Northern Illinois University
Division of Academic Affairs
Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost

All outside activities are covered including consulting, research, instruction, and self-employment, regardless of employer or organization where the activity will take place.

Start with your supervisor first as they may know the answer from reviewing and approving OCR/OE requests from others in your department/unit. Then if you still have questions, please feel free to contact your college dean/division head and then the Office of the Provost at provost@niu.edu.

OCR pertains to State of Illinois' statute on outside consulting and research and OE pertains to NIU Board of Trustees' regulation on outside employment. The 110 ILCS 100/1et seq. statutes on outside consulting and research do not pertain to research or consultation for federal, state or local governments. The university's chief legal officer has determined this legislation is not applicable to non-faculty or non-administrative employees or to any faculty or administrative employees whose appointments are less than full-time. The legislation does not require any report of compensation a faculty member or administrative employee may receive for performing private outside services.

However, the Board of Trustees' regulations Section II. Subsection B. 2 on outside employment is much more comprehensive than the 110 ILCS 100/1et seq. statutes and requires formal approval of all types of outside employment including all outside consulting and research activities including those exempt by the 110 ILCS 100/1 et seq. statutes to ensure those outside activities do not encroach upon the employee's primary responsibilities and obligation to the university

Yes, provided each request complies with the policies and has been approved by your supervisor before the start date of the activities, and has been reviewed and processed by the college dean/division head, and the Office of the Provost.

Yes. In order to avoid conflict of commitment, faculty and administrative employees are allowed to participate in outside activities for up to a maximum of one day per week during their academic year appointments (i.e., 40 days per academic year for those on academic-year appointments). As a reminder, all OCR/OE activities must be approved before employees engage in such activities.

State law and the Board of Trustees Regulations only require that full-time (100% FTE or Full-Time Equivalency) faculty and supportive professional staff must comply and complete this process.

No, faculty and administrative employees must receive approval prior to commencement of any OCR/OE activity.

If your OCR/OE request is not approved by your supervisor then there is no process for appealing that action. You can, however, discuss it with your supervisor and resolve any concerns that might have led to the denial of your request.

All full-time faculty (tenured/tenure-track faculty, instructors, research faculty, clinical faculty, etc.) and administrative employees (Supportive Professional Staff) are required to obtain appropriate approval prior to engaging in any and all outside consulting and/or research or outside employment activities.

You should disclose any on-going OCR/OE activities by completing and submitting the request form within the first 10 work days of the start of your employment at NIU and seek approval.

Yes, submission of OCR/OE request is required even if you are not compensated for the activity or if it takes place during non-working hours or during weekends. This is to ensure there are no conflicts of interest related to the activity.

Be sure to fill in all required fields of the OCR/OE request form including details about the outside activity and the organization/employer where the outside activity will take place. Please do not use abbreviations that are not commonly known and the approvers may not know. Submit this form in advance of the start date of the activity so your supervisor can review the request and approve it, if appropriate, or discuss potential concerns or conflicts of interest.

The purpose of the request form is to provide full-time faculty and supportive professional staff with a means by which to disclose intent and receive approval to engage in outside consulting and research and/or outside employment with non-state and/or non-federal agencies, as required by the State of Illinois statute or with any outside entity as required by the NIU Board of Trustees' regulations. The form is meant to provide a mechanism by which perceived or potential conflicts of interest and conflicts of commitment associated with any outside consulting and research and outside employment activities can be identified, resolved or managed so as to protect the integrity of the university, its employees and resources. The form is also used for documenting approved requests and for auditing purposes as the requests and reports annually audited by external auditors to ensure NIU is in compliance.

When you submit the completed OCR/OE request form through OnBase, your supervisor will be prompted to review it. After your request is approved by your supervisor, it is routed to the college dean/division head and then the Office of the Provost for further review and documentation.

You will receive an email alerting you that the request is approved or whether you need to address any concerns.

