1. Office for Responsible Outside Interests

Outside Commitments and Outside Employment

I am planning a personal trip to a foreign country this summer (outside my time paid by UA). There will be no money from UA spent, or received. Is there a form to fill if I give a seminar (unpaid, published materials)?

Below, please find a list of the potential points of disclosure. 

I am planning a personal trip to a foreign country. There will be no money from UA spent, or received. Is there a form to fill if I give a seminar (unpaid, published materials)?

Below, please find a list of the potential points of disclosure. 

I am planning a personal trip to Japan (outside my time paid by UA). There will be no money from UA spent, or received. I would like to plan for some visits to colleagues at local universities while traveling. Is there a COI form I need to fill in?

Below, please find a list of the potential points of disclosure.

I was contacted by a company asking me to give a compensated consultation to some investors, is there any UA regulation about that?

University Employees whose FTE is 0.50 or greater, are required to disclose any activity that meets the definition of an Outside Commitment or Outside Employment by submitting a disclosure of Outside Commitment or Employment (COC form) via eDisclosure.

What is Significant Use of University Resources?

“Significant Use of University Resources” includes but is not limited to: use of research funding; use of funding allocated for asynchronous or distance learning programs; use of telecommunication and data services beyond ordinary use; use of university computing resources; use of instructional design or media production services; access to and use of research equipment and facilities or production facilities; use of University Assets* such as paid employee time, proprietary information, intellectual property (such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights), logos, land and buildings.

"If created/authored/wrote, music/media/video/book/article that wanted to be used by an outside agency and was willing to pay me but required no actual time commitment from me, do I need to go through the COC process? "

This depends on your UA role (whether an Employee, Administrator and/or Investigator – An complete overview of UA roles and Disclosure requirements can be found here)  

"I have been invited by a school district to provide professional development and will be paid for 6 hours of work. Is this a COC or COI?"

Please work with your college to determine if this is outside of your institutional duties and responsibilities.  If this activity meets the definition of an Outside Commitment, it should be disclosed for conflict of commitment review.  The Outside Commitment Decision Tree on our

"If a local teacher or school asks me to assist with a curriculum or teaching project (per my expertise), is this a COC? It seems like it would be a service project. How does one distinguish between service and a COC?"

Please work with your college to determine if this is outside of your institutional duties and responsibilities.  If this activity meets the definition of an Outside Commitment, it should be disclosed for conflict of commitment review.  The Outside Commitment Decision Tree on our

"Is serving on an advisory board for an NSF grant a conflict? Usually a stipend is involved."

Generally speaking, this often falls within one’s institutional duties and responsibilities.  If this is outside of an individual’s institutional duties and responsibilities and meets the definition of an Outside Commitment, it will need to be disclosed for conflict of commitment review.

"An institute at another US university wants to pay a stipend to consult on test development items. The total amount would be less than $5000."

Because the stipend is less than $5,000 and from a U.S.

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