As an institution of higher learning, Central Wyoming College recognizes that the output from our faculty and staff can often extend beyond the walls of the classroom. A broad impact on the community and region is not simply a priority, but is in fact explicitly bound to our mission. 

CWC acknowledges that occasionally, faculty and staff will engage in creative and professional endeavors that extend beyond their work responsibilities and that these ambitions could result in the creation of intellectual properties. CWC recognizes the intrinsic value of these pursuits in general as well as beyond the simple financial benefits of these products.

Central Wyoming College supports the development, production and dissemination of intellectual property by its faculty and staff members. 

The main objectives of the Central Wyoming College Intellectual Property procedure is to provide incentive and support to employees in their creative intellectual pursuits, while protecting the interests and assets of the college The procedure also strives to define what Intellectual Property means to the CWC community and define the areas of ownership that arise in the production and development of these works.
 

 

A.  Intellectual Property:  Intellectual Property, or IP, is often a result of creative or professional development. Generally, the results of employee’s pursuits fall into two categories: copyright and patents. From federal statutes:

1.  When used in this procedure, the term "Copyright" shall be understood to mean that bundle of rights that protect original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.
2.  “Works of authorship" include, but are not limited to the following: literary works; musical works, including any accompanying words; dramatic works, including any accompanying music; pantomimes and choreographic works; pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works (photographs, prints, diagrams, models, and technical drawings); motion pictures and other audiovisual works; sound recordings; architectural works; and computer software (programs, scripts, applications, operating system, control system, etc). "Tangible media'' include, but are not limited to, books, periodicals, manuscripts, phonorecords, films, tapes, disks, and files stored either onsite or remotely.
3.  When used in this procedure, the term "Patent" shall be understood to mean that bundle of rights that protect inventions or discoveries which constitute any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof; new and ornamental designs for any useful article and plant patents being for the asexual reproduction of a distinct variety of plant, including cultivated sprouts, mutants, hybrids, and new found seedlings, other than a tuber propagated plant or plant found in an uncultivated state.¹

For the purposes of this procedure, the term Intellectual Property shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, works defined as either copyright or patents. Intellectual property can also be defined as “work” in this agreement.

B.  Ownership:  Ownership defines the holder of the right to distribute, sell, profit from and manipulate the work.

C.  Use:  Use defines an individual’s or entity’s ability to apply the work in an educational, administrative or institutional capacity.

The position of Central Wyoming College is that Intellectual Property created by faculty and staff is owned by:

with the following additional considerations:
A.  This applies to both creative (copyright) and professional (patents) works.
B.  This ownership can be negotiated by the college and the creator, and any such resulting agreement will determine intellectual property ownership.  As noted in the Objectives above, these negotiations should balance the encouragement and support of creativity without negatively impacting the broad interests of the college.  Such negotiations may include agreements for “joint works³” where the creator and CWC are considered co-authors and have joint ownership.
C.  When ownership of works funded partially or wholly from grants/gifts awarded to the college are not specified as part of the original grant and/or gift proposal or agreement, the college owns the works - along with any responsibilities to the grantors/donors. The ownership and use rights of these works must be explicitly stated in any employment contracts that utilize grant/gifted funds. 
D.  Works created under special CWC contracts for the purpose of the creation for specific IP items, artifacts, or curricula, belong to the college unless determined otherwise by a written agreement as noted in IV. B. above .
E.  Works created by faculty within the typical scope of their employment, including when the work is compensated under an overload contract, for teaching use in the classroom and in department programs (such as syllabi, assignments, and tests) are the property of the author. However, the college shall be permitted to use such material without charge for internal CWC instructional, educational, and administrative purposes, including satisfying requests of accreditation agencies for faculty-authored syllabi and course descriptions⁴, in perpetuity. In the case where faculty created works are purchased by or transferred to a third party, such as a publisher, employees are required to ensure continued perpetual CWC use without charge.
F.  Employees working outside the typical scope of their employment may create intellectual property that they own using their CWC issued computer.  Any other college property may only be used with approval from the college and in accordance with 5.1 Use of College Property - or with an exception to 5.1 Use of College Property approved by the president.

Occasionally, work will be the product of circumstances outside of the above lists. While the above circumstances strive to elaborate on as many anticipated details, situations and scenarios as possible, IP can result in processes that are not covered above. In these rare instances, the employee and the college will discuss and negotiate an agreement that prioritizes the same details as expressed in the “Introduction” section.

Notes:
¹  https:/www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html
²  https:/www.aaup.org/report/statement-copyright
^3,4 https:/www.aaup.org/issues/copyright-distance-education-intellectual-property/sample-ip-policy-language
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