A new Policy on Outside Activities and Conflicts of Commitment and Interest has been approved for academic year 2025.
Major updates are listed below. Please review the policy for a full description of modifications.
1. New term: Covered Individual
The term “Covered Individual” now describes the individuals who must follow the policy. Covered Individuals are:
- Tenure-track, specialized, and emeritus Faculty ranks for professor, associate professor, and assistant professor
- Academic professionals
- Academic hourlies
- Hourly faculty
- Postdoctoral associates
- Instructors
- Lecturers
This includes:
- Retired Covered Individuals with active appointments
- Covered Individuals with 0% unpaid appointments consistent with those named above who have University Responsibilities involving University research or who have access to University laboratories or equipment for the purpose of research.
Exempted from this requirement are:
- Individuals with 0% unpaid appointments who have University Responsibilities involving only didactic teaching or non-research appointments. The Unit Executive Officer (UEO) must exempt these individuals from this Policy’s disclosure requirements on a year-by-year basis.
- If you qualify for this exemption, please contact your department so they may grant the exemption in Start myDisclosures.
2. New definition: Outside Activities
Outside Activities: Any appointment, affiliation, entrepreneurial activity, employment, fiduciary role in an association, or Sponsored or Reimbursed Travel of the Covered Individual with an entity other than the University that reasonably appears related to or competes with the Covered Individual’s University Responsibilities or the University’s mission of education, research, public service, and economic development, regardless of compensation or level of financial interest. Outside Activities may be, but are not necessarily, formalized through a written agreement.
Previously all income-producing outside activities were reported on the RNUA. Under the new policy, you must only disclose outside activities that reasonably appear related or compete with your University Responsibilities or the University’s mission.
3. New definition: Immediate Family Members
You must disclose, to the best of your knowledge, Outside Activities of an “Immediate Family Member” that appear reasonably related to your University Responsibilities regardless of compensation or level of financial interest.
Consistent with the UI System Human Resources Policy on Leave, Immediate Family Members include:
- Father
- Mother
- Sister
- Brother
- Spouse
- Domestic Partner
- Civil Union Partner
- Child, including child of a same-sex domestic partner or civil union partner
- Grandparent
- Grandchild, including grandchild of a same-sex domestic partner or civil union partner
- Individual in a biological, adopted, foster, legal ward, step or in loco parentis relationship
- In-law (grandmother-, grandfather-, mother-, father-, brother-, sister-, son-, and daughter-in-law), including a relative of a same-sex domestic partner or civil union partner (grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, brother, sister, son, and daughter); and
- Member of the Covered Individual’s household.
4. New Disclosure Requirement: Sponsored or Reimbursed Travel
Covered Individuals must now disclose sponsored or reimbursed travel that is related to your University Responsibilities when paid by ANY entity other than the University of Illinois:
Sponsored or Reimbursed Travel: You must disclose expenses for conference registration, transportation, lodging, and/or meals that are related to the Covered Individual’s University Responsibilities when paid by ANY entity other than the University of Illinois.
5. RNUA Processes Remaining the Same
- You will still submit your RNUA in the Start myDisclosures system.
- Prior approval still must be granted BEFORE you begin working on the outside activity.
- You will still be able to update your RNUA any time during the academic year if you need to add or remove outside activities.
- UEOs may revoke approval for previously approved Outside Activities at any time.
- You still must obtain explicit authorization in writing from your UEO to use University resources (such as equipment, supplies, space, computing resources, email, technology, intellectual property, etc.) through the relevant University process (e.g. facilities use agreement, license for intellectual property, etc.).
- The calculation of time spent on outside activities remains the same.
- When calculating and entering time spent on your outside activities on the RNUA, reporting is based on a seven-day week. For example, if you spend four hours on a non-university activity once during the week and once during the weekend, only one full day should be reported for that entire week.
- A time calculator tool is available here.