Conflicts of Commitment

Under the Conflict of Interest, Conflict of Commitment, and Outside Activities Policy (COI/COC Policy), employees generally may not engage in activities that constitute a conflict of commitment.

A conflict of commitment is defined as "a situation in which an employee accepts or incurs conflicting obligations between or among the University of Oregon and other entities that substantially interfere with the employee's duties to the University of Oregon, regardless of whether those outside activities are paid or unpaid."

All outside activities, regardless of whether they are performed for a for-profit entity or non-profit organization and regardless of whether the employee accepts compensation for those activities, are considered in determining whether a conflict of commitment exists. 

An employee may need to disclose an outside activity even if it does not present a conflict of commitment.

Learn More About Activities Requiring Disclosure and Approval

Regardless of whether an outside activity creates a conflict of commitment, employees may not:

  • Make private, commercial use without permission of UO supplies, facilities, equipment, employees, records, intellectual property, or any other UO resources​
  • Use intellectual property from the employee’s UO position in the outside activity without a license agreement
  • Use intellectual property from the employee’s outside activity in their UO position without a written agreement
  • Use non-public information accessed as a UO employee to obtain a private financial benefit​

For All Employees

For all employees, time commitments while employees are on approved leave and during university holidays are not considered conflicts of commitment under the COI/COC Policy.

For Hourly and Part-time Hourly Employees

For all hourly employees, outside activities that are performed outside of university employment are not considered conflicts of commitment under the COI/COC Policy.

For Full-time Employees

For full-time employees, time commitments that do not exceed one day in each seven-day week, generally averaged over a quarter are not considered conflicts of commitment under the COI/COC Policy.

For employees who are less than 1.0 FTE, the one-day-in-seven principle is prorated so they can spend more time in an outside activity. In these cases, the total commitment of the employee is no more than full-time plus one day in each seven-day week.

For Nine-month Faculty

For nine-month faculty, time commitments during breaks between terms or during the summer months for which there is no UO FTE are not considered conflicts of commitment under the COI/COC Policy.

When an employee has UO FTE during summer, the one-day-in-seven principle described above in "full-time employees" applies during the period of their appointment.

Commitments by faculty while on sabbatical, if they are included as part of a sabbatical plan approved by the Provost, are not considered conflicts of commitment under the COI/COC Policy.