Outside Activities
The University of Notre Dame recognizes that faculty members are on occasion called upon to provide consulting and other professional activities by outside agencies and industries. Such activities are normally looked on with favor where they (1) contribute to the professional development of a faculty member, or (2) contribute an expertise to a problem of a society or industry that is not commonly available, or (3) provide some carryover into the instructional program of the faculty member involved.
Activities covered under this policy include all types of endeavor for which the faculty member is compensated over and above his or her normal compensation from the University.
For full-time members, outside consulting or professional work is limited to an average of eight hours per calendar week. Time spent on such outside activities must be in addition to, rather than a part of, the normal full-time effort expected of members of the faculty for University work. Outside work must in no way interfere with the University duties of teaching, research, and service. Full-time members of the faculty are prohibited from having active ownership of, and/or managerial involvement in, a business/professional enterprise. Any exceptions must be approved annually by the respective dean or deans in conformity with procedures outlined in the final paragraph of this section.
The University must be compensated at prevailing rates for special facilities used by a faculty member in performance of outside activity obligations.
Normally, teaching in a program other than that of the University of Notre Dame will not be approved. Research that would normally be done under the University auspices should not be performed by private individual contract. In general, no outside activity shall in any way conflict with interests of the University, and an activity that can be appropriately performed for the University shall not be performed as an outside activity. A faculty member may not use the name of the University or any University component in connection with any outside activity other than a normal identification of the faculty member’s position in the University when such identification is both relevant to the outside activity and beneficial to the University.
A faculty member desiring to engage in outside activities should receive approval from the dean of the college before any agreement to perform such work, if of a recurring nature. Permission should be requested via the form, Memorandum for Proposed Outside Activities, submitted to the dean through the department chairperson. Permission for such outside work is automatically considered to be terminated at the end of each University contract period. Thus, a professor on an academic year appointment should request renewal each September 1 for any continuing arrangement. Faculty members on summer appointment should comply with the above policy during the period of the summer contract. Approval for individual, nonrecurring endeavors is to be obtained from the department chairperson.
