External Professional Activities Guidance

October 22, 2026

Faculty members are encouraged to engage in professional activities outside the scope of their appointments, provided these activities are conducted in a manner consistent with obligations under the Faculty Handbook, University and sponsor policies, and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

All faculty members should review and ensure their ability to comply with the guidance contained in this document, which outlines provisions of the Faculty Handbook, key University policies, and applicable regulatory requirements. While this guidance document summarizes requirements related to external activities, the Faculty Handbook and other policies linked below remains the University’s definitive policy on these issues and should be consulted for more detail.

Questions or concerns related to this Guidance or to the terms of any external professional activity can be directed to external.activities@yale.edu  or https://provost.yale.edu/contact-us.

I. External Activities Requiring Approval

“External activities” include relationships, obligations, and roles a faculty member may wish to enter into with an entity other than Yale University. Such activities are encouraged, and there are a wide range of activities that are permissible under Yale policy and other requirements; however, there are certain types of external activities that require prior approval.

As stated in the Faculty Handbook, “[t]he overriding professional obligation of all full-time members of the University community is to Yale and to its mission of creating, disseminating, and preserving knowledge.”  Accordingly, faculty members are generally prohibited from simultaneously holding positions elsewhere. Any exceptions to this prohibition must be approved by the faculty member’s dean and the provost or provost designee.

Research. A faculty member may not apply for or serve as a principal investigator, co-investigator, or key personnel on projects, grants, or contracts that are held outside of Yale. Participation as an ‘Other Significant Contributor,’ consultant, or similar role may be allowed provided there is neither formal effort commitment nor remuneration. Exceptions are made rarely and only with the prior approval of the provost. See Faculty Handbook Section XXIIIE.3. Note: Subaward funding administered through Yale is permissible.

Teaching. The Faculty Handbook generally places strict limits on both the holding of teaching positions and engagement in teaching activities at outside institutions absent special permission from the provost. While certain limited activities (e.g. delivering an individual lecture at a conference) are permissible without prior approval, most outside teaching activities require such approval. See Faculty Handbook Sections III.E, XXIII.E.2.

Management of an Outside Entity. The Faculty Handbook limits the ability of faculty members to serve in a management role with an outside entity, generally requiring review and approval by the provost, relevant dean, and the Conflict of Interest Committee. See Faculty Handbook Section XXIII.E.5.

Membership on Boards of Directors. Faculty members serving on outside boards must ensure they disclose such service  in accordance with the Yale University Policy on Conflict of Interest. Additionally, as outlined in that policy, certain types of board positions also require prior provostial approval.

II. Critical Considerations

While engaging in external professional activities, even if approved, faculty members must maintain their overriding obligations to Yale and its mission and avoid any conflicts of interest or commitment that may interfere with those obligations and/or the faculty member’s eligibility to obtain or maintain federal, state, or other sponsored funding.

In order to do so, faculty members should ensure their external activities align with regulatory requirements as well as the University’s Policy on Conflict of Interest, including its appendices.  Faculty members who practice in Yale Medicine are subject to additional requirements under Appendix E, the Policy on Interactions between Clinical Personnel of Yale Medicine and Industry.

A few potential conflicts that faculty members should be particularly aware of merit mention here:

Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs. Faculty members who are “Covered Individuals” as that term is defined in the University’s Prohibition on Participation in Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs Policy, may not participate in any malign foreign talent recruitment program. Please refer to that policy for the definition of Covered Individual and for more details. If a faculty member is asked to agree to terms indicative of such a program, they should contact the Research Integrity and Security Office (RISO) (research.security@yale.edu) for an evaluation of the arrangement.

Conflict of Commitment. Each faculty member must ensure that external activities (even those that have been approved) do not require more than one day per seven-day week in any academic semester or in any summer month during which the faculty member is receiving compensation for full-time employment at the University. See Faculty Handbook XXIII.E.4.

Federal Commitment Overlap. All federal funding agencies prohibit overlap between sponsored projects and other funded activities. Faculty members should seek guidance from RISO to ensure that their external professional activities do not involve impermissible scientific, budgetary, or commitment (effort) overlap. Faculty members may not receive external funding that limits their capacity to carry out a research and development award or requires them to engage in work that would result in substantial overlap or duplication with a federal research and development award.

III. Critical Terms of an Agreement with an Outside Entity or Institution

Faculty members must ensure that any agreements with external entities do not include terms that are inconsistent with their obligations to Yale, the Faculty Handbook, any sponsor requirements, or the faculty member’s own understanding of the terms of engagement.

