Faculty Working Outside Illinois (AY2025-26)

Overview

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is home to a rich and vibrant intellectual community. Our faculty rank among the most innovative and engaged scholars in the world. Their physical presence in Urbana-Champaign and active involvement on our residential campus foster a culture of innovation, discovery, research, and education — often amplifying the university’s impact in unexpected and meaningful ways. At the same time, the university has always had and continues to have a global reach. As we consider expanding educational programs beyond the environs of the Urbana-Champaign campus and online educational programs continue to grow, the possibility of working outside of the state of Illinois affords a potential advantage in recruiting, retaining, and training faculty. The guidelines and considerations below will guide units and colleges in entering into work outside of Illinois agreements with their faculty.

Guidelines

For purposes of this policy document, faculty are considered to be “working outside of the state of Illinois” when the faculty member works outside of the state as defined in the University of Illinois System Working Outside of Illinois Policy (which currently applies to all paid System employees, except faculty). As of November 2023, this policy applies to “permanent or temporary work locations outside of Illinois for 60 or more consecutive days where the employee typically would be considered a resident for tax purposes of another state or country. This policy also applies if the primary work location is not in Illinois. Primary work location is determined by where the majority of work is performed.”

This policy document supplements the University of Illinois System Working Outside of Illinois Policy to cover faculty working (or requesting to work) outside of Illinois. The policy provides guidance on eligibility and on factors that should be taken into consideration (e.g., faculty development and success, benefits to the university, feasibility), as well as a process for review and approvals, which will include a template for memorandum of understanding (MOU) for agreements made with faculty working outside Illinois.

While it is expected to be rare, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign may approve a limited number of out of state working arrangements for faculty. Out-of-state remote work arrangements have the potential to interfere with a faculty member’s on-campus professional responsibilities (as defined by the unit) and/or with the needs of the university and may have tax or other legal implications. Therefore, a formal written MOU should exist to document the arrangement in all cases. Such arrangements are discouraged in the case of junior (pre-tenure) faculty, although exceptions can be considered under unusual circumstances. This request likely would not be approved if there is no record of a successful third-year review for a faculty member in a probationary period.

Three primary factors must be considered when reviewing the possibility of working outside of Illinois for faculty:

Is the arrangement in the best interest of the university?
Can the faculty member adequately fulfill all professional responsibilities?
Can this arrangement adequately support the faculty member in their professional development, similar to any other faculty member working on campus?

If yes, then work location feasibility is considered and, if out-of-state work is allowable, a written arrangement for working outside of the state is executed via a formal written MOU initiated by the unit/college, to document the arrangement, after a checklist is preliminarily approved by the unit, college, and Office of the Provost.

Any such MOUs should not be open-ended. Normally, such arrangements would be set for a maximum of one year, subject to regular reviews for performance (e.g., teaching, research, service) and subject to timely review to ascertain whether the MOU will be renewed/continued. Frequent review of MOUs is necessary to reassess the factors above, as they may have changed over the time of the agreement. All requests to renew the MOU should also be reviewed in their entirety by the Office of the Provost prior to being agreed to by the EO or dean. If departmental needs have changed or if other circumstances (e.g., change in tax laws or funding agency requirements) make continuation of the agreement no longer in the best interests of the university/department, the arrangement to work outside of Illinois should be terminated. In that case, the faculty member will be expected to resume working inside Illinois. Should the faculty member not revert to working inside Illinois upon termination/non-renewal of the agreement, disciplinary steps up to and including due cause dismissal may be pursued.

Scope

This policy applies to all University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty, including tenure system and specialized faculty (also postdoctoral research associates and adjuncts), unless specifically exempted below.

This policy does not apply to faculty on sabbatical or other leave, including for secondments and service to governmental entities, which are covered through other policies or guidance.

This policy also applies in the case of faculty hiring where there is no pre-employment expectation of being on campus (e.g., it applies to a faculty member hired to teach in a fully online program). An MOU is needed to document expectations and to allow the Office of the Provost to collect data on how many faculty are working outside Illinois.

Eligibility and Special Considerations

Special considerations apply for certain faculty and situations that will require additional levels of review and additional time for approval of the MOU:

Junior (pre-tenure) faculty and postdoctoral research associates
Sponsored research
Certain locations (e.g., states with complex employment or tax laws; international locations).

