National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Headquarters 

Washington, DC 20546-0001 

July 26,201 1 

Reply to Ann of Office of the Chief Scientist 

TO: Officials-in-Charge of Headquarters Offices 

Directors, NASA Centers 

Chief Scientist, Chief Engineer, Chief Technologist, and General Counsel 

NASA Employee Participation in Outside Professional Organizations 

FROM: 

SUBJECT: 

The professional development of NASA’s workforce is critical to carrying out the work at the 

core of our mission. Accordingly, NASA supports employee participation in outside 

professional organizations consistent with legal requirements. To facilitate such participation, 

this memorandum summarizes the requirements and steps interested employees and their 

managers should follow before beginning these activities. 

Opportunities for participation in professional organizations may involve both fiduciary and 

non-fiduciary roles. Because the financial interest of an organization for which an employee 

serves as a member of the governing body (e.g., as a director, trustee, or officer) is imputed to 

the employee, positions of this nature present special challenges that must be carefully 

addressed. Depending on the situation, employees may be able to discharge these positions in 

their official or personal capacities. A summary of how these opportunities can be arranged and 

approved follows. 

Non-Fiduciary Positions in Outside Professional Organizations 

NASA managers may permit employees to serve in an official capacity in a role properly 

considered part of their job for an outside professional organization, committee, or 

substantive interest group where they owe no fiduciary duty to the organization. While 

there is no formal approval process for such, supervisors and interested employees should 

consult with their local NASA legal office, as appropriate, to ensure compliance with 

applicable rules. Instances where consultation is recommended could include questions 

of: whether the assignment is sufficiently related to NASA’s work to justify the use of 

official time; whether there would be an appearance of impartiality between the 

individual’s regular duties, such as procurement responsibilities and the work performed 

with the outside organization; whether the individual has a financial interest in 

connection with the outside organization that could generate a conflict of interest 

prohibited by law; or whether gifts offered by the outside organization, such as travel or 

meals, may be accepted. 
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Sometimes employees may wish to participate in their personal capacity in an outside 

professional organization where there will be no fiduciarylgovernance duty, such as 

would often be the case when participating in a substantive interest group. This may be 

the case, for example, when the activity is not sufficiently connected to the Agency’s 

mission or the employee’s position to justify use of official time or because the employee 

prefers to pursue the activity in his or her private capacity. The employee must seek 

approval through NASA’s outside activity approval process (described at 

http://www .nasa.eov/offices/oac/~~n~~~l law/outsideactivitv. html) when the organization 

in question is: 

a NASA contractor, subcontractor, or grantee; or 

a party to a Space Act agreement or other agreement to which NASA is a party 

pursuant to specific statutory authority. 

Director/Trustee/Officer/Fiducian/ Positions in Outside Professional Oreanizations 

A NASA employee may be permitted to serve in his or her official capacity as a board member, 

or in another position that creates a fiduciary duty, with certain standard-setting organizations, 

such as an organization charged with developing or adopting technical standards related to 

NASA’s mission. However, a prohibited codict of interest may arise where this participation 

relates to the employee’s regular Government duties, such as if the employee’s work concerns 

contracts, grants, or other NASA activities with the organization. 

For any other professional organization which is not a standard-setting organization, service in 

an official capacity in a fiduciary role is automatically considered to be a prohibited conflict of 

interest and is, therefore, not permitted absent a statutory waiver. There may be instances where 

the interests of all involved would allow the employee’s position with the organization to be 

realigned to a non-fiduciary role, such as a NASA liaison, so that the assignment becomes 

permissible without a waiver. The employee may also be able to obtain approval to participate 

in a personal capacity so long as the employee’s official duties do not affect the financial 

interests of the outside organization. 

In cases that do not meet the requirements above, other remedies - such as reassignment of an 

employee’s conflicting duties - should be explored, and, if there is no suitable alternative, a 

waiver of the Federal conflict of interest prohibition, 18 U.S.C. 5 208, may be requested. While 

obtaining such a waiver requires coordination by the Office of the General Counsel and written 

approval by the NASA Administrator, NASA will grant waivers to participate in outside 

professional organizations in situations that advance Agency objectives when the conflict is not 

substantial enough to bring the integrity of the duties the employee performs into question. 

Service in a fiduciary role with the outside organization must not occur prior to waiver as it 

would violate 5 208, which carries civil and criminal penalties. 

In all cases involving the performance of official duties in a director/ trustee/officer/fiduciary 

role with an outside organization, a local NASA ethics official should be consulted to ascertain 
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appropriate steps to ensure compliance. Contact information for NASA’s ethics offices is 

provided at httu:l/www.nasa.rovlofficeslorc/about/CCC directorv.htm1. Once service with an 

outside organization commences, other issues may arise, such as the individual’s ability to accept 

meals and travel costs offered in conjunction with the position, for which a NASA ethics official 

should also be consulted. 

Sometimes NASA employees may want to participate in a fiduciary role with a professional 

organization in their personal capacity. This may be because of the individual’s preference or 

because participation would pose a conflict of interest with official duties as described above. 

The employee must seek approval through NASA’s outside activity review process as described 

above when the organization in question is: 

a NASA contractor, subcontractor, or grantee; or 

a party to a Space Act agreement or other agreement to which NASA is a party pursuant 

to specific statutory authority. 

NASA is firmly committed to the professional development of all of NASA employees, and we 

hope that the information provided here will help our team take advantage of opportunities 

offered by service as leaders of professional organizations.