The Office of the Provost maintains and recommends use of the following addendum for ensuring alignment between agreements with external entities and Yale policy: Yale University Addendum to Faculty Consulting or Other External Activity Agreement. (Faculty members who practice in Yale Medicine should use this version, linked here, of the addendum.)  While Yale will not negotiate the terms of a faculty member’s individual agreement with an external entity, faculty members may consult with certain compliance offices (e.g., RISO, Yale Medicine Compliance, Yale Ventures) to ensure agreements are compliant with University obligations relevant to those offices.

No matter the form of the agreement, faculty members entering into an agreement with an outside entity should be aware of the following terms and considerations:

Termination of External Activity. Faculty members must have the unilateral right to terminate any external activity at their sole discretion.

Violation of award terms and conditions. Faculty members may not engage in external activities that are in violation of the terms and conditions of any research and development award.

Intellectual Property (IP). Pursuant to the University’s Patent Policy, faculty members may not enter into agreements that create conflict with the IP rights of the University or sponsors. Faculty members may not assign any invention to any external entity if it relates to activities for which the faculty member is employed by Yale and/or it was made or conceived under circumstances involving Yale facilities or personnel. Further, all Inventions (as defined in the Patent Policy) made by Yale faculty members in the course of external professional activity, and any request to assign rights to such inventions, must be reported promptly to Yale Ventures for review and ownership assessment. See Faculty Handbook Section XXIII.E.5.c. and Yale University Patent Policy.

Confidential Information. Any terms governing faculty members’ access to external entities’ confidential information should (1) not conflict with the University’s commitment to the free and open dissemination of academic information or the Faculty Handbook’s proscription on publication restrictions, (2) clearly identify the information and the period for which it is to remain confidential, and (3) not prohibit the sharing of such terms with appropriate University representatives or sponsors. Faculty members must also not agree to provide any information to an external entity that is confidential to Yale.

Omitting Acknowledgement. Faculty members may not agree to any term that would require them to omit acknowledgement of Yale or a federal research agency funding an award, contrary to Yale policies or standard terms and conditions of a federal research and development award.

Publications. It is essential to disclose all relevant information in publications to maintain research integrity. Faculty members may not agree to terms that would require them to publish a certain number of publications or name the external entity as the affiliated entity in those publications.

IV. Disclosure and Reporting Requirements

Faculty members engaging in external professional activities must comply with all applicable University and sponsor disclosure and reporting requirements.

Disclosure to Yale. Under Yale’s Conflict of Interest Policy, certain faculty members[1] are required to submit an annual external interest disclosure form describing their external professional activities and financial interests through the Research Enterprise Reporting portal, IRES. And whenever responsibilities change materially from those described in the annual disclosure, the disclosure should be resubmitted as soon as possible, but no later than 30 days after the individual’s knowledge of such events.

Disclosure to Sponsors. Faculty members must ensure they are complying with all disclosure requirements of sponsors. For some sponsors, this may require disclosure of all international travel, both business and personal, paid or unpaid. More information can be found at Current and Pending (Other) Support and Disclosure Requirements | Research Support.

V. Other Considerations

University Resources. Faculty members must refrain from using University facilities, supplies, equipment or other resources (including personnel) more than occasionally and incidentally in performing any external professional activities. See Faculty Handbook XXIII.E.3.(b).Leaves and Sabbaticals. Those who have questions regarding external activities permitted during leave or sabbatical should contact their school’s leadership for guidance.

Recommendation Letters. While faculty are encouraged to provide appropriate letters of recommendation for students, they may not receive additional compensation (monetary or otherwise) outside of their Yale salary for doing so. Receiving compensation in such circumstances is in direct conflict with the Faculty Handbook Section II.B and is prohibited.

Insurance. Yale makes no representations or warranties about the services provided by a faculty member engaging in external professional activities and will not provide insurance or indemnify the faculty member in connection with the external professional activities.

Yale Name and Affiliation. Except in rare circumstances and with prior written permission from the University’s Department of Marketing and Trademark Licensing, faculty members may not use the Yale name, logo, trademark, or service mark in connection with external activities. The only exception to this rule is that faculty members may use the Yale name to identify their title (e.g., “[Name], [Title], Yale University”). However, in doing so, faculty members are responsible for ensuring that use of the name does not in any way imply that Yale endorses the external activity, product, or service.

While this guidance is intended to be instructive for faculty members who engage in external professional activities, questions are welcome and can be directed to external.activities@yale.edu or https://provost.yale.edu/contact-us.