General Considerations

Units must give careful consideration to any out-of-state work arrangement, prioritizing the best interests of the university. Considerations should include, but are not limited to:

What is the benefit to the university by permitting this arrangement? Why is it being considered?
How does remote work affect students, other faculty, accreditation, or other business needs? Can courses be offered remotely? How will remote work affect the unit’s operation? How many faculty are in the unit, and will their obligations be adversely affected by remote work?
How many other faculty in the unit currently have active out-of-state work arrangements or work remotely from in-state, and how would approval of this request affect the unit, in light of these existing arrangements?
Can the faculty member engage in a full range of research, teaching, mentoring, and service opportunities and responsibilities remotely? (e.g., attend colloquia, job talks, advising, student mentoring)
How will current and prospective graduate students be informed and affected?
How will current and prospective undergraduate students be affected?
Can the faculty member continue scholarship without undue financial impact on the unit? Is there an impact to any sponsored grant or contract?
Is there support/evidence to indicate that the faculty member will be successful in a proposed arrangement where they are working outside of Illinois? (e.g., record of faculty accomplishments)
How will performance be monitored and evaluated during the arrangement?
What impact may there be to promotion and tenure?
How would this arrangement, if approved, impact other aspects of the faculty member’s appointment and/or departmental/university recruitment incentives that were previously provided to faculty to attract them to central Illinois (e.g., their start-up packages, spousal support/agreements with other units on campus, relocation expense reimbursement, etc.)?
What is the impact, positive and negative, to the unit and campus intellectual community?
If outside of the state or country, additional attention and funds may be required to employ the faculty member; is there support? (e.g., required external legal consultation or system-level consultation. See Section B. below.)

Recommendations and Best Practices – Integration of Faculty Working Outside Illinois (with MOUs) With Broader Recruitment, Retention, and Culture/Climate/Intellectual Community Building Practices in Unit

Recruitment and Retention

Prior to posting a job announcement, decide whether the duties of the position can be fulfilled if candidate does not live in Illinois (e.g., hiring a specialized faculty member to teach full-time specifically in a program outside Illinois). If they cannot, the Illinois location for the work should be clear in the job announcement, and no MOU to work outside the state should be agreed to during recruiting/negotiation. Normal tenure-track faculty positions are expected to work in Illinois; any subsequent requests by finalist candidates to work outside of Illinois must be approved by the dean and the provost and an MOU executed. In any case where the job duties as determined prior to posting the announcement can be performed by someone living outside Illinois, and the candidate and department agree, an MOU is still needed to allow work outside Illinois.
For new faculty who are hired to work outside Illinois, appointment letters should be reviewed in advance by the EO, dean, and Office of the Provost to ensure they address the considerations noted above; ideally an MOU is also drafted.
The departments and the college, ideally in consultation with the Office of the Provost, should develop and communicate, in advance, about whether it is permissible for EOs to consider WOI as a retention tool.
For faculty who have been working on campus, but are approved to work remotely, consider how to best repurpose start-up funds, facilities, etc. for the benefit of that faculty member.

Culture and Climate

Unit/department should consider how the proportion of faculty on WOI MOUs will affect desired community, cover the in-person teaching needs, etc., in ADVANCE of agreeing to requests.
Communicate about expected participation in civic life of department (e.g., online journal club or departmental/unit activity or colloquia, provide hybrid opportunities to participate in meetings), and determine whether to make such events accessible remotely.
Consider requiring periodic in-person attendance for important activities or events (e.g., departmental orientations, key faculty meetings).
New faculty working outside Illinois will benefit from additional attention during new faculty orientation. Consider having them join on-campus new hires for orientation on campus or create other opportunities for them to meet colleagues in person soon after their start date, to begin socialization and to build relationships.
For faculty who have been working on campus but are requesting to work remotely, local units should consider developing policies concerning what happens to their former physical office space, laboratory space, etc. Can/should space be re-allocated to ensure equity and access to space resources to faculty who are committed to working in person?

Career Development (Including Performance Management, Mentoring, Feedback)

For units that have faculty working outside Illinois, there are potential pitfalls to career advancement that could arise among faculty working remotely from the rest of the faculty in their units for extended periods (e.g., lack of assimilation/isolation, teaching and/or research productivity issues, ability to fill key service roles, perceptions of collegiality, ability to effectively supervise staff who report to them, etc.). What supports, practices, and policies can faculty be encouraged to make use of to help them manage these potential issues (e.g., training opportunities that might be available either at the university level, in other units, or externally; limiting the length of remote work agreements, etc.)?

