POLICY ON CONFLICTS OF COMMITMENT
INVOLVING OUTSIDE PROFESSIONAL
ACTIVITIES
1. Rationale
All
Academic Appointees are required to fully meet the professional obligations of
their appointments. Full-time Academic Appointees are expected to devote
their primary professional time and energy to carrying out teaching, research,
and service responsibilities on behalf of
2. Policy
a. Academic
Appointees may engage in Outside Professional Activities, provided that these
activities do not constitute a Conflict of Commitment and comply with all other
applicable University policies, including the Policy on Financial Conflicts of
Interest.
b. Full-time
tenure-track faculty shall be permitted to spend, on average, one non-weekend
day each week during the period of appointment, not including official
university holidays, on Outside Professional Activities.
c. Academic
Appointees shall not use University resources in the performance of Outside
Professional Activities without the permission of their dean or unit head and
without compensating the University. Where
resource usage is de minimis and the
cost difficult or impossible to calculate, such use of University resources
shall not require reimbursement.
d. An Academic
Appointee’s compliance with this policy shall not be determined on the basis of
income earned from Outside Professional Activities or the percentage of the
appointees’ University compensation that such income constitutes, unless
required by law.
3. Examples of
possible Conflicts of Commitment that must be disclosed
a. An outside professional activity
that may substantially reduce the time available for the appointee to carry out
the primary obligations of his or her appointment.
b. Teaching for another educational
institution, including online teaching.
c. Undertaking externally funded research
activities where the financial sponsorship is managed entirely outside
d. Undertaking activities that
compete, or have the potential to compete, with
4. Implementation
All Academic
Appointees at
All disclosure
statements are to be submitted to the appropriate dean or unit head. The dean/unit head or his/her designee will
review submitted disclosure statements within 30 days and will work with the
Academic Appointees to determine if a Conflict of Commitment exists and if so,
what steps must be taken to eliminate or properly manage that conflict. If the dean/unit head and Academic Appointee
disagree, they may seek additional advice regarding the proposed activity from
the campus Dean of the Faculties.
Appeals from administrative decisions concerning conflicts of commitment
are subject to applicable University policies and procedures.
5. Compliance
Instances of
deliberate breach of policy, including failure to file or knowingly filing an
incomplete, erroneous, or misleading disclosure, or failure to comply with
prescribed procedures for managing an identified conflict of commitment, will
be adjudicated in accordance with applicable misconduct policies and procedures
at the appropriate campus of
6. Application
This policy shall
apply to all Academic Appointees, both full-time and part-time. The potential for conflicts of commitment is
likely to rise in proportion to the particular commitment that exists between
an individual Academic Appointee and the University. For example, the kinds of
external activities likely to compete with a full-time appointee’s primary
duties may not apply to part-time appointees.
Accordingly, this policy defines in a consistent manner the types of
situations that could pose conflicts and that should be reported. The evaluation
of potential conflicts will take into account the particular facts of
individual situations, including the nature of the relationship that the
University and the Academic Appointee have with each other.
7. Definitions
A Conflict
of Commitment arises when an Outside Professional Activity
interferes with an Academic Appointee’s performance of University Responsibilities.
Academic Appointee
refers to any person who has either a full- or part-time academic appointment
in the University.
University Responsibilities
refers to the responsibilities of an Academic Appointee to perform University
Activities as defined by University policy (or in a contract).
University Activities
refers to activities related to the research, teaching, and service mission of
the University. Service activities
include service to the appointee’s profession and service to the community that
is related to the appointees’ professional qualifications.
Outside Professional
Activities refers to external activities within
the scope of the appointee’s professional qualifications that are not
undertaken in fulfillment of the University Responsibilities of an Academic
Appointee, but which enhance the performance of those responsibilities.