WNIT champs   Ohio State women's basketball team members huddle during the championship game of the 2001 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) in Albuquerque March 28 against New Mexico. Ohio State took the title with a 62-61 score before a sellout crowd. The Buckeyes completed the season with a 22-11 record Ñ the most wins under head coach Beth Burns.   Ohio State Athletics Communications

New guidelines will govern OSU entrepreneurial activity

Ohio State faculty, staff and students whose research contributions are transferable to the marketplace now have specific guidelines under which to participate in companies that commercialize their University-owned intellectual property.

The University Board of Trustees on April 6 approved a set of rules governing entrepreneurial activities by faculty, staff and students.

The rules were developed after the June 2000 passage by the General Assembly of state Senate Bill No. 286, which was designed to expand universities' economic benefits to the state by giving researchers an incentive to develop technologies with commercial potential. The law also clarifies institutions' ownership rights in discoveries made by faculty, staff or students acting within the scope of their employment or with use of university facilities.

The rules apply to faculty, unclassified staff, graduate associates and student employees who create intellectual property owned by Ohio State and who want to hold an ownership interest in a company commercializing the technology. Responsibility for ensuring compliance with the rules is assigned to department chairs and staff supervisors, as well as the University's Office for Technology Licensing, a conflict-of-interest administrator and the Technology Transfer Oversight Committee.

Under previous Ohio law, the amount of equity that faculty or research scientists at public institutions could own in a technology start-up was strictly limited, and interpretations of the law were varied and not always consistent. In seeking the change in law, Ohio State officials argued that confusion over equity limits and the ability of faculty and staff to participate in the commercialization of university technology ultimately threatened Ohio's competitiveness in the high-tech business and research environment.

"The new rule allows faculty or staff to hold up to 25 percent of the outstanding equity in a company commercializing technology that they invented," said David Allen, assistant vice president for technology partnerships. Allen added that this change will enable more effective technology transfer to Ohio-based start-up companies and will benefit the Ohio economy.

"Faculty and staff participation in technology licensing transactions will facilitate the University's goal of making its research available for use in the private marketplace by giving researchers an incentive to develop inventions with commercial applications," said C. Bradley Moore, vice president for research. "The opportunity for scientists to be actively involved in these start-up companies is also essential to Ohio State's ongoing efforts to attract and retain highly qualified researchers."

The newly approved rules include a number of provisions designed to manage or eliminate conflicts of interest that may result when researchers have a financial interest in companies licensing their inventions:

• While they are now permitted to work with start-up companies commercializing their University research, faculty continue to be responsible for the performance of all of their University teaching, research and service obligations.

• Staff members may engage in activities relating to a technology commercialization company during regularly assigned working hours only if they take approved leave.

• University facilities, equipment and other resources may be used for research benefiting a technology commercialization company only if a formal agreement is in place and the University receives compensation.

• As a general rule, faculty should not hold management positions in the companies.

• Faculty or staff engaged in approved entrepreneurial activities who are unable to perform all of their University responsibilities must reduce those activities or request a reduction of appointment or other approved leave.

• A student may not be employed by a technology commercialization company in which a faculty member has an ownership interest if the student is enrolled in a course taught by the faculty member; the faculty member is a member of the student's thesis or dissertation committee; or the faculty member is the student's adviser or the director of his or her thesis or dissertation research.

• New inventions and/or discoveries made by faculty and staff working for the company in their area of research will be owned by Ohio State, and the company will be offered an exclusive option to the technology.

Allen said a coalition backing the legislation worked with the Ohio Ethics Commission to create a set of guidelines "acceptable to all of us that balances the interests of public accountability and economic benefit to the state with equity incentives to university inventors." The offices of Research and Legal Affairs also helped prepare the rules in consultation with University Senate's Research Committee and other faculty groups.

University Senate approved the rules, co-sponsored by the Steering and Rules Committees, on March 10. For more information about the new rules, visit the Web at http://techpartners.osu.edu/tp_library_startupguidelines.html.

Publishing agreement benefits software authors

Ohio State, through its Office for Technology Licensing, has entered into an agreement that aids software authors publishing their programs. The agreement allows all Ohio State faculty, staff and students to request publishing space on the Open Channel Foundation publishing portal.

