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  1. In 2013, the State of New Jersey designated Rowan as second comprehensive public research institution in the State of New Jersey. As a research institution and a U.S. institute of higher education, most research, teaching, or service at the Institution will appropriately fall under the fundamental research exclusion, the publicly available/public domain exclusion, the education exclusion or a combination of the three. There may be occasions in which RU may conduct research or provide service or agree to a contract with a sponsor involving classified research. In such cases, RU will have the flexibility to depart from the standards of freedom of inquiry in order to serve public interest. When such exceptions occur, each project will be reviewed by the Senate's Research Committee (SRC) and acted upon in light of its impact on overall research mission of the university.
  2. Export Control Compliance Organizational Structure
    1. The University's export compliance efforts will be coordinated through the Office of Research with the assistance of the Office of the General Counsel. However, much of the responsibility for export compliance lies with individual university personnel. The purpose of this section is to outline the university's export compliance structure.
    2. RU's Export Control Compliance Review Team (Team) is comprised of the Vice President for Research, General Counsel or designee attorney ('GC'), Chief Research Compliance Officer, Director of Sponsored Program, Biological Safety Officer, Grants Specialist, Chief Internal Auditor, Director of Purchasing, Director of Asset management, Director of Technology Commercialization and Licensing and Director of Tech Park.
    3. Vice President for Research will lead the Team and he/she is RU's empowered official for export controls. The Team is in place to ensure that the Institution has the infrastructure, resources, policies and guidelines to comply with all institutional compliance issues associated with Export Controls and Rowan University's Export Control Compliance Program.
    4. The empowered official, GC and Chief Research Compliance Officer are knowledgeable in EAR, OFAC, AECA, DOE 10 CFR Part 810 ('DOE'), NRC 10 CFR Part 110 ('NRC'), and ITAR. Further, these individuals are cognizant of when and how these regulations affect the organization.
    5. As part of Institution's Export Control Compliance Program, the Compliance Review Team has either initiated the internal controls to ensure compliance with EAR, OFAC, AECA, and ITAR or they have put together the appropriate teams to establish and implement the necessary export control compliance program. The Empowered Official has the approval authority for activities requiring export licensing, export licensing itself, and related security plans.
    6. The departments and or divisions involved in export controls related to ITAR, AECA, OFAC, DOE, NRC, and EAR have devoted personnel to the Institution's Export Control Team and other resources to ensure compliance with the Federal rules, regulations and statutes. The other resources include funds to support training in export controls and procedures for screening and conducting following compliance functions.
      1. Restricted parties screening;
      2. Locating Federal Regulations on export controls;
      3. Searching the Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) and (United States Munitions List (USML); and
      4. Assisting in license determinations.
    7. Asset Management Division, Purchasing Services and Environmental Health and Safety have implemented processes to track equipment, property (both Institution's titled and Government furnished), biologicals, chemicals and other materials that are controlled by ITAR, NRC and EAR.
  3. Rowan University Export Control Working Group
    Membership in the Rowan University Export Control Working Group appears in Attachment 3.
  4. SCREENING
    The following screens are performed or coordinated by the Export Control Coordinator as a procedure in the review of export control issues on campus. See Attachment 4.
    1. Export-related Restricted, Denied and Blocked Persons Lists (BIS)
    2. Sanction Programs Related Blocked Persons Lists
    3. Law Enforcement –related Wanted Persons List (Domestic)
    4. Politically Exposed persons and Office of Inspector general
    5. International Terrorist, Blocked Person, Wanted, and Entity Lists
    6. Export Risk Country Alerts
  5. TRAINING AND EDUCATION
    See Attachment 5
  6. IDENTIFICATION, RECEIPT AND TRACKING OF EC ITEMS
    Office of Research reviews the scope of work from research project submissions, awards and contracts for export control related issues or materials. If this initial review reveals items of concern an Export Control Checklist is completed and/or discussions with the Principal Investigator (PI) are initiated to make further determinations as to the involvement of export controls. The Division of Research Compliance (DRC) in the Office of Research reviews and maintains in the award files copies of the proposals, research grants, contracts, confidentiality agreements and other agreements, as applicable, that may impact the export control review and determination. Additionally, Office of Research will perform export control review and license determination with the PI development of a Technology Control plan and/or interpretation of any EAR/ITAR export license requirement and associated documents, as applicable, pertaining to the project/research. Additionally, Office of Research is responsible for determining the need for licenses and submitting applications. When chemicals or biological materials are involved the Director of EHS and Biological Safety Officer will also review with the PI export control issue pertaining to the project.
