some questions
• Adding new questions to aid investigators in making required disclosures to funding agencies
• Adding a Supervisor Center, where all disclosure forms requiring review are consolidated
• Identifying mandatory disclosers more accurately
   

Training sessions for disclosers, with helpful tips on what to include in a disclosure, will be held throughout March. Online registration is open. Step-by-step instructions on how to complete an annual disclosure and what to include are available on the Conflict of Interest website.

New sessions for supervisors to outline their role in the review process and learn about new features in the MyDisclosures system are provided, too. All supervisors are strongly encouraged to register for one of these sessions.