Request forms should be completed and submitted to employee's department/school/unit chair/director/unit head, allowing sufficient time for approval to be granted prior to the commencement of the OCR/OE activity

Yes. You must report the number of hours spent on the activity, even if the number is zero. This is for auditing purposes as well as for keeping track of the actual number of days of OCR/OE activities that you engaged in during a fiscal year.

At the conclusion of your previously-approved OCR/OE activity, you will receive an e-mail prompt that directs you to your online form so you can report on the total number of days spent on the activity during the fiscal year.

Simply document this information on the form and click submit. A record of the report will be maintained by the provost's office.

The department/unit supervisor and the college dean/division head are responsible for reviewing the request and ensuring that a conflict (time commitment, duration, interest, disclosure, etc.) does not exist, and deciding if the request should be approved or not based on a variety of other considerations including other approved overload and outside activities. If there is a potential or perceived conflict of interest with the proposed outside activity or any exceptions have to be made then you should work with the department/unit supervisor to disclose the conflict of interest and develop a conflict resolution/management plan for the request to be considered.

Yes, as there could be potential or perceived conflicts of interest, time commitment or disclosure concerns in such activities. Please note that the maximum outside work of one day per week only applies during the academic year appointment period. Faculty may be approved for greater than one day per week of outside employment when off contract outside the academic year.

Yes. As you are a continuing employee there could still be potential or perceived conflicts of interest in such activities during the time when you are not on contract at NIU and it is important to consult with your chair/director/unit head and discuss and manage such issues, and seek approval if necessary

No. Participating in outside consulting and/or research or holding outside employment while on an approved leave or sabbatical is generally a violation of leave and sabbatical policies.

Yes. Self-employment activities can also result in conflicts of interest or conflicts of commitment and it is important to disclose and seek prior approval for such activities.

Yes, because the Board of Trustees' regulations on outside employment is much more comprehensive than the State of Illinois' statutes on outside consulting and research, and the same request form is used for OCR and OE to simplify the request process and ensure any conflicts of interest can be disclosed and resolved or managed before the activity can be approved.

Yes, but only if approval is granted to involve students or use university resources before the start date of the activity and there is legitimate benefit to NIU students and the university. Such involvement should be disclosed at the time of the request and be approved by your supervisor and others who may provide the necessary resources at NIU.

It should be noted first that a potential or perceived conflict of interest or conflict commitment may not always be a problem but what is important is proper disclosure, review and resolution or management of that conflict so that you and the university are protected. If you recognize a potential or a perceived conflict with your proposed outside consulting and research or outside employment activity in relations to OCR/OE policies, discuss it with your chair/director/unit head and develop a conflict resolution/management plan for the conflicts or exceptions that may be needed. The plan should be approved by your supervisor and must be attached to your OCR/OE request form and forwarded to the appropriate college dean or division vice president.

The general types of conflicts of interest include (but not limited to) the following:

• Financial conflict of interest: when an employee has a financial interest or a fiduciary role with the outside entity that may present a conflict of interest with the employee's university responsibilities. Such relationships may also include uncompensated activities.
• Conflict of commitment: when outside activities interfere and/or diminish adequacy of performance of the employee's responsibilities to his or her unit, students or the university. Too many off-load activities such as multiple OCR or OE activities along with overload teaching and project activities can also result in conflict of commitment.
• Conflict of opportunity: when an employee diverts for personal gain activities or projects to outside enterprises, which could have reasonably advanced the university's mission if those opportunities had come to the university.
• Conflict of rights: when an employee shares, transfers or uses university's intellectual property rights with outside enterprises when doing so could be detrimental to the university.
• Use of university facilities and resources: use of university's facilities and resources, not typically available to the general public, without prior approval for outside employment activities.
• Involvement of students and trainees: is not allowed in an employee's outside activities unless it can be demonstrated such participation affords a substantial educational benefit for the students and trainees, and potential conflicts are managed appropriately.
• Teaching/instructional conflict: when an employee is a paid instructor/developer for credit-bearing college/university course(s) at an institution other than the employee's university, thus aiding the competition and undermining NIU.