  7. IDENTIFICATION OF ITAR/EAR CONTROLLED PROJECTS REVIEW PROCEDURES
    1. Office of Research has oversight and approval of all licensing under export control laws (with the exception of physical exports of biologics, chemicals and explosives out of the United States or OFAC travel related licensing). Office of Research also makes determinations relating to the export control status of new technologies and materials resulting from university research when an invention disclosure or a work disclosure has been submitted to the Office of Technology Licensing.
    2. Division of Sponsored Research will review at the time of award all grant and solicitations, proposals, confidentiality agreements, awards, etc. for the following:
      1. Restrictions on publishing research results
      2. Restrictions on foreign nationals from performing or accessing research results
      3. Restrictions on deliverables or results from being disclosed or delivered to any country or individuals
      4. Physical items being shipped overseas
      5. Verification that the project does not consist of basic or applied research
      6. RU Export Control Compliance Program
      7. The research effort is being conducted outside of the United States
      8. Embargoed/sanctioned countries and/or entities involved
      9. Scope/Agreement/Solicitation references weapons, select agents (aka highly pathogenic/toxic biologics), pathogens, toxins, bacteria, military systems, missiles, satellites, space related technologies, infrared, night vision, inertial measurement units (IMU), Global Positioning System (GPS), High Performance Computers (HPC), Astronomical Instruments (build/design main issue), armor, weapons of mass destruction, detectors, sensors, lasers, directed energy, trajectory, radars, cloaking, encryption, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV), autonomous ground vehicles, optics, etc.
      10. Requirement to use third?party information that is subject to nondisclosure obligations
      11. Presence of export controlled items, data, or technology
      12. Other Red Flags are identified
      13. Upon completion of review, the final determination on whether or not the effort is controlled are made and determine if further steps need to be taken. If one or more of the above bullet points apply, then neither the fundamental research exclusion nor publicly available/public domain exclusion apply and Office of Research will assist the principal investigator in determining whether a controlled technology/commodity is involved and/or export control regulations apply to the project. DRC, UFIC and EHS are responsible for export licensing under their purview but will involve each other and additional offices as appropriate. To assist in making this determination, the principal investigator shall work with Office of Research RU's to follow RU Export Control Compliance Program.
  8. OBTAINING AN EXPORT LICENSE
    If it is determined that a controlled technology or item is involved and an exclusion or license exemption does not apply; a license is required before the technology or item can be shared, disseminated, or exported out of the U.S.. This requirement applies to both research results as well as tangible items if the results are not covered by Fundamental Research, Public domain/Publicly Available Information, or other exclusions. The processing time for a license is normally two to four months after the application is submitted. Office of Research in conjunction with GC, will obtain any necessary ITAR, EAR and/or OFAC licenses.
  9. ADMINISTRATION OF THE TCP
    1. Administration of the TCP associated with any grant, proposal, or project is the joint responsibility of Office of Research and the PI/Department as it applies to the release of controlled technical data or items subject to the regulations whether in the U.S. or abroad.
    2. Principal Investigators and department heads are responsible for ensuring that employees in their activities are properly instructed in the handling of classified, export?controlled, or proprietary information and that they have signed the required attachments, prior to involvement in the project, attended mandatory Export Control Training, and are cognizant of their obligations and responsibilities under the Project?specific TCP, as applicable.
  10. TRAVEL AND PRESENTATION PROCEDURES FOR SANCTIONED/EMBARGOED ENTITIES
    Each employee is personally responsible for complying with travel, business, and export control restrictions relating to countries and individuals sanctioned by the United States in regulations, laws, and executive orders enforced by OFAC. For further information, individuals may contact Office of Research.
