Outside projects for Harvard faculty range from founding biotechnology companies to taking high-profile court cases, which is not surprising considering faculty members are at the forefront of their fields.

It's hard not to wonder how the 20 percent rule figures into the picture, although Schauer maintains that few faculty members spend the maximum allowed time on their outside projects.

For example, the Kennedy School allows faculty 40 days a year for outside projects, which is roughly a day a week, but Schauer says that few take full advantage of that time.

"My rough guess is that there are fewer than 10 [KSG faculty members} who do as many as 15 days during the course of the academic year," he says.

Faculty members outside of the Kennedy School also spend less than the maximum time allowed away from their University duties.

Alan M. Dershowitz '67, Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School says that less than 10 percent of his time is spent on non-university activites, including his work on two to three cases and "about a book a year."

Dershowitz, who became a household name through his work on the Von Bulow and the Simpson murder cases, says teaching has remained his primary responsibility throughout his tenure at Harvard.

" I have missed fewer than half a dozen classes in the last 36 years," he says.