Faculty Procedures for Complying with UHS Policy
Regarding Consulting and Paid Professional Service
Purpose:
Outside Consulting policies are not intended to discourage external consulting; rather, they are
designed to protect the faculty member by identifying potential problems and by implementing
appropriate safeguards in order to avoid problems or controversies. Both prior and post
reporting procedures are intended to keep faculty aware of potential conflicts of interest or
conflicts of commitment, and to help them manage or eliminate those conflicts.
Who Should Follow These Procedures:
Full-time members of the faculty who wish to arrange consulting or other paid
professional activities. This includes paid professional activities and businesses owned
by the faculty member which relate to the faculty member’s area of expertise at the
University.
Faculty solely on nine-month appointments may arrange outside consulting which is
completed in its entirety during the summer months without prior approval, so long as
such commitments do not implicate a conflict of interest and are in compliance with state
ethics statutes. Such outside employment should nonetheless be reported in the annual
certification of compliance.
Procedures to be followed in order to engage in external consultation or other paid
professional services:
1. Faculty should review the following policies prior to entering into the commitment:
a. UHS Board of Regents Policy 57.02 Consulting and Paid Professional Service
b. UHS System Administrative Memorandum (SAM) 02.A.08 Consulting and Paid
Professional Service
c. UHS System Administrative Memorandum (SAM) 02.A.29 Ethical Conduct of
Employees
2. The faculty member must provide written notification to the dean, prior to the
commitment. Notification should include:
a. An explanation of how the activities will benefit the University of Houston System.
b. A statement as to whether there exists any real or apparent conflict of interest.
c. A statement regarding the time commitment, including dates, for the consulting or
professional activities.
The written notification and approval form can be found at the following link:
http://www.uh.edu/hr/HRFORMS/consulting.pdf.
3. The dean should timely give due consideration to each of the above factors. Ideally,
should the dean disapprove of the outside commitment based on conflict of interest, the
dean’s determination should be conveyed to the faculty member prior to commencement
of the outside activities.
4. In addition to the prior written notification, faculty shall report outside professional
commitments as required in the annual Conflict of Interest forms each September.
Written notification is not required for:
1. Unpaid public service activities and service on government review committees for a
nominal honorarium and/or reimbursement for expenses, unless the service conflicts with
regularly scheduled classes.
2. Occasional lectures that include fees, so long as the lecture (including travel time):
a. does not require an absence of more than one day from University obligations; and
b. does not conflict with regular University obligations (such as missing class).
More than two such lectures per semester (or summer, if employed during the summer)
are not considered occasional lectures, and therefore would require written notification
and approval.
3. Paid outside activities not related to the faculty member’s area of expertise, and which
are not conducted during the work week. Example, a professor who builds and sells
birdhouses on weekends is not required to provide notification. Time off for this outside
activity would not be allowed.
Outside Time Commitments:
The University recognizes and supports the concept that academic faculty work diverse hours
and schedules to fulfill their commitments to teaching, research and service. The University
further recognizes that outside consulting, in many cases may serve as to benefit both the faculty
member and the University. Both administration and faculty members should exercise sound
judgment, taking into account reasonable work schedules, in determining compliance with
outside consulting policies and procedures.
1. The outside time commitment for consulting or paid professional service cannot average
more than one day per calendar week, and must not interfere with regularly scheduled
classes.
2. The outside time commitment within each academic period, as defined below, cannot
exceed two days per week during Monday-Friday and 4 days per week if including
Saturday and Sunday. Employees should request leave time without pay for outside
commitments that surpass these parameters.
3. The maximum number of days per consulting period are as follows:
a. Fall (September 1 – December 31): 17
b. Spring (January 1 – May 31): 21
c. Summer, if employed during summer (June 1 – August 31): 13
4. A consulting day is generally considered to be 8 hours. Limited exceptions may occur
upon a showing that the exception is merited. Upon request from the Provost or his/her
designee, faculty members and department chairs should be prepared to provide a more
thorough explanation justifying their reasoning for claiming an exception to the general
rule.
5. Faculty are expected to fully meet their instructional responsibilities and are not allowed
to cancel class, skip class, or reschedule class in order to meet consulting obligations.
6. If a faculty member is on a grant at 100% time, consulting would not be allowed, except
in cases where it would be in compliance with OMB circular A-21 Cost Principles for
Educational Institutions. For more details on OMB Circular A-21, see the UH Division
of Research website.
November 15, 2012