Resources for OATS Users, Reviewers, and Approvers

Annual Certification of Outside Professional Activities in OATS

Academic appointees who were subject to the prior approval, disclosure, and annual reporting requirements of APM 025 Conflict of Commitment and Outside Activities of Faculty Members and Designated Other Academic Appointees* during fiscal year 2024 are required to certify and submit their 2023-24 Annual APM 025 Report in OATS by September 30, 2024. The reporting period is July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024.
* Includes senate faculty members, adjunct professors with appointments greater than 50%, deans and full-time faculty administrators. Deans and full-time faculty administrators are subject to additional reporting requirements under APM 240-Deans and APM 246-Faculty Administrators (100% Time).

Additional Resources: Additional information about Annual Certification is provided in the 2023-24 Annual Reporting of Outside Professional Activities camps memo. To review the recent most recent policy guidance, please refer to the Summer 2024 Policy Reminders for Outside Professional Activities memo.

Summer Salary and Summer Time Reporting: If you have questions about University summer compensation/salary, refer to the Summer Salary FAQ below.

Reporting Effort on a Category I Activity: Faculty who have an approved APM 025 Category I activity in their 2023-24 activity list should refer to the VPAA's approval letter for any specific reporting conditions. Access your approval letter from the "NOTES" tab on the Category I form in the fiscal year that you obtained approval. 

Leave without salary: Faculty subject to APM 025 reporting are required to obtain prior approval for an APM 025 Category I activity and report all Category I and II activities on their Annual Report. However, faculty are not required to record time engaged in these activities during periods of leave without salary. Faculty should enter a note on their Annual Report to document the period of leave without salary. annual-cert-note

How to Certify and Submit Your Annual Report
Academic-Year Faculty:
Faculty with No Outside Activities
Faculty with Outside Activities
Department Chairs - Switch to Faculty Workspace, then refer to the appropriate article above.
How to Review and Sign Annual Reports

Summer Salary FAQ

What is University Summer Compensation?
When a faculty member receives University/UCSC compensation during summer, regardless of fund source, they are receiving summer compensation.
• Commonly known as summer salary, this compensation counts towards an academic-year faculty member's 3/9ths summer salary limit.
• Examples of summer salary include summer research salary and salary for summer session teaching.

How does summer compensation interact with APM 025 and my Annual Report?
Academic-year faculty are not subject to APM 025 time limits during the summer period unless they are receiving summer salary while engaging in a Category I (e.g., outside employment, outside teaching) or Catefory II (e.g., professional consulting) activity.
• As a general rule, University/UCSC summer compensation is provided for activities that are within the "normal course and scope" of a faculty member's University employment. The University summer activity is not an "outside professional activity" (i.e., is not a Category I or II activity). However, if a faculty member engages in a Category I or II activity while receiving summer salary, then APM 025 summer time limits are applied to the outside professional activity.
• When an academic-year faculty member receives additional University summer compensation, the limit on Category I and II activities is the equivalent of eight hours per week during the period in which such compensation is received.

When completing the APM 025 Annual Report in OATS, the system presents questions to help faculty determine if they need to "enter my summer info."

Additional Resouces for Summer Salary

General Instructions and Resources

Category I Requests

Faculty who are interested in engaging in a Category I activity should submit their request in OATS at least four weeks prior to any anticipated start date. However, Category I requests that have an associated leave request should be submitted eight to twelve weeks in advance. Departments and divisions are expected to complete their review in OATS in a timely manner in order to provide sufficient time for central review and decision.

Using OATS

The following and additional training resources are available at the UC OATS General Campus Faculty webpage. These resources are relevant to faculty, deans, and full-time faculty administrators who are subject to APM 025:

APM 025 Reviewers
Department and divisional reviewers can access workspace overviews and training resources for reviewing forms and Annual Certification Reports at the UC OATS General Campus Reviewer (APM 025) webpage. 

APM 025 Approvers
Department, divisional and central campus approvers can access workspace overviews and training resources for reviewing forms and Annual Certification Reports at the UC OATS General Campus Approver (APM 025) webpage.