Office of Academic Affairs
Faculty Outside Professional Activities
Approved by Dean: 10/22/2001
Outside Professional Activities by School of Medicine Faculty Members
It is recognized that faculty members have multiple opportunities to engage in
professional activities outside of the University and/or outside their responsibilities
as faculty members. Some of these activities provide direct remuneration to the
faculty members. The current policy statement has been developed and promulgated to
provide guidance to faculty members and department chairs and other administrators
regarding faculty members’ rights, privileges, and responsibilities in these matters,
as well as to the rules and restrictions that apply to them.
In General:
- All outside activities must be in compliance with all other UNM, HSC, and SOM
policies, including but not limited to:
- the Individual Member Agreement (IMA) of the UPA;
- UNM Conflict of Interest Policies;
- Locum Tenens and Specialty Extension Services policies.
- Faculty members conducting outside professional activities while on private time
(section 2 below), while on annual leave (section 3 below), while on leave without pay
(section 4 below), or while on University time (section 6 below) must do so as
independent agents and not as representatives of the University of New Mexico.
- All leave - including annual leave, professional leave, and leave without pay - must
be pre-approved in writing by the Department Chair, the Chair’s designee, or the
appropriate Unit Director.
The UNM School of Medicine has adopted the following policy regarding Outside
Professional Activities (including “outside employment”):
- Departmental flexibility
- Chairs and Directors are responsible to administer this policy
- Chairs and Directors have discretion to establish specific procedures and reporting
requirements for their units that are consistent with this policy and that serve to produce
the greatest benefit to their units, to the Institution, and to the professional
career-development of the faculty members for whom they are responsible.
- Unit-specific policies require written approval of the Dean of the SOM.
- Activities conducted on a faculty member’s private time (“on your own time”):
- These activities may not be conducted during normal duty hours, as defined by the chair.
- These activities are conducted in lieu of private, family, recreational, activities – not in
lieu of other professional activities.
- These activities may not make use of University staff, buildings, facilities, equipment,
supplies, postage, telephones, computers, internet access, letterhead, etc. except as permitted
by UNM “incidental use” policies.
- Faculty: The SOM does not require individual faculty members to report to the Chair or Unit
Director the amounts of personal time specifically devoted to outside employment, the identities
of outside employers, or the payment amounts received while on personal time.
- Chair: Regarding the outside activities undertaken by the faculty members in their Units
while on their own time, the Dean does not require Chairs or Directors to report the amounts of
time specifically devoted to outside employment, the identities of their outside employers, or
the payment amounts received by their faculty.
- Faculty may need NM business license and may need to report and pay Gross Receipts Tax
- Activities conducted while on annual leave
- Annual leave for faculty members must have prior written approval of the Department Chair
or designated Unit Director.
- These activities may not make use of University staff, buildings, facilities, equipment,
supplies, postage, telephones, computers, internet access, letterhead, etc. except as permitted
by UNM “incidental use” policies.
- Faculty: The SOM does not require individual faculty members to report to the Chair or Unit
Director the amounts of annual leave time specifically devoted to outside employment, the
identities of outside employers, or the payment amounts received while on annual leave.
- Chair: Regarding the outside activities undertaken by the faculty members in their Units
while on annual leave, the Dean does not require Chairs or Directors to report the amounts of
time specifically devoted to outside employment, the identities of their outside employers, or
the payment amounts received by their faculty.
- Faculty may need NM business license and may need to report and pay Gross Receipts Tax
- Activities conducted while on Leave Without Pay
- Leave without pay for faculty members must have prior written approval by the Department
Chair, Dean of the SOM, VPHS, and UNM President, as delineated in the UNM Faculty Handbook.
- These activities may not make use of University staff, buildings, facilities, equipment,
supplies, postage, telephones, computers, internet access, letterhead, etc.
- Faculty: The SOM does not require individual faculty members to report to the Chair or Unit
Director the amounts of unpaid leave time specifically devoted to outside employment, the
identities of outside employers, or the payment amounts received while on unpaid leave.
- Chair: Regarding the outside activities undertaken by the faculty members in their Units
while on leave without pay, the Dean does not require Chairs or Directors to report the amounts
of time specifically devoted to outside employment, the identities of their outside employers,
or the payment amounts received by their faculty.
- Faculty may need NM business license and may need to report and pay Gross Receipts Tax
- Activities conducted while on Professional Leave
- Professional leave for faculty members must have prior written approval of the
Department Chair or Unit Director.
- Professional leave for department chairs must have prior approval of the Dean of
the SOM.
- The leave must be considered by the Chair (or Dean) to be beneficial to individual
professional development and institutional reputation and/or success.
- Faculty are required to obtain prior written approval for and to report all
professional leave time to the Chair or Unit Director.
- Chairs and Unit Directors are required to obtain prior approval for and to report
all of their professional leave time to the to Dean.
- Chair and Unit Directors are required to be prepared, upon request of the Dean, to
report all faculty professional leave time.
- Activities conducted while on University time (the “one day a week maximum”
described in the Faculty Handbook, 1990 Edition, Section B, Page B-25) are
governed by the Faculty Handbook. Pertinent components of this section of the Handbook
are restated below.
- Faculty members must inform the Chair or Unit Director – in writing – about the
nature and extent of any current or proposed outside professional commitments that are
conducted during normal duty hours. The Chair or Director may grant permission to
engage in such activities only if they are of an extent that does not interfere with
the discharge of the faculty member's full obligation to the University.
- These activities may not make use of University staff, buildings, facilities,
equipment, supplies, postage, telephones, computers, internet access, letterhead, etc.
Exceptions have to be pre-approved by the VP for Business and Finance and the President
of the University and may require reimbursement to the University.
- Faculty members are required to obtain prior approval for and to report to the Chair
or Director the nature and extent – including the time involved – of all outside
professional activities conducted while on University time.
- Chairs and Directors are required to report to the Dean the number of days of such
activity carried out by faculty members in their Units.
- The Dean is required to report to the VPHS the number of days of such activity
carried out by faculty members in the SOM.
- Faculty may need NM business license and may need to report and pay Gross Receipts Tax
