Recent Policy Updates

RPH 4.7 - Summary of Changes

1. Sequestration of Royalties and Income. The previous version of the policy required sequestration of any royalty or equity revenue received by Stanford when Stanford is conducting human research on the same technology that was licensed to an external commercial entity. The updated policy allows for other management approaches tailored to the particular interests and risks of a given situation instead of an across-the-board sequestration of funds approach.
2. Prohibition on Stanford Investments. The previous version of the policy prohibited investment in a commercial entity if Stanford is conducting human subjects research on a product of that company. The updated policy manages SMC investments through a "firewall" policy adopted by SMC to maintain separation of investment decision making. The policy also allows investment by the President’s Venture Fund or School investment funds with appropriate management as opposed to a prohibition on investment.
3. Significant and Sensitive Human Health Data. The previous version of the policy was applicable only when Stanford is conducting human subjects research related to an institutional interest. The updated policy includes the exchange of significant and sensitive human health data with entities where Stanford or an institutional leader has a significant financial interest.
4. Process for Identifying Institutional Leader Conflicts. The previous version of the policy required Center Directors, Department Chairs, Division Heads, Deans and VP level leaders to self-identify when they have an outside interest in an entity related to human subjects research being conducted at Stanford and report this to VPDoR. The updated policy creates a new process where potential Institutional Leader conflicts will be identified using data already available in Stanford systems, reducing the administrative burden on the Institutional Leader.
5. Authority and Appeals. The previous version of the policy identified VPDoR as the official who recommends a management approach for ICOIs with the Provost serving as the deciding authority. The updated policy adopts an approach where the ICOI Committee will make recommendations to the VPDoR who is the deciding authority and introduces an appeal process for Institutional Leaders with the Provost identified as the final arbiter of a proposed management strategy.
6. Reorganization and Language Clean-Up. The previous version of the policy included a significant amount of process language as opposed to policy requirements. This revision separates procedural aspects out from the key policy requirements as a separate document. In addition, policy sections were reorganized and edited for clarity.

The proposed revision removes the requirement for Unmanned Flying Vehicle (UFV) approval for faculty use of drones in off-campus field research.

RPH 1.7 has been substantially rewritten to align with the U.S. Public Health Service's 2024 Final Rule revising 42 C.F.R. Part 93, which applies to allegations received by Stanford on or after January 1, 2026.

Adding 2 sentences to Time off with Pay and Sick Time policy to state that sick time and time off with pay is not earned while on an unpaid leave.

Update contains new information on defining ranks, CA Pay Transparency, delegation of approver authority at the department level, and minimum salary requirements. This update also includes minor administrative, procedural and grammatical changes.

Clarifying language around funding for postdocs who hold H-1B visa status.

Language added to address emeriti faculty PI eligibility.

Language added to address emeriti faculty PI eligibility.

Policy revised to create less administrative burden, allow faculty to sign simple MOUs where the template can be used, and clarifies that the MOU is between the unit and the external party.

Clarification sentence added for clinical trials: 'For industry-sponsored clinical trials, the off-campus assessment and eligibility for the clinical trial indirect cost rate is governed by RPH 13.3.1, which provides specific factors that must be met.'