OUTSIDE PROFESSIONAL ACTVITIES

Who needs to complete the OPA process?

Administrative staff, Faculty, Other Academic staff, and Research Staff. Support and Service staff and individuals holding the title Research Affiliate, Staff Afiliate, or Affiliated Artist, do not need to complete OPA.

Will I get an email confirmation after I submit and certify my OPA report?

No, but you will get an action recognition message when you select “submit and certify”. Once you click submit, a new window pops up letting you know that it has been submitted.

How will I receive the link to complete the OPA?

Each department/school will send an email to let everyone know. The website is “http://opa.mit.edu”

Can someone complete the OPA on another’s behalf?

No. The system is certificate based. Everyone must complete their own report.

I have dual appointments. Who should I contact?

Please contact your primary appointment’s headquarters. Dual appointments are reported through your “primary” appointment but the secondary unit may request a copy of the report.

I've submitted my OPA report but realize that I need to make an edit. Is it too late?

Please check your department’s deadline. However, by selecting “Create/Edit My Current OPA Report” you can edit/resubmit your report up until the current OPA reporting cycle is closed in August.

Am I required to fill out an OPA report if my appointment is less than 50% or uncompensated?

Yes, you will need to complete an OPA report.

Am I required to fill out an OPA report if the duration of my appointment is for 6 months or less?

If the total length of your appointment is 6 months or less, and your appointment is non-recurring, you are not expected to report your OPA. However, if the length of your appointment is more than 6 months, you are required to report your OPA, even if the following circumstances apply:

1. You started working for MIT less than 6 months ago, but your appointment is longer than 6 months.
2. Your current appointment will expire in less than 6 months, but your appointment was for more than 6 months

Has any of the content of the OPA changed because the reporting is now online?

No, the information requested remains exactly the same as before.

I have no changes to my OPA report from last year. Will I need to re-enter everything?

No. By default the OPA system will bring in last year's report, if one exists.All you have to do is review and certify/submit.

If an Investigator doesn’t have anything identified in the Coeus COI module, what will be populated on the OPA form?

Nothing would forward from COI; the OPA form will be blank.

How/why are my COI entities imported to my OPA report?

Your COI entities are imported via an electronic feed from the COI module to OPA. This feed will eliminate the need to create the same entries in OPA. When first opening your OPA to report and if you have active SFIs, you will be prompted with the option to bring them into your current OPA report. There is also a button for “Sync COI Entities” available.

Will I be able to look at my OPA reports from previous years? How long are they saved?

Yes, they will be saved. However, paper forms, submitted prior to the online system (2013) will not be available online.

If I add a company to my OPA will it feed to the MY COI module?

Companies added to the OPA report will NOT feed to the MY COI module at this time.

As an investigator on a sponsored project I can see my active SFI’s have fed from MY COI to OPA but wonder if I still need to report on any deactivated SFI’s that were active within the last 12 months?

Yes, please add to your list any deactivated companies or entities with which you may have outside professional activities during the reporting period.

Will my Significant Financial Interests be brought forward into the OPA form?

If you have any Significant Financial Interests entered into MyCOI in Coeus Lite, the following information will be brought forward into your OPA form:

• Company/Entity Name
• Nature of Work/Relationship
• Compensated or Uncompensated

Can the reports be printed or forwarded via email?

Each individual will be able to print their report, or save the file to a PDF and forward it via email to anyone. Reviewers will also be able to print individual reports within their DLC/School (based upon their Roles authorizations).

How can I access the reports?

Reviewers will have access to “Administrator Actions” on the OPA landing page. This will give a reviewer the ability to:

• View individual OPA reports within their DLC(s) and/or School
• View summary reports
• View Delinquency reports

How can I access a specific individual’s report?

Under Administrator Actions:

1. Select User Reports
2. On the My Departments screen you may:
   1. Select the box next to the specific Department if you know which is appropriate and have access to more than one.
      1. Click View Submitted
      2. Click View on the individual’s line item in the next screen. Or…
   2. Click Select All departments and click View All if you do not know the department of the individual. In resultant screen names will be listed in Alphabetical order. Select the Active View button on each line item to bring up the report or click the radio button to the left of multiple names and at the bottom click Print Selected. Or…
   3. Use the Search button. A search screen will open. Complete known fields. User name should be entered as: Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial
      1. If full user name is not known, use wildcard * to search.

   Note: if none of these options work, search again using View Delinquent or View Exceptions

How can I access Archive reports?

Under Administrator Actions:

1. Select Archive of Reports
2. Select the reporting cycle you want to review and click Search
3. You are presented with the options on next screen to view either submitted or delinquent reports as well as any Exceptions for any single, combination or all of the departments you have authorizations to view.

How will I know if someone has edited a submitted report?

Reviewers will receive an email indicating that the particular report has been updated.

How can I tell who has or hasn't submitted their reports?

Under Administrator Actions:

1. Select User Reports
2. You may either:
   1. On the My Departments screen you are presented with the numbers of Submitted and Delinquent reports. Click on the number in either section and the list of reports will appear. Or…
   2. Select the box next to a specific Department to narrow search results if you have access to more than one. And further select View Delinquent or View Submitted. Or…
   3. Click on the number in the All Users column corresponding to any department listed. The next screen will display all users and in Category column will display Submitted, Delinquent or Exception.

How do I get access to view OPA reports?

