1.7 Scholarly Activities Compensation and Reimbursement Policy

Policy Statement

Faculty who participate in scholarly activities may be eligible for reimbursement of expenses and/or compensation from an outside source depending on several criteria.

Reason for Policy

To ensure that payments or reimbursements to faculty members comply with all applicable laws, system and university policies and procedures, and other applicable regulations.

Applicability of the Policy

This policy applies to all units with faculty.

Procedure

The University of Illinois System reimburses employees for expenses incurred that are part of their university responsibilities. In some cases, the university may reimburse expenses incurred for scholarly activities related to a faculty member’s university responsibilities. The university does not reimburse expenses incurred that are not related to university activities or responsibilities.

Depending on the facts and circumstances, a faculty member may receive compensation from an outside entity for scholarly activities related to their university responsibilities, such as writing a book and receiving royalties, or receiving compensation for an artistic performance related to their area of expertise. Several factors must be considered to determine whether the faculty member may be reimbursed for expenses related to such activities, and whether the compensation from an outside entity needs to be submitted to the university. Several questions must be answered to determine eligibility, including, but not limited to:

• Is the activity a scholarly activity related to the faculty member’s area of expertise? A scholarly activity includes formal, high-quality research or creative work performed by a faculty member that contributes to a field of study or to the university’s public engagement mission.
• Is there a clear benefit to the department, university, and/or system, such as enhancing the portfolio, reputation, or visibility of the university or a faculty member in their field of study? Does the activity contribute to the faculty member’s promotion and tenure portfolio?
• Was the work completed in full or in part during university time? Does it relate to research or scholarly activity conducted during university time?
• Did the faculty member discuss the activity with their unit executive officer/unit head/dean prior to engaging in it, including the compensation terms? Did the faculty member receive advance approval for engaging in the activity?
• Did the faculty member report the activity in the annual Report of Non-University Activities (RNUA)?
• Is the faculty member a foreign national or on a visa? If so, please reach out to the appropriate university international services office to discuss reimbursement eligibility.

When scholarly activities comply with system and university policies and state legislation, it is at the unit executive officer/unit head/dean’s discretion to determine whether the unit will reimburse the related expenses. Expenses related to scholarly activities may be reimbursable if those activities fulfill the system’s and university’s missions and represent a bona fide business purpose. Reimbursement requests are routed through the standard University Payables reimbursement and payment process. For more on this, see Business & Finance Policy 8.2.1 Request Reimbursement for Domestic or International Employee Travel and Per Diem. Expenses may be reimbursed with funds from the unit, from the faculty member’s research funds, or from another source at the discretion of the unit executive officer/unit head/dean.

Depending on the facts and circumstances, faculty members may be eligible to receive compensation for services performed or accept an honorarium for scholarly activities from an outside entity unless otherwise restricted by the Illinois State Officials and Employees Ethics Act (Ethics Act) and the University of Illinois System Policy on Outside Activities and Conflicts of Commitment and Interest. The Ethics Act prohibits a system or university employee from accepting an honorarium from a prohibited source for a speaking engagement related to or attributable to university employment or the employee’s university position. Questions related to accepting an honorarium should be directed to the University Ethics and Compliance Office.

If a faculty member engages in scholarly activities while fulfilling their university duties and the outside entity compensates the faculty member for travel expenses, the reimbursement should be made payable to the university, or if the university has already reimbursed or will reimburse the faculty member for expenses incurred, the reimbursement should be remitted to the university. See below for examples to which this policy might apply. (Note: these examples are illustrative and not meant to be comprehensive. Each situation would need to be evaluated on an individual basis.)

• A faculty member in Fine & Applied Arts received very limited compensation for a performance that included extensive daily rehearsals over the course of two months in another location over the summer break. The performance was related to the faculty member’s scholarship and would contribute to the stature of the unit. The unit may elect to reimburse the faculty member for the travel expenses while participating in the scholarly activity.
• A faculty member in Liberal Arts & Sciences is writing a book in the faculty member’s area of scholarship which will contribute to the faculty member’s tenure portfolio. The faculty member traveled during the summer and/or over the course of several weekends to perform research or to visit archives as part of the scholarly work for the book. The unit may elect to reimburse the faculty member for the travel expenses while conducting research for the book, even though the faculty member will likely receive royalties once the book has been published.

Business Purpose

Questions for units to consider when determining if a university benefit exists and to use as documentation in the expense reimbursement request:

• Does this activity contribute to and/or enhance the faculty member’s promotion and tenure portfolio? If so, briefly describe how it enhances the portfolio and how that impacts the department, university, and/or system.
• Does this activity enhance the recognition of the faculty member in their field? Does the recognition enhance the reputation of the department, university, and/or system? If so, briefly describe how it impacts the department, university, and/or system reputation.
• Does this activity contribute to the faculty member’s knowledge or expertise in a way that will impact their teaching? If so, briefly describe how students will be impacted.

Other Relevant Questions/Information

• Did the faculty member participate in the activity while fulfilling their university responsibilities or while working in scholarly areas that support the system’s and/or university’s mission?
• Is the activity part of the faculty member’s stated university responsibilities? If so, any compensation or reimbursement from an external organization must be given to the university and expenses will be reimbursed. If not, the situation needs to be examined on a case-by-case basis. If the activity is not part of their university responsibilities, they must report the activity in the annual RNUA process.
• Is the faculty member receiving an honorarium? If so, is it a traditional honorarium or is it payment for services rendered?