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External Employment Guidelines for Tenured Faculty

External Employment Guidelines for Tenured Faculty

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The University offers tenured faculty three ways to concurrently hold their academic appointment while engaging in collaboration with other institutions, companies, and industries. Such arrangements are intended to complement, not replace, existing gift- and grant-funded research partnerships between faculty and external partners. These three ways are described below.

Academic Leave Without Pay (LWOP)

Also known as Professional Leave of Absence. A temporary leave taken to perform academic activities for an external organization, for which compensation is NOT administered through UT. See External Appointments Guidelines (pdf) > Section B. For process guidance, see COE: Leave of Absence (Unpaid Time Off) > Professional Leave of Absence.

Consulting

Per HOP 2-2220: Faculty Consulting and Other Professional Activities, Including Outside Employment, any faculty member is eligible to request approval for consulting concurrently with their University appointment as long as the work does not exceed 20% of their full-time obligation in the fall and spring terms. See External Appointments Guidelines (pdf) > Section D.

See HOP 5-2011: Conflict of Interest, Conflict of Commitment, and Outside Activities and Procedures - Faculty Disclosures of Outside Activities (pdf) for information on how to request approval for outside professional activities including consulting. The Office of Research Support and Compliance (ORSC) serves as the central administrative review office for outside professional activity requests for faculty and PI-eligible staff.

External Appointment

An External Appointment is a structured arrangement allowing tenured faculty to request to dedicate a portion of their time to external professional activities while maintaining a proportionate tenured University faculty appointment. The faculty member’s duties and responsibilities during the appointment are formally defined and documented. University External Appointments Guidelines took effect in May 2025 for External Appointments beginning in Academic Year 2025-26.

For information including eligibility, term limitations, and more, see External Appointments Guidelines > Section C, External Appointments for Tenured Faculty.

Note that per UT System: Rule 31007: Tenure > Section 7, a tenured UT Austin faculty member may not hold a concurrent tenured position at another institution without the written permission of the appropriate Executive Vice Chancellor.

How to request an external appointment

  1. Follow guidance at External Appointments Guidelines (pdf) > Section C.7 External Appointment Request Process. Guidance includes the completion of the following documents:

Document

Link

Notes

Document

Link

Notes

UTRMS-COI Outside Activities Pre-Approval Request

PDF proof of submission must be uploaded to the Provost’s request form (see step 3 of these instructions)

(If applicable) Research Portfolio and Outside Activity Information Form

Submit if faculty member has research activities managed by any of the following:

  • Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP)

  • Discovery to Impact Office (industry-sponsored research)

  • Office of Research Support and Compliance (ORSC)

If applicable, PDF proof of submission must be uploaded to the Provost’s request form

Mentoring Plan

External Appointments Mentoring Plan Checklist

  • Per the Guidelines, C.12.c, “the Mentoring Plan must specify requirements and expectations for student and postdoctoral scholar advising and mentoring during the External Appointment.”

  • Must be signed by faculty member, department chair, the Dean/Senior Associate Dean, and any current students or postdocs the faculty member is advising

Draft of MOU, based on External Appointments MOU template

External Appointments MOU Template

Addressed from department chair. (MOU will be finalized after approval of the external employment request by EVPP)

  1. AM and faculty member review all fields at FA/APS ServiceNow: External Appointment for Tenured Faculty request form and collect required information and materials. See step 5 at External Appointments Guidelines > section C.7 for additional details.

  2. Submit online External Appointment for Tenured Faculty request form. In the last section of the form, “Required Approval Routing,” add all of the following EIDs:

    1. Faculty Member

    2. Chair or Chair Delegate

    3. Dean’s Staff: steffek (Karla Steffen)

    4. Dean or Dean Designate: malochb (Beth Maloch)

  3. If the request is approved by EVPP, finalize the MOU, obtain all needed signatures, and email a copy to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu. The department should also maintain a copy for their records.

Please send suggested additions to this page and notifications about broken links to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.

 

 

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