FY20 OATS Annual Certification notification
SUMMARY:
- Last year, UCSF implemented a new on-line portal for tracking outside professional activities (“OATS” – Outside Activity Tracking System). UCSF was able to achieve 100% compliance of outside professional activities reporting for all active Health Sciences Compensation Plan faculty.
- The 2019-20 annual certifications will be completed in OATS. All certifications must be completed no later than September 30, 2020.
- On July 6, 2020, you will receive a system-generated notification from [email protected] to complete your annual certification. Subsequent reminders will be sent periodically from OATS to faculty who have not yet completed their certifications.
- User guides, training videos and other resources for OATS are available (click here).
- Please note that OATS is specific to the University of California Conflict of Commitment (COC) Policies (APM 671 and APM 025). Disclosures for Conflict of Interest (COI) are submitted via a separate process (click here).
Dear Colleagues:
As required by policy, faculty must provide an annual report of outside professional activities to their Department Chairs each year, even if the faculty member did not engage in outside professional activities during the year. Faculty must report annually all Category I and II outside professional activities that were conducted during the prior 12 months, including activities conducted during normal service periods and during periods of leave.
Last spring, UCSF implemented a new online portal for tracking outside professional activities (”OATS” – Outside Activity Tracking System), which helped our campus achieve 100% compliance of the Health Sciences Compensation Plan’s annual reporting requirement. This means that all active HSCP faculty completed their annual certification for the 2018-2019 fiscal year.
The 2019-20 annual certification process will once again be completed in OATS. All certifications must be completed no later than September 30, 2020.
On July 6, 2020, you will receive a system-generated email notification from [email protected] to complete your annual certification. Subsequent reminders will be sent periodically from OATS to faculty who have not yet completed their certification.
HOW TO ACCESS OATS:
OATS is available via MyAccess. A user guide for accessing OATS is available here.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:
Between July 6, 2020 and September 30, 2020, you must log into OATS to complete your 2019-20 annual certification for Outside Professional Activities.
| If you… | Then... |
|---|---|
| Did not engage in Outside Professional Activities in 2019-20 |
Even if you did not engage in outside professional activities during the year, you must submit an annual certification in OATS. A user guide for the Annual Certification process that is specific to faculty who have not engaged in Outside Professional Activities is available here. |
| Engaged in Outside Professional Activities in 2019-20 that did not require prior approval, e.g. Category 2 or 3 activities* |
You must enter your outside professional activities into OATS before you can complete the 2019-20 Annual Certification Process. A user guide for the Annual Certification process that is specific to faculty who have engaged in Outside Professional Activities that did not require prior approval is available here. |
| Engaged in Outside Professional Activities in 2019-20 that required prior approval, e.g. Category 1 activities* |
If you have not yet received approval for a Cat 1 activity in which you have engaged, you must first request and receive approval for that activity (in OATS) before you can complete the certification process. A user guide for the Annual Certification process that is specific to faculty who have engaged in Category 1 activities is available here. |
*Not sure whether your activity requires pre-approval? You can log into OATS and the system will determine the category type and guide you through the appropriate disclosure process. Alternatively, you can review the Policy Primer (see link below). OATS will also cumulatively keep track of your outside activities so that you have a running total of time spent and earnings received.
WHERE TO FIND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
The OATS page on the Academic Affairs website has been updated with a number of resources to assist you with the new system. Additional resources are available on the UC OATS website.
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Tutorials | Short video series to get started with OATS |
| User Guides | Provides information on all current system functionality available in UC OATS. Note: some features in these system-wide guides may not be in use at UCSF. |
| Policy Primer (APM 671) | Slide deck of the Outside Professional Activities if you would like additional policy information. |
WHERE TO DIRECT QUESTIONS:
Policy questions should be directed to your Department Manager or to one of the following contacts in your School’s Dean’s office:
| School | Contact |
|---|---|
| Dentistry | Phillip Babcock, Maria Rina-Simon |
| Medicine | Amy Friedli |
| Nursing | Diana Koeplin |
| Pharmacy | Phillip Babcock, Diana Koeplin |
Technical questions about OATS, e.g. difficulty logging in, record not found, etc., should be directed to the OATS Project Team at [email protected]. This mailbox will be monitored frequently.
I invite your feedback and comments at [email protected] and appreciate your compliance with these important University requirements.
Best regards,
Brian K. Alldredge, PharmD
Vice Provost, Academic Affairs