Of all the acronym-systems at UC Davis, few baffle like the Outside Activities Tracking System (OATS) This page is your local guide to OATS: what it is, when you need to do things, and where to click when you’re ready.
By "front door", we hope to acknowledge that there are quite a few resources online for OATS – however, it can be hard to determine what applies to you, and indeed what even applies to UC Davis. We'd like to get you started and point you in the right direction, while avoiding jargon.
What is OATS?
UC OATS is the web tool UC uses to track outside professional activities so we can manage conflicts of commitment and report time/effort accurately. If an activity draws on your professional expertise and benefits an entity outside UC, OATS is where it belongs.
What is an Outside Activity?
Let's pause and clarify: outside activities are any professional work you do for a non-UC entity that relies on your the training and expertise which underpins your UC appointment. Think consulting, serving on a board or advisory panel, expert-witness work, or teaching a short course for another organization.
Three Activity Categories
OATS references three categories of outside activities, drawing from APM-025.
- Category I — higher‑risk for conflicts and requires prior approval before you start. For example:
- Teaching/research at a non-UC institution or agency.
- Employment, paid or unpaid, outside the UC.
- Founding a company or taking on executive/managerial roles.
- Category II — lower‑risk, no prior approval, but must be reported and included in Annual Certification. For example:
- Consulting or expert-witness testimony.
- Serving on a board of directors outside the UC.
- Presenting a paid workshop for industry.
- Category III — activities within the scope of meritorious UC service/scholarship; do not report. For example:
- Serving on professional panels or committees.
- Manuscript reviews and/or editorial work.
- Presenting at conferences/colloquia.
If something plausibly fits more than one category, the general guidance is to use the more stringent one. When in doubt, it's okay to ask! Your Chair and/or Will Arcement-Angel are great first points of contact, and can help escalate your questions.
Category I, in Plain English
As noted above, Category I activities tend to be outside activities which require significant effort, and have more of a risk for what the UC calls "conflicts of commitment". They require prior approval before you start, plus Annual Certification later.
What to Prepare for Your Category I Request
- Clear description of what you’ll do, start/end dates, and estimated hours (or days)
- Intellectual property questions answered in OATS
- Student involvement details (if any)
- Attachment(s): UC Davis requires an Additional Information Requirements form be completed with each Category I request and uploaded to the request as a Note. You'll need to review the form and consult with the other offices noted in the form if they are applicable to your work.
When Do I Need to Do Things?
Think of OATS in three beats: Before • During • After
Before You Start an Outside Activity
- Category I requires prior approval. Submit the Category I form at least 6 weeks before the activity begins.
- Choose the correct fiscal year (based on the activity’s start date) when you enter it.
- Student involvement? If you plan to involve students for whom you have (or expect to have) instructional/evaluative/supervisory responsibility, obtain chair approval and complete the Student Involvement form.
Forms you may use for a Category I request:
- Complete Category I form (in OATS)
- Student Involvement form (in OATS)
- Request to Exceed Time Threshold (only if you anticipate exceeding limits)
- Category I Additional Information Requirements (separate PDF)
During the Academic Year
- Enter new activities as they arise instead of waiting for Annual Certification.
- Report time/effort and upload notes/attachments in OATS as you go.
After the Academic Year
- Everyone submits an Annual Certification, even if you had no outside activities. There’s a short “no activities” path. Annual Certification covers the previous fiscal year (July 1–June 30), so you can follow the prompts in OATS after making sure you have the correct year selected.
Heads‑up for 2025–26: Evenings/weekends count toward time limits when reporting effort.
Annual Certification, Step By Step
- Make sure your activities are entered (Category I + II).
- Report effort for each activity for the prior fiscal year (AY folks: don’t forget summer salary nuances).
- Complete and submit your Annual Certification in OATS: there’s a path with activities and a path for no activities.
- Done—and easier next year if you add as you go.
Helpful pages:
- Annual Certification overview & checklists: https://academicaffairs.ucdavis.edu/annual-certification
- AY path (no outside activities): https://info.ucoats.org/pages/training-faculty-025
Time Limits (APM‑025, AY)
AY faculty can spend up to 39 days per academic year on Categories I & II combined (often tracked as 312 hours). If you anticipate exceeding limits, consult your Chair and submit a Request to Exceed Time Threshold in OATS.
If you receive summer UC salary, you’re limited to about one day/week of outside activity during that compensated period (separate from the 39‑day AY cap).
Common “Gotchas”
- Submitting a Category I request after the start date—this slows approval (and you’ll be asked the “permission” question). Submit six or more weeks early, wherever possible.
- Entering the wrong year for an activity’s start date. Worth a double-check!
- Missing the Additional Information Requirements attachment(s) for Category I. Forms without them get returned by our colleagues at the Dean's Office.
- Forgetting to report time/effort—especially for small, sporadic engagements—then scrambling at Annual Certification.
This page is an informal guide for Blue Cluster faculty. For definitive policy, see the Academic Personnel Manual (APM) and campus guidance linked above.