Feasibility

Should an anticipated work location be outside of the state of Illinois, there may be additional tax, legal, export control, and business considerations to account for before an arrangement can be finalized. Before the Office of the Provost-level of review, appropriate campus- and system-level staff will be consulted for updated compliance or technical information that needs to be taken into consideration prior to MOU approval. Any costs associated with this review will be borne by the employing unit.

Requests for work locations outside of Illinois but in the U.S. will take varying times to review, depending on the state laws in the location requested. Requests for work locations out of the country will likely require extensive review taking several months or more, so unit EO’s should plan accordingly.

Process and Arrangement

The Office of the Provost has provided a template checklist for requesting an MOU with the individual faculty member that includes the elements in Section 7 below.
The workflow for checklist and MOU review and approval is as follows:
1. Unit prepares the checklist. Unit consults with system groups as needed for compliance needs (tax, employment law, etc.); Eric Ferguson, ericf@uillinois.edu, is initial resource. Unit sends checklist to college.
2. If college agrees, then college sends checklist as request to Office of the Provost via provost-facultyaffairs@illinois.edu.
3. Upon provost and college agreement, college assigns appropriate MOU template for unit to complete and route via Adobe Sign. Provost review can be assigned to bernhard@illinois.edu, with a copy to provost-facultyaffairs@illinois.edu. [MOU templates will be available to college HR leaders through Teams or BOX.]
4. Faculty signs, unit signs, college signs, provost signs; all parties receive completed agreement.
Information that should be included in the MOU:
1. Review dates (for faculty performance) and review dates for renewal of the MOU
2. Expectations for the employee
  1. Teaching, research, service
  2. Schedule, office hours, equipment
  3. In-person requirements and responsibility for travel costs to be in person
  4. Compliance with University of Illinois policies
3. Plan for reporting on performance of expectations during the term of the MOU (At a minimum this should include the annual review described in Provost Communication #21 Annual Faculty Review). Frequency of documentation and feedback should be specified.
4. Arrangement termination and notice of enforcement. (Enforcement will be initiated by the department.)
5. Implications for and coordination with other agreements, arrangements, or MOUs (e.g., prior recruitment incentives; spousal support in another unit; joint appointments; appointment in one of the institutes; multiyear contract, etc.).
6. Responsibility for additional costs incurred as part of the arrangement (Note that, consistent with the System policy, the unit will be responsible for certain compliance expenses resulting from an employee working outside of Illinois. These expenses may be of a continuing nature, rather than a one-time expense, and could be significant for employees who will work in a foreign country. Responsibility for other expenses (e.g., travel) should be clearly stated in the MOU.

Assistance

For policy questions regarding faculty working outside of Illinois, please contact the Office of the Provost at provost-facultyaffairs@illinois.edu.

Faculty Working Outside of Illinois – MOU Checklist

The checklist below, parts A, B, and C, is to be agreed upon by the unit, college, and Office of the Provost prior to an MOU for a faculty member to work outside Illinois.

Identifying information:
1. College:
2. Unit/Department:
3. Faculty Member Name and UIN:
4. Faculty Member’s Rank &Title:
5. If specialized faculty on multi-year contract, MYC end date:
6. Proposed Start Date and Duration:
7. Proposed Location:
8. List any prior locations and durations outside of Illinois:
9. How long the faculty member been employed as faculty at Illinois or what is the anticipated start date, if not yet hired:
10. Is this faculty member currently engaged in sponsored research or have current grant proposal(s) under review? If so, please provide details about each grant and information regarding how a Significant Physical Presence will still be met (as required CAM RP-06).
11. Confirm unit has contacted appropriate compliance resources (ericf@uillinois.edu as starting resource). Explain results:
12. Person in the unit to contact if there are questions about this proposed MOU, or if a CFOP is needed to research legal issues related to the request:
College/Unit Background Information:
1. How many other faculty in this unit work outside of Illinois:
2. How many other faculty in this college work outside of Illinois:
3. How does the unit establish and maintain intellectual community (or plan to do so) when faculty work outside of Illinois?
4. How does the unit assign teaching obligations, committee membership and other service roles, and conduct business with a mixture of in-person and working outside Illinois faculty?
5. Is there other information related to the context for this request that would be informative in reviewing this request?
MOU Fields:
1. Reason for remote work outside of Illinois:
2. Classes to be taught/modality, teaching assistant meeting expectations/modality, advance notice of cancellation:
3. Research expectations, frequency:
4. Service expectations, frequency:
5. Mentoring expectations, frequency:
6. Office hours/modality:
7. Meetings listed to be attended/modality:
8. Travel expectations, fund allowability, other situations:
9. University equipment to support out of state work: