Foreign Influence

The Florida legislature has enacted certain legislation regarding foreign influence concerns.  The legislation requires public disclosure of foreign gifts, scrutiny of grant applicants and vendors with certain foreign connections, and thorough scrutiny of foreign applicants for research positions and of foreign travel and activities of employees of major research institutions.  In follow-up to the legislation, the Florida Board of Governors (BOG) enacted BOG Regulation 9.012, as well as a Guidance on Activity with Foreign Countries document. Both the legislation and the regulation require the designation of a Research Integrity Office for the purposes of implementing and overseeing these foreign influence concerns.  The FAU President has designated the FAU Office of Compliance & Ethics as the Research Integrity Office for Foreign Influence (RIO-FI). 

For additional guidance on evaluating foreign influence concerns, the DoD's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has published a DoD Component Decision Matrix and the NIH has published a Decision Matrix for Assessing Potential Foreign Interference.

  1. Foreign Gifts and Contracts

A state university, or any employee or representative of a state university, may not solicit or accept any gift in its official capacity, including any physical object, loan, reward, promise of future employment, favor, or service, from a college or university based in a foreign country of concern or from a foreign principal as those terms are defined in s. 288.860. 

Section 286.101, F.S.; BOG Regulation 9.012(2)

  1. International Cultural Agreements

A state university is prohibited from participating in any agreement with, or acceptance of any grant from, a foreign country of concern or associated entity, which constrains freedom of contract, allows control by the foreign county of concern, or promotes a detrimental agenda.  Any such agreement must be shared with appropriate federal agencies prior to execution of the agreement, which is subject to prohibition if deemed to be detrimental to the safety and security of the United States. Any such entity may not accept anything of value conditioned upon participation in a specified program or endeavor.

In addition, a state university may not accept any grant from or participate in any agreement (ie, written statement of mutual interest in academic or research collaboration) with any college or university based in a foreign country of concern, or with any foreign principal, or accept any grant from or participate in any partnership with any college or university based in a foreign country of concern, or with any foreign principal, unless such partnership or agreement is deemed by the BOG to be valuable to students and the state university and is not detrimental to the safety or security of the United States or its residents.

Examples of activities with foreign countries of concern that require BOG approval are delineated in the BOG's Guidance on Activity with Foreign Countries of Concern, and include the following actitivities: (i) Hiring a foreign principal for academic, administrative, research purposes, or research scholars, (ii) Collaborating with a foreign principal on a research project in furtherance of the university’s mission; (iii) Sharing data with a foreign principal; (iv) Engaging in a student exchange program in a foreign country of concern; (v) Partnerships facilitated by third-party providers on behalf of State University System institutions; and (vi) Licensing intellectual property for academic or research purposes to or from a foreign principal.  Enrolling a student from a foreign country of concern or hiring an individual who has worked at an instituion in a foreign country of concern do not require BOG approval. 

A foreign principal includes any person who is domiciled in a foreign country of concern and is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States.  Domicile is defined as a physical presence in a foreign country of concern with an intent to return thereto. Intent is demonstrated by an absence of seeking citizenship in the United States.

For more information on international cultural agreements, please contact FAU’s Center for Global Engagement or the BOG Guidance on Activity with Foreign Countries of Concern.

Section 288.860, F.S.; BOG Regulation 9.012(7)

  1. Foreign Gift Reporting

Each state university is required to disclose any gift or contract with a value of $50,000 or more from any foreign source to the BOG.   If a foreign source provides more than one gift in a single fiscal year and the total value of those gifts is $50,000 or more, all gifts received from that foreign source must be reported. For more information on FAU’s implementation of these requirements, please see University Policy 6.4 Reporting of Foreign Gifts and Contracts.

Section 1010.25, F.S.; BOG Regulation 9.012(2) 

  1. Screening Foreign Researchers

Each state university with a research budget of $10 million or more is required to screen applicants for research positions who are citizens of a foreign country or have a specified affiliation with a foreign country of concern, with specified exceptions. The screening must take place prior to interviewing or offering applicants a position.

The RIO-FI is required to review certain designated materials and take reasonable steps to verify the information listed in applications and is authorized to approve applicants for hire based on a risk-based determination.  The RIO-FI is required to report to the FBI and to any law enforcement agency designated by the BOG the identity of any applicant rejected from employment based on the specified screening.

For more information on screening foreign researchers, please click here .

Section 1010.35, F.S.; BOG Regulation 9.012(4)

  1. Foreign Travel

Each state university with a research budget of $10 million or more is required to establish an international travel approval and monitoring program, which must require preapproval and screening by the RIO-FI for any employment-related foreign travel and activities engaged in by faculty, researchers, and research department staff and provide an annual report to the BOG of foreign travel to countries of concern.  FAU's international travel approval and monitoring program is led by the Global Travel Safety and Security Subcommittee (GTSSS).  For further information about foreign travel workflow and the approval process or the subcommittee, please contact Jaeson Weber, Director, Emergency Management, and Chair of the GTSSS (Jweber15@fau.edu).

Section 1010.36, F.S.; BOG Regulation 9.012(5)

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Please note that FAU's Research Integrity Office for Foreign Influence is a separate office from the Division of Research Office of Research Integrity.  For more information on FAU's Research Integrity Office for Foreign Influence, please contact FAU's Chief Compliance & Ethics Officer. For more more information on the FAU Division of Research Office of Research Integrity, please visit the Office of Research Integrity Webpage. For more information on International Research Collaborations at FAU, please visit the Division of Research Guidelines for International Research Collaborations.