The Open Channel Foundation is a nonprofit organization that publishes, distributes and provides other related services for open source software developed within academic or research lab environments. It is a central repository for high-quality, advanced applications that are of a scientific or technical nature. The Open Channel Foundation will provide a standard infrastructure tool kit for Web site development. Ohio State software developers will be able to publish their software using the Open Channel Foundation infrastructure.

"The main Web site provides search facilities to locate software solutions, common interest subjects and links to related sites. From there, the site sub-divides along major disciplines, such as security, parallel computing, bioinformatics and so on," said Douglas Curry, executive director of the Open Channel Foundation. "At the discipline level, we want to become the center of information and community activity for the development of better software. Each discipline then gives access to individual sites for associated software solutions.

"By being grouped with other related software in an area of discipline, programs have a higher exposure to users interested in similar solutions; thus, your exposure to the community increases."

According to Steven Campbell, assistant director of technology licensing at Ohio State, the new agreement goes beyond providing inventors and his office with an additional outlet to market programs.

"It also creates an environment in which our developers and external developers can collaborate to enhance and add value to each others' programs," Campbell said. "We will be using Open Channel to market programs that are targeted toward a specific discipline niche. It is anticipated that these niche programs, which have a relatively small market value, will be critiqued, further developed or combined with other existing programs, making them more robust and applicable to a larger market segment.

"The end result may be that these programs are developed to an extent that they can be licensed or can serve as the basis for the formation of a new company."

The Open Channel Foundation has a sister company, Open Channel Software, which assists in the commercialization of solution software programs. If the software has sufficient commercial application, Open Channel Software will provide the resources to ready the software for commercial distribution and will market the software, providing support and services for a fee. A portion of the revenue earned will be returned to Ohio State as royalty income.

Software authors are encouraged to contact the Office for Technology Licensing at 292-4540 to learn more about the new agreement. More information also is on the Web at www.openchannelfoundation.org/.

University cracks down on hazing

A fraternity and a sorority at Ohio State have had their status as recognized student organizations temporarily suspended while the University investigates separate allegations of hazing in both organizations.

The president of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity (TKE) received a letter on March 28 and the president of Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority received a letter on March 29 from Interim Vice President for Student Affairs William H. Hall notifying them of the decisions, which became effective immediately.

During the period of temporary suspension, the chapters are not eligible to participate in any recognized student organization activities, including intramural sports, chapter social events or social events with other student organizations.

Hall's letter to the chapter presidents said,"All hazing and other risk management violations, as well as other inappropriate actions, must cease immediately. While our policies on these issues are clear, let this letter serve as a statement that The Ohio State University will take swift and immediate action on violations of the Code of Student Conduct."

Hall also has sent a letter to all fraternity and sorority presidents at Ohio State expressing his disappointment that reports of dangerous and inappropriate behavior by members of the Greek community continue to surface. There have been numerous allegations that pledges (prospective members of fraternities and sororities) have been encouraged to take part in activities that were degrading and/or potentially harmful to their physical or mental health. Investigations of these reports have substantiated instances of sleep deprivation, alcohol violations, disruption of a University class, and coercion to participate in humiliating activities.

Recently the University Judicial Panel ruled that Delta Chi fraternity had committed hazing violations and put the group on probation for one year. In December, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity was sanctioned for hazing. Several other fraternities have been sanctioned in the past year for violations of the rules governing student conduct.

"There is a disturbing trend of irresponsible, immature and frankly dangerous behavior within the Greek community," Hall said."I had hoped that the message would have been received by now that hazing is absolutely not tolerated. It is incompatible with the standards, missions and values of Ohio State University and of each of the national fraternities and sororities that our chapters are affiliated with. Furthermore, there is no such thing as an acceptable level of hazing. When you unlock that door, you create an atmosphere that can all too easily lead from relatively silly pranks to tragedy."

Hazing is a violation of the Code of Student Conduct, which defines it as"Doing, requiring or encouraging any act, whether or not the act is voluntarily agreed upon, in conjunction with initiation or continued membership or participation in any group, that causes or creates a substantial risk of causing mental or physical harm or humiliation. Such acts may include, but are not limited to, use of alcohol, creation of excessive fatigue, and paddling, punching or kicking in any form."

Student Affairs staff members have been working with the Greek community to implement the standards of excellence in the Greek Life Task Force Report. This report, which reflects two years of collaborative effort, became effective March 19.

Hall said the University prefers to work with the Greek community in a positive, rather than a punitive, manner but will not back down on enforcing the Code of Student Conduct and the standards set forth in the Greek Life Task Force.

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