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Cell Phone Usage & Reimbursement Policy

Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to provide a set of guidelines governing the use of cellular telephones by Portland State University employees and to provide guidelines, criteria and conditions for reimbursement of business use of personal cellular telephones.

As a general rule, Portland State University shall not own or otherwise provide cellular telephones or services to its employees. The exceptions to this rule are cell phones owned for short-term events, emergency or disaster recovery purposes or cell phones required to conduct research projects and charge to grant budgets.

Effective Date
November 1, 2003 with full implementation by January 1, 2004.

Oversight Responsibility
Departments shall be responsible for oversight of employee cell phone usage and shall monitor and review such usage periodically to ensure that use is appropriate and that prudent fiscal management guidelines are followed. This periodic review shall include an assessment of each authorized employee’s need to use a cell phone for business purposes.

Reimbursement Plan
Business Use of Personal Cell Phones
Some employees may need to use cell phones to conduct legitimate PSU business and such use is a predictable necessity. In these cases, the University will provide a cell phone requirement allowance of up to $35 per month for employees who must use his/her personal cell phone for work purposes, subject to the following conditions:

1. The Department must first authorize the employee to use his/her personal cell phone for PSU business. An authorization form shall be signed by the employee’s supervisor with a copy retained by both the employee and the department. The authorization form will identify the employee and the employee’s personal cell phone number and be submitted to the Office of Business Affairs. Cell Phone Authorization Form:

2. The employee is responsible for turning in the first page of his/her cell phone bill to document that the employee still has the cell phone to his/her supervisor and the Office of Business Affairs every three months, before the end of each quarter (12/31/03; 3/31/04; 6/30/04; 9/30/04)

3. The monthly cell phone requirement allowance shall not exceed the employee’s monthly cell phone plan. The University will pay an allowance equal to the lesser of the employees’ monthly plan or $35 per month. The cell phone requirement allowance is not a taxable item and will be added to the employees’ monthly paycheck. The Office of Business Affairs is responsible for notifying HR/Payroll of all allowance amounts and changes in allowance amounts or eligibility.

4. We realize that there are certain positions on campus that require a usage plan that would far exceed any low cost plan available. These special requirements should be discussed with your supervisor and may be processed on a case-by-case basis through the Office of Business Affairs upon approval of the appropriate Dean/Director and appropriate Vice President.

5. The employee and/or department are responsible for notifying the Office of Business Affairs if the employee no longer needs to use a cell phone for the job.

6. Departments are responsible for notifying the Business Affairs Office if the employee terminates their employment with the University or if the Department chooses to revoke the cell phone authorization.

Personal Use of University Provided Cell Phones
While the University generally will not provide cell phones to employees, there are some exceptions to this rule.

The University, through its OIT-Networking & Telecommunications Services unit (OIT-NTS), will own and retain a certain number of cell phones for emergency or disaster recovery purposes. Additionally, cell phones that are required to conduct research projects and that are charge to contract/grant budgets may be obtained through OIT-NTS or directly through cell phone service providers.

In these instances where the University is providing cellular telephones for use by PSU employees, employee use of University owned cell phones is limited to official PSU business only. There shall be no personal use of University cell phones except in response to family emergencies or unforeseen work schedule changes, and even under these circumstances, only when it is impossible or unreasonable to use a University landline telephone, public pay phone, or personal phone.

In the rare circumstance in which an employee must use a University owned cell phone to place or receive a personal call, the employee must reimburse the University for that call. The reimbursement rate shall be $0.20 per minute for such personal calls and shall occur within thirty (30) days after the Department receives its cellular phone bill.