  11. RECORDKEEPING
    The university is subject to several regulatory recordkeeping requirements related to its export activities. The ITAR and the EAR require that records be kept reflecting the export and temporary import of defense articles, defense services, dual-use commodities and related technologies. This procedure outlines requirements for complying with the recordkeeping regulations. Types of records to be maintained will depend on the university's activities and how items are controlled for export. The retention period is five years from the date of export, re-export, or any other termination of the transaction
    1. Transactions subject to recordkeeping requirements
      The following types of transactions are subject to recordkeeping requirements:
      1. Exports of controlled commodities, software or technical data from the United States or by U.S. persons;
      2. Re-exports or transshipments of controlled products or technical data originally exported from the United States or by U.S. persons;
      3. Any other transaction subject to export control, whether the export or re-export actually occurs;
      4. Negotiations in connection with an export; and
      5. Exports, where it appears that a person in another foreign country has an interest in the transaction or that the commodity or technical data will be exported, transshipped, or diverted.
    2. Records required to be kept
      1. All documents related to export activities should be retained, whether they involve the administrative processes associated with obtaining licenses or other approvals, or the implementation of a license or approval, which has already been approved. It is RU policy that the following export documents and related supporting materials be retained by the University:
        1. Any paperwork detailing internal export control assessments, including any documentation regarding the applicability of any licensing exemptions (such as public domain or fundamental research);
        2. Include records of the compliance program, implementation efforts, and the steps to discover and rectify inadequacies. Such steps may mitigate the consequences of unintentional violations. Encourage prompt disclosure of potential violations to the central office for a knowledgeable and timely response including appropriate self-disclosure to the appropriate agency to mitigate penalties. Example: in an Export Control Management Plan Classification decisions issued by the appropriate government agency;
        3. License applications, and all supporting documents;
        4. Issued licenses with limitations or provisos, if any;
        5. International Import Certificates and applications therefore;
        6. Delivery Verification or similar evidence of delivery;
        7. Shipper's Export Declarations ("SED");
        8. Receipts, bills of lading and other documents related to export clearance;
        9. Reports of boycott requests and all documents relating to the requests;
        10. Any other document issued by the U.S. Government that demonstrates that an export occurred;
        11. Applications for registration;
        12. Purchase orders;
        13. Foreign import certificates;
        14. Airway bills;
        15. Non-transfer and use certificates
      2. Memoranda, notes, correspondence, contracts, invitations to bid, books of account, financial records, and any other written matter pertaining to an export.
    3. Period of retention
      Export documents must be retained for a minimum period of five (5) years, calculated from one of the following points in time:
      1. Export records under the EAR (See §762.6) must be retained for five (5) years from the latest the following times:
        1. The date the export from the U.S. occurs;
        2. The date of any known re-export, transshipment, or diversion of such item;
        3. The date of any termination of the transaction, whether contractual, legal, formally in writing or by any other means, or
        4. In the case of records of or pertaining to transactions involving restrictive trade practices or boycotts, the date the regulated person receives the boycott-related request.
      2. Records relating to exports under the ITAR must be maintained for five (5) years from:
        1. The expiration of the license or other approval to which the documentation relates;
        2. The date the license or other authorization is exhausted or used completely; or
        3. The date the license or other authorization is suspended, revoked, or no longer valid.
    4. Identifying Responsible Recordkeeping Function
      The University will maintain the following records, either originals or back-ups, through the Coordinator, Export Control, and Office of Research/Sponsored Programs.
    5. Accessibility
      1. Records must be kept in a manner which facilitates the ability to retrieve the records for any purpose and to review the records during internal or U.S. Government audits.
      2. University Personnel may not, under any circumstances, interfere with or impede any federal law enforcement officer performing his/her official duties.
  12. INTERNAL MONITORING/AUDITS
    1. RU is committed to ensuring that its efforts to comply with United States export laws and regulations are successful and effective throughout the University. Every compliance program must include an internal assessment function designed to objectively and independently review all aspects of the program. RU will conduct internal assessments as required.
    2. Each project which has a Technology Control Plan (TCP) will be reviewed on an annual basis. The PI, key persons and all labs/offices/etc. associated with the TCP will be visited and reviewed for compliance with the TCP. Any deficiencies will be noted and corrected. If there are substantial deficiencies the project may be halted pending correction of the deficiencies.
    3. Types of Assessments
      1. Policies and Procedures Assessment - A review of policies and procedures will be conducted to assess whether the University effectively maintains export policies and procedures. This review is designed to identify whether applicable legal obligations are addressed throughout RU
      2. Self-Audit/Internal Audit - Regular internal audits should be conducted to ensure that the university's Export Control Compliance Program is operating effectively, including:
        1. Best practices:
          1. Faculty awareness education program
          2. Export Control Determinations - The goal is to ensure that the guidelines of the Export Control Management System are being followed, that the processes are changed as needed and new processes are added when required.
      3. Compliance Assessment - A review of select contracts, activities, practices and procedures will be conducted to assess whether the University is successfully implementing the policies and procedures of the compliance program.
      4. Frequency of Internal Assessment - Policies and procedures assessments and compliance assessments will be conducted on an annual basis, and will consist of scheduled review

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  1. If a researcher has an award with no export control language and his/her funding agency begins providing export controlled documents, etc., what should the researcher do?
    This action is a good indication that the direction of the research or some other factor has changed the project in some way to render the export control regulations applicable to this project and that, more than likely, the ROWAN researcher's work will now be export controlled. He/she should reexamine his/her research, checking the USML and CCL lists to see if the research falls under either of these lists. If he/she makes the determination that the research does now fall under export control restrictions, the information/technology must be protected from intentional (or inadvertent) export or "deemed export." The researcher should also notify his/her Contract Administrator in the Office of Sponsored Programs that the export control status has changed so this can be noted in the database. The ROWAN Export Control Policy requires that a Principal Investigator re-evaluate his/her project's export control determination prior to changes in scope of work or hiring foreign nationals to work on the project, including graduate and undergraduate students.
  2. How should a Rowan University employee handle the use of information gained from past or present research in classroom discussions if foreign nationals are present?
    The Rowan employee should first ascertain the source of the information and if the contract or grant under which it was discovered, invented or obtained is under export control restrictions. Lack of contractual designation of "export controlled" is not an exclusively sufficient determination. The employee should also make self-determination of the applicability of export control regulations to the particular information or technology he/she wishes to discuss in the classroom. If this information or technology is now considered export controlled, it should not be presented in the classroom.
  3. What is our guidance for determining if non-sponsored program activity should be export controlled?
    A Rowan employee should check the Department of State's U.S. Munitions List and the Department of Commerce's Commerce Control List to ascertain if the information or technology falls under the information or technology areas covered by the lists. As this research would not be under a sponsored program, the fundamental research exemption would not apply. 
  4. Are individuals with dual citizenship (one of which is U.S.) allowed unlicensed access to export controlled information?
    We have been told that some funding agencies regard the non-U.S. citizenship as the primary citizenship status. If there is any doubt, check with your funding agency and with ROWAN's Office of Research & Engagement.
  5. I teach a class which involves information about encryption using standard published textbooks. Do I have a problem if foreign nationals are in my class?
    If you are providing information which is already in the public domain (e.g., published text books, excerpts from professional journals, newspaper articles, etc.), it is acceptable to present this information in a class. 
  6. We send documents to Quick Copy for reproduction and I believe foreign nationals might work there. Can we send documents that contain export controlled information?
    No, this would be a "deemed export" and would violate the export control regulations. 
  7. What are the practices that I should employ for protecting the export controlled information
    1. Laboratory work should be physically shielded from observation by operating in secured laboratory spaces or during secure time blocks when observation by un authorized persons is preventable.
    2. Data, lab notebooks, hard copy reports, and research materials are held in locked, fireproof cabinets which are located in rooms with key-controlled access.
    3. Electronic communications and all databases are managed via a type of virtual private network specifically a Secure Socket layer (SSL) which limits access to authorized users only and facilitates exchanges between those authorized users while encrypting (128 bit encryption) any data sent via Internet.
    4. Discussions about the project or work products are limited to the identified contributing investigators and are held only in areas where unauthorized persons are not present.
    5. Discussions with third-party subcontractors, such as identified manufacturing sites, are only conducted under signed confidentiality agreements and fully respecting the non-US citizen limitations for such disclosures.
    6. Third-party communications are conducted only under valid Confidentiality Agreements with prior consent of the Government.
