POLICY STATEMENT

The University seeks to provide an environment that will enhance and further academic and professional careers. Thus, the University encourages engagement in professional activities such as membership in professional associations, service on review or advisory panels, presentations of lectures, papers, concerts, and exhibits to external audiences, textbook authorship, various editorial assignments, and appropriate consulting activities.
POLICY

1.         Conflict of Commitment (last revised June 23, 2010)

Faculty members and administrative professionals owe their primary professional obligation to the University, and their primary commitment of time and intellectual energies should be to the teaching and advising , research and other creative activity, and service and/or outreach of the institution. A full-time appointment conveys an obligation to maintain a meaningful presence on behalf of the University in the performance of responsibilities. For those with on-campus appointments, this obligation includes being accessible to students, staff, and colleagues during the appointment period. A conflict of commitment arises when a faculty member or administrative professional undertakes external commitments which substantially burden or interfere with the employee's primary obligations and commitments to the University (see also Section D.7.5 Off Campus Employment).

2.         Consulting (last revised June 21, 2011)

Consulting is the provision of professional advice or service to external constituents with or without remuneration. The opportunity for faculty members and administrative professionals to accept occasional professional consulting engagements is a traditional privilege. Such activities are desirable and constitute legitimate means to promote professional development, thereby enriching the individual's contributions to the institution, to the profession, and to society. Consulting activities provide one means to facilitate the flow of information and development of technologies. Traditionally, the University has allowed full-time faculty members and administrative professionals to engage in consulting during their appointment period.

Employees normally shall not engage in compensated consulting activities for individuals or organizations that compete with the activities of the University (see Section D.7.7.5). In exceptional cases, however, those employees may obtain prior written approval from their deans and directors.

A University employee who wishes to engage in consulting for pay during his or her appointment period must make a full written disclosure (excepting the amount of compensation) to his or her immediate supervisor, in advance of the planned activity. In situations requiring immediate absence, the employee must notify his or her immediate supervisor as soon as reasonably possible followed by full written disclosure upon return to the University. However, in all instances involving a conflict of interest, prior written notification must be given (see Section D.7.7 Conflict of Interest). The employee also must provide satisfactory assurances that such activity will not interfere with employment obligations to the University, result in an unmanageable conflict of interest (see Section D.7.7) or conflict of commitment (see Section D.7.6.1), nor exploit improperly the responsibilities and work or ideas of students, staff, and collaborators. The immediate supervisor shall inform the dean (or next level of review) of all disclosures. In consulting, it must be kept clear that the faculty member or administrative professional is acting as an individual and is not representing the University or acting as its agent. Furthermore, no agreement shall provide an external organization with the opportunity to use the name of the University for commercial advantage.

A University employee who accepts a consulting assignment from a non-University person or entity shall not use University resources (see Section J.2 for a definition of University resources) without prior written approval of his or her immediate supervisor and appropriate reimbursement for use of such resources.

Source: AFAPM D.7.6.1, D.7.6.2

REFERENCES:

• Conflict of Interest Policy
• Financial Conflicts of Interest in Public Health Service Funded Programs
• Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment—Provost/Executive VP website
• Effort Certification Training