Minutes February 13, 2020

Administrative Advisory Council II Meeting

February 13, 2020

 

Attendees:

Lisa Breede                                        Mary Ellen Royer

Peter Brenton                                   Pam Schickling Buckley

Roni Dudley-Cowans                      Mary Ellen Sinkus

Hasmik Kouchakdjian                     Olympia Valentine

Renee Cecile LeBlanc                      Susan Wolfson

Ana Ludwig                                         Macall Zimmerman

Brian O’Conaill                                  Robin Elices

Andreea O’Connell                          Doreen Morris

Richard Petruzelli

 

Presentation:

Janet Johnson, Export Control Officer

Office of the Vice President for Research

 

Overview:

  • Export control regulations apply to information and things and when given to a non-US person it’s considered to be an export to that person’s country, even if it takes place in the US or on a university campus.  Examples include:
    • teaching courses abroad or online;
    • speaking at international conferences;
    • engaging in international collaborations;
    • shipping software or information internationally;
    • paying someone in another country for items and services;
    • transferring technical data or technology to non-US persons
  • Fundamental research is excluded from export control – MIT intends for all research on campus to qualify as fundamental.
  • The US has imposed full sanctions against five countries and under export control laws all information, equipment, materials, software, etc. are prohibited from being sent to these countries.
  • An export license granted by an authorized export agency allows a regulated activity to proceed legally.
  • A restricted parties list is maintained by the university and includes Individuals and entities with whom the university and employees are not permitted to export to or engage in controlled transactions.
  • When teaching abroad faculty should check the nationality of students to ensure they’re not from restricted countries.
  • Information that is presented at a conference open to the public is considered in the public domain and not subject to export control regulations.
  • The Export Control Office website provides detailed information on export control regulations -- https://research.mit.edu/integrity-and-compliance/export-control

Discussion re: Export Control Regulations

  • Several AACII members were very surprised that export control requirements were not more widely disseminated and staff and faculty better educated on these issues.
  • CITI module training, available to the MIT community, explains the requirements of export control and how to comply with the law.
  • Suggestion was made to use the new faculty onboarding process to introduce export control requirements. 
  • MIT community is encouraged to use eShipGlobal for international shipments.
  • It was clarified that sponsoring conferences with barred countries is a violation of export control.
  • Unofficial collaborations are becoming problematic. The people and institutions you plan to collaborate with should be checked to see if they are on the restricted parties list.
  • Documentation of efforts to comply with export control regulations is advised and will help to mitigate potential issues with the government.

 

AACII De-brief of Administrators Breakfast held on 2/6/2020

  • Generally AACII members thought the structure of the forum worked well. This was echoed by the attendees as reflected in the post-breakfast survey, the results of which are currently being compiled by Mary Ellen Sinkus and Olympia Valentine.
  • Some members expressed the need for more tools to help staff deal with challenging faculty when a department head is not supportive.
    • A framework is being developed for a toolbox as mentioned at the breakfast.
  • Management and supervisory training for faculty and department heads is critical to solving campus climate issues.  This should be part of the onboarding process.
  • Online surveys can be helpful for identifying climate concerns and should be used on an ongoing basis.
  • It is important to diagnose and understand campus climate problems before developing solutions.