The University of Science and Technology has been criticised for trying to exert 'totalitarian control' over non-academic staff by forcing them to seek approval for outside activities. A policy document seen by the South China Morning Post stipulates they must disclose outside activities which require their professional expertise or which conflict with duties at the university. Staff involved must seek approval even if they are not paid for such activities. The university council is due to approve the draft at its meeting today. Outside paid activities in non-working hours already require approval by the university. Under the new rules, staff will need to seek approval from the university vice-president through their department head. Those who fail to comply will be charged with wilful misconduct and be liable to disciplinary action. An administrative worker, who refused to be named, said the university was 'trying to exert totalitarian control over every aspect' of the lives of its staff. It was assuming an 'unjustified policing role', the source said. He said he thought the guidelines were intended to curb staff's participation in political activities outside normal working hours. The university has about 1,500 non-academic staff. A member of the academic staff, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the term 'professional expertise' was ill-defined and there would be lots of room for subjective interpretation. 'Should an accountant at the university's finance section disclose his voluntary auditing jobs in his church?' he asked. 'I think that the university has no legitimate right to monopolise our professional knowledge,' he said. A University of Science and Technology spokeswoman said the draft was aimed at enhancing staff understanding of their contractual rights and obligations.