Outside Activities Disclosure Obligations (Fall Reminder)

October 18, 2024

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow,
While my outside activities I disclow
Z.
(With apologies to Robert Frost.)

All University employees (including regular, term, temporary, student and full and part-
time faculty and staff) are responsible for complying with the Alaska Executive Branch
Ethics Act (Alaska Statute 39.52). 

The Act sets standards for how we do our University jobs, and to a lesser extent, may
limit our non-University activities.  For example, the Act regulates: benefitting our own
personal or financial interests through official action; misuse of official position;
solicitation or receipt of gifts; improper influence in university grants, contracts, leases or
loans; improper representation; outside activities; and restrictions on employment after
leaving the University. See the “Quick reference” here or the web site listed below for
more information.

As part of this ethical obligation, we must disclose any work we perform outside of our
University employment, including any self-employment, independent contracting, or
consulting. All compensated outside activities are to be disclosed, and even volunteer
outside work, if we get reimbursed for anything connected to that volunteer work (travel,
meals, etc.), or if we are an officer or director with a non-profit, or if the volunteer work
might involve the same issues or people as our University duties, or interfere with our
University responsibilities.

Outside activity is to be disclosed within 30 days of starting (or resuming) University
employment. Thereafter, any additional outside employment is to be reported prior to
beginning that non-UA employment (bearing in mind that if your UA supervisor finds that
an adverse effect from your outside employment is possible, you may not start that
outside employment unless and until your supervisor or the designated ethics
supervisor gives approval). Updated outside employment forms are required as
significant changes in that outside employment occur. 

Outside employment is also to be reported every July 1, even if a form was previously
submitted. The supervisor makes an initial determination about possible adverse effect
on employment and forwards the form to the designated UAA, UAF, UAS, or SW ethics
representative for review. The disclosure form is available here.

The July 1 date is statutory and not particularly well-suited to an academic work cycle,
so although we do try to send out reminder notices in June, we also try to send a
reminder when it’s more likely to reach more UA employees. If you’re reading this, then
it worked.

Remember that there are different forms for making other disclosures. For example,
there is a separate form for disclosing employee and employee family member interests
in contracts with the University; these must be disclosed and pre-approved using the
“Interest in Contracts, Grants, Leases, or Loans” form. This and other disclosure forms
(Notification of Receipt of Gift in Excess of $150, Disclosure of Employment of
Immediate Family Members, etc.) are available on the ethics website through the same
link.

There are also FAQs on outside activity and other ethics act reference materials on the
website.  Additional information regarding the Ethics Act can be found at
http://www.law.state.ak.us/doclibrary/ethics.html.

You may be required to submit other more specialized disclosures if you engage in
sponsored research. Please contact your research compliance officer for further
information.

Thank you for your cooperation. Feel free to contact me, or your even friendlier
individual University ethics designees, if you have questions. Thank you
for your attention to this obligation, even though I know you all have miles to go before
you sleep.

-Andy Harrington, UA Designated Ethics Supervisor