  8. Some of these requirements will cost me money that I didn't request in my proposal because I didn't know that this would be export controlled. How do I handle this?
    Check first with your Department Dean or Center Director to see if they can provide the funds for the separate computer, special storage facilities, separate work space, etc. It may be necessary for you to bring the matter to the Vice President for Research. The information or technology must be protected; this is not an option.
  9. What are my responsibilities as a Principal Investigator/researcher/faculty member and what are the responsibilities of the Office of Sponsored Programs in complying with export control laws and regulations?
    1. Principal Investigator/researcher/faculty:
    2. As a Principal Investigator, researcher or faculty member you are responsible for determining if the research you are performing, the information you are developing, receiving or disseminating, or the technology you are developing, receiving or disseminating is restricted by export control laws and regulations.
    3. If it is restricted, you have the responsibility of protecting the information or technology from export or deemed export, either intentionally or inadvertently.
    4. You have the responsibility of informing graduate students, undergraduate students, and administrative staff who are likely to come into contact with this information or technology of the proper protection regulations and procedure.
    5. You have the responsibility to periodically review your research to ascertain if its status relative to export control regulations has changed.
    6. You have the responsibility to inform the Office of Sponsored Programs when the export control status of your research changes.
    7. You have the responsibility to report to the Vice President for Research any violations of export control laws and regulations of which you might become aware
      The Office of Research is charged with the responsibility of developing and monitoring an effective compliance program sufficient to insure that the ROWAN research and academic community have the knowledge and tools to understand and abide by export control laws and regulations. Toward that end, the Office of Sponsored Programs will:
      1. coordinate and maintain a University policy regarding compliance with export control laws and regulations;
      2. post information, forms and Internet links to relevant U.S. government Internet sites to insure that the Rowan employees have as much current information as possible;
      3. conduct education/information sessions for Rowan researchers, faculty and staff to make them aware of the export control laws, regulations and penalties for failure to abide by them;
      4. review new awards for obvious export control language and bring this to the Principal Investigator's attention;
      5. note known export controlled awards in the Office of Sponsored Programs' contract database to assist in locating laboratories or work areas that might need internal audits or special attention to insure adequate protection of information and technology;
      6. attend training sessions to learn more about export control and provide updates of regulations and procedures to the ROWAN researchers via the OSP webpage, written notices and workshops, as needed.
  10. Some of this information is vague and seems to change a lot. How am I supposed to keep up with all of this?
    This law and its supporting regulations are quite complicated and the international political, military and economic situation changes daily. This is, in turn, reflected in the information and technology which is placed on the controlled lists as well as the various funding agencies' procedures in addressing the export control issue. Our best advice is to revisit your information and technology periodically relative to the government's controlled lists, keep an open dialogue with your funding agency technical counterpart, and bring your questions and concerns to the Office of Sponsored Programs, Office of Export Controls, to your Dean/Center Director or to the Vice President for Research.
  11. My award has no restriction on foreign nationals working on it and no publication restrictions except the funding agency wants to review a publication prior to distribution. Does this cancel my fundamental research exemption?
    No, this kind of review, even when requested, is considered a courtesy rather than a restriction. If the award required "review and approval" we would consider it a restriction as this language implies the potential of denying approval to publish or requiring changes to the report, presentation or article prior to publication. A publication approval requirement would cancel your fundamental research exemption.
  12. I download software that I use in my classes and usually just click "yes" without reading the license agreement. I've heard that some of these licenses have export control restrictions. What should I do?
    First, read all license agreements because clicking "yes" is agreeing to the conditions of the agreement. Second, notice if there are options concerning the type of software you can download. Most license agreements do contain some export control language. In many instances, there is an "educational" version of the software which does not contain export controlled information and is suitable for classroom use.
  13. I have heard that Microsoft operating software is or may be export controlled. I've already been warned about Rowan not taking my laptop out of the country if it has obvious export controlled data on it but can I have a problem with the basic operating software?
    Possibly. , Microsoft provides information on their web site at http://www.microsoft.com/exporting/ (or at the home page, search for "export control") that lists their different hardware and software products along with the DoC ECCN (export control classification number) and the status of this item relative to requirement of a license for export.