Dear Peter:

Please post this email on the Senate Ad Hoc COI-C Committee Web Page.

A basic feature of the employment of faculty members in universities is that they are encouraged to go beyond responsibilities that are internal to their universities (teaching; scholarship and other writing, including research; and committee and similar service to the university). That is, they are encouraged to engage in outside activities that are external to their university responsibilities.

Furthermore, they are encouraged to do so on "company time," so to speak. (The Oregon University System calls it "faculty time.") Because there is the potential that such outside activities performed on faculty time could conflict with their university responsibilities, the right granted to engage in them is limited by policies guarding against "conflicts in commitment" of time and focus.

Such external activities during the work week (that is, during "faculty time") must broadly serve the purposes of universities. They may include, for example, the following among others: (a) taking one's teaching skills to other venues (professional meetings, public speaking opportunities, visiting lectureships, and the like), (b) taking one's thinking and writing to other venues (publishing in a wide variety of outlets, not only academic journals, such as time spent writing opinion pieces in newspapers and comments on "blogs"), and (c) performing various kinds of service or consulting outside the university, both on a "pro bono publico" basis (uncompensated) and for personal income.

Each of these EXTERNAL activities that is undertaken on faculty time (as a part of a faculty member's responsibility for bringing the benefits of the university and their knowledge to broader society) has the POTENTIAL to interfere with the INTERNAL responsibilities of the professor that are normally performed on faculty time. Insubstantial interferences are not a problem. Classes can be rescheduled, scholarship can be shifted to the evening, faculty meetings can occasionally be missed, and so on. There is, however, a risk that the outside activity undertaken on faculty time (Monday-Friday) could cause an interference that is more substantial. For that reason, a practical constraint on the use of faculty time for outside activities is usually made a part of university policies.

In addition to the obvious constraint that outside activities during faculty time should be in some manner "related" to one's university responsibilities, the AMOUNT of one's salaried time (faculty time) that can be devoted to external activities is also limited -- usually to about 20 percent of an ordinary work week. This may be expressed as one day in the week or, in some universities, as 320 hours averaged over a nine-month academic year (8 hours per week during 40 weeks). It is important to keep in mind that totaling for the year is a common formulation, so that a faculty member might spend many days during one month and almost none during other months.

Because the basic purpose of a "conflict of commitment" policy is to ensure that non-University work does not interfere with a faculty member's performance of his or her weekly university responsibilities, the one-day-in-the-week limitation applies only to a faculty member's "faculty time," not to his or her "personal time." During personal time, which may include weekends and evenings, no imposition of any time limit is appropriate. There is no risk that external activities performed during personal time could ordinarily interfere with a faculty member's commitment to university responsibilities.

Outside activities on personal time do run the potential risk, however, of creating a different kind of interference: a "conflict of interest." A conflict of interest involves an impact on one's JUDGMENT rather than one's TIME devoted to one's university responsibilities. A conflict may occur because of the opportunity for financial profit or for other reasons. It may occur both in outside activities performed during personal time and in outside activities that we are encouraged to perform during faculty time, so both time periods are regulated in terms of potential conflicts of interest.

One of the best expressions nationally of the different policies applicable to faculty time and personal time is provided by the Oregon University System in its Internal Management Directive 4.015. Each institution of higher education in Oregon is required to:

"Include appropriate measures, such as one day per week, which define faculty time available for outside activities related to the faculty member's institutional responsibilities. Outside activities unrelated to institutional responsibilities and undertaken by faculty on personal time, regardless of whether compensated, are not subject to these Board of Higher Education and institution policies. However, if the faculty member, while on personal time, engages in outside activities that create a potential conflict of interest, the faculty member must provide written disclosure thereof . . . ."

Note that outside activities undertaken on personal time are exempt from any time limits. Time limits apply only to "faculty time" used for outside activities. However, both outside activities on faculty time and outside activities on personal time must be disclosed if they create a potential conflict of interest.

Time limits apply only to the use of faculty time because that is the time that the university allows to be used in part for outside activities related to university responsibilities (and in a manner that may provide some sort of benefits to the university and society).

John