Thursday, June 4, 1998
UC scrutinizes relationship of faculty, industry
FACULTY: Professors must notify university of off-campus job
involvement, task force reports
By Brian Fishman
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UC is trying to pull moonlighting professors back to the
classroom.
A statewide task force appointed by UC President Richard
Atkinson has made recommendations that will govern professors’
ability to work for private companies.
The task force advocated a single policy governing all faculty
relationships with private industry. To do this, written statements
of intent from faculty members could be required before faculty
members engage private companies, it recommended.
The task force compared UC policies with other large research
institutions like Harvard and Stanford and found that UC policies
are incomplete and unclear.
"It was an examination to find out if we were covered," said
John Edmond, head of the task force.
Edmond pointed to Harvard’s system in which professors must
report all expected interaction with private industry and estimate
how much of their time that relationship will take.
The members of the task force liked this up-front approach.
"When everything’s on the table, you can’t get into trouble,"
Edmond said.
Such a policy could be considered harsh by some faculty members,
but John Rosenfeld, chair of the Faculty Welfare Committee,
supported the new measures.
"Any financial deal during school should be declared," Rosenfeld
said.
Administrators are fearful, says Edmond, that professors may be
employed by companies whose interests conflict with the University.
Edmond wondered where professors’ loyalties will lie if they are
employed by an off-campus business.
"Can you start a business that can be in direct legal conflict
with the university?" Edmond asked rhetorically.
"You shouldn’t put professors in a position where they feel
pressured," he continued.
Another impetus for the task force may have been political.
"There was political pressure on administrators because faculty
were making money. Some faculty won’t give royalties to the
university," Edmond said.
But administrators claim that the task force is merely a result
of a changing academic system.
"Any time you have a change in environment, you have to assess
where you are," said Terry Lightfoot, a UC representative.
In many areas, especially in South Campus, professors are hired
as consultants to businesses. According to current UC policy,
professors may spend 39 days a school year doing such
activities.
But mistakes have been made even with this seemingly distinct
policy.
"A lot of consulting is thinking – how do you account for that?"
questioned Edmond.
Some faculty members are not sure how to interpret 39
"days."
"Does this mean 39 eight-hour work days, or 39 days, period?" he
asked.
He emphasized, however, that when correctly regulated, private
industry can enhance the university by bringing money and
techniques utilized in the private sector to students.
"We are supposed to be an extroverted faculty. But how to do
this is more difficult. You’ve got to know where the boundaries
are," Edmond said.
Faculty who work off-campus may face other pressures besides
university policy.
"These high profile off-campus types are highly resented by
their peers," Rosenfeld asserted.
If professors are off-campus much of the time, it is difficult
for departments to plan academically.
"Obviously, if you are off-campus, someone else is covering for
you – that doesn’t always fly," Edmond said.