The HR Primary Authorizer for each DLC/School can assign authorizations for OPA reviewers. OPA information is sensitive, only those people that need to review and provide summary reports will be given access to the system.

Under what circumstances should I grant an exception?

There are several appropriate circumstances when granting an exception is appropriate, including the following:

• Individual is no longer employed at MIT;
• Individual was employed for 6 months or less;
• Individual had no responsibilities at MIT during the reporting period.
• Individual reported OPA via paper form.
• Special Department Head Approved Exception.
Exceptions beyond for other reasons must be documented in your department’s report with a clear explanation of the circumstances for granting an exception. If you are unclear on the appropriateness of granting an exception, please contact your Dean’s Office. Generally, you should avoid granting exceptions.

Does it matter how much the employee is earning for consulting?

No, faculty and staff are asked to disclose both compensated and uncompensated outside professional activities. However, please note that the faculty and staff are not asked to disclose the amount of compensation that they receive.

I am new to this process. How can I learn more?

You can learn more in the MIT Policies and Procedures manual here or at the Vice-President for Research website here. You can also reach out to your dean’s office. Finally, MIT holds two training sessions on the OPA process shortly after the process begins.

FAQs for Submitters

I am unclear on what needs to be reported, could you clarify the types of activities that should be reported as well as the type of activities that do not need to be reported?

For the purposes the outside professional activities (OPA) reporting process, you should only include activities that are directly related to your duties at MIT for another entity that requires you to balance the needs of the Institute’s against the needs of another person or entity that could influence decisions you make on behalf of MIT. Examples of a conflict of interest could be serving as a consultant to another university in the area of your work at MIT. In contrast, conflicts of commitment related to outside work that may use skills used in your position MIT but that do not presents a conflict of interest should be managed directly with your supervisor. Examples of a conflict of commitment could be a part-time accounting business, coaching k-12 sports, or serving on your condo board or school committee.

What types of international activities should I report through MIT’s outside professional activity (OPA) process?

All activities (compensated or uncompensated) whether performed in person or remotely, that take place for, with, or under the sponsorship of, a non-U.S. entity of any type (university, company, government or other agency), should be reported as OPA. This includes subsidiaries or branches of a non-U.S. entity that may physically be located in the U.S. For clarity, if you are consulting for a company located in the U.S. but its parent company is based in a foreign country, you should disclose the name of the ‘local’ company for which you are consulting and indicate “Outside the U.S.” and choose the country of the parent company from the drop-down menu.

What is the difference between a conflict of interest and a conflict of commitment?

While conflicts of commitment deal with the allocation of time and effort between the individual's primary employment and their external activities, conflicts of interest are situations where an individual's personal, professional, or financial interests have the potential to impact the performance of their job duties.

In addition to my regular job at MIT, I lecture at another institution during a 14 week semester. The lectures occur one day per week for one-hour. How many days of activity should I report?

For each hour that you teach, you should add an additional 1-2 hours for preparing your course materials, interacting with students, and other miscellaneous activities.

I am a research administrator with a custom cake baking business. Should I report my activity as a baker as consulting?

No, this is not a professional activity that relates to your responsibilities at MIT.

I am not sure that my outside activities meet the criteria for consulting. Whom should I contact?

Your departmental OPA administrator, usually your administrative officer or human resources professional. Your supervisor can also help you identify the correct individual to contact.

Does my position carry consulting privileges?

Typically consulting privileges are normally afforded to faculty, senior research scientists, principal research scientists, and senior lecturers. Other categories of staff would need to explore the possibility of consulting privileges with their unit head prior to participating in outside professional activities. For those whose positions do not provide consulting privileges as a matter of course, exceptions to the policy are handled on a case-by-case basis between the employee, their supervisor, and the department head or director of their unit. You can learn more by referring to the MIT policies and procedures manual here under your category.

In addition to my regular job at MIT, I lecture in courses offered by Sloan’s Executive Education program. Is this considered consulting for purposes of OPA reporting?

Yes, this activity is considered consulting and should be reported on your OPA form.

How do I calculate the number of days that I consulted for activities that required only a few hours of work over several months?

Salaried staff members by virtue of their exemption from overtime payments, do not have a set number of hours they must work weekly, most people have a typical work week. For some it is as low as 35 hours for others it could be well over 50 hours. To calculate the number of days of outside activity to report, the employee should add up the number of hours and divide the total by their “normal” number of hours worked per day. Please note that for teaching, the number of hours should include some course preparation, typically calculated at 2 hours of preparation for each hour of class contact time. Of course, the first time a course is offered, the number of hours required to create the course content will be much higher while subsequent offerings of the same course may require less effort.

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Help Resources and Contacts
Instructional Quick Cards:

Faculty OPA Input Instruction Guide [PDF]

Staff OPA Input Instruction Guide [PDF]

OPA Reviewer Guide – Administrator Reports [PDF]

OPA Cognos Report Review Guide [PDF]

For questions regarding Outside Professional Interests Policy, such as:
• Committed time that needs to be disclosed
• Traveling without access to the online OPA form
• Any other policy related inquiries
Please contact your department headquarters.
For questions regarding Authorization or Roles Access, such as:
• I cannot view this DLC
• I cannot view this individual
Please contact business-help@mit.edu
For questions regarding Technical Issues with the Form, such as:
• Unable to access link
• Online form issues
• Any other technical or system related issues
Please contact opa-tech-help@mit.edu
For questions regarding summary reports in Cognos, please contact helpdesk-business@mit.edu

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