Miscellaneous
Human Resources Policies UPPS
No. 04.04.01
and Procedures Issue No. 11
Effective Date: 03/30/2007
Review: July 1 E2Y
01. POLICY STATEMENT
01.01 This UPPS
establishes miscellaneous
02. PROCEDURE
FOR ENROLLMENT AND PARTICIPATION IN ACADEMIC AND NON-ACADEMIC PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
02.01 Professional
development activities include formal training or education activities such as
workshops, conferences, seminars, and academic courses that are designed to
enhance an individual’s personal and professional development and growth. As an
employment benefit, the University will pay or provide release time for certain
professional development activities for eligible
The
provisions of this section meet the requirements of the State Employees
Training Act of 1969 as amended.
a. Academic
Professional Development Activity is the enrollment and participation in
college or university credit courses. Tuition and fees for college or
university credit courses at Texas State or other accredited institutions of
higher education may be paid with department funds if (1) the course is
directly related to the employee’s current or prospective job duties in the
department and (2) both enrollment in the courses and the payment is approved
by the employee’s department head or other appropriate approval authority.
b. Non-Academic
Professional Development Activity is the enrollment and participation in
professional development activities that are not college or university credit
courses. Registration and other similar fees, as well as appropriate travel
costs, may be paid with department funds if (1) the activity is directly
related to the employee’s current or prospective job duties in the department
and (2) both enrollment in the activity and payment is approved by the employee’s
department head.
c. Fees for
Texas State University Credit Courses – Texas State will pay certain fees, not
all fees, for any of its employees enrolled in a Texas State credit course
provided the employee (1) has been approved to take the course and (2) is a
full-time regular employee at the University. These fees are also paid for
participants in the Teacher Fellows Program. Fees paid by
1) Student
Service Fees
2) Designated
Tuition
3) Computer
Use Fee
4) Publications
Fee
5)
6) Bus Fees
7) Recreational
Sports Fees
8) Library Fee
9) Medical
Service Fee
10)International Education Fee
11)Off-Campus Course Fee
d. Staff
Professional Development Activities
1) The
University considers time away from work during regular working hours to attend
non-academic professional development activities that are directly related to
employee’s current or prospective job duties as training time. The employee
should record this time as normal work time on his or her timesheet rather than
as personal leave.
2) Within the
limits specified below, time away from work during regular working hours to
attend academic professional development activities (college or university
credit courses) that are (1) directly related to the employee’s current or
prospective job duties in the department or (2) part of a formal degree program
being followed for a bachelor’s or graduate degree will be considered training
time. This time should be recorded as “class release time” on the employee’s
timesheet and does not have to be charged to personal leave.
Staff
Enrollment in College or University Credit Courses:
The
University may release full-time regular staff to take one course during
regular work hours if the staff member’s department head determines that the
release will not materially affect department operations. When he or she denies
a request, the department head will provide the staff member with written reasons
for the denial.
Under
this provision, full time staff may be released up to three hours per week
during each long semester and six hours per week during only one summer
session. The mini-semester has been determined to be a part of Summer I by the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and thus any courses taken during
the mini-semester are subject to the summer release limit.
The
three and six hour release time limits apply to courses taken (1) on the
The
department head’s approval to attend any course during working hours must be in
writing on the Enrollment in Academic Courses and Tuition/Fee Payment Request form
(available on the Human Resources website) and forwarded to Human Resources
before the staff member attends any course under this provision. The approval
will be placed in the staff member’s personnel file.
Additional
courses may be taken by staff members outside regular working hours, subject to
the condition that acceptance of full-time employment is a commitment to render
full-time service. Outside interests and activities must not interfere with
carrying out that commitment.
3) The staff
member’s department head has the sole discretionary authority to approve or
deny a staff member’s request to attend any professional development activity
during working hours and to determine if time taken to attend such a course is
to be considered training time.
4) Employees attending
a professional development activity that is not directly related to the
employee’s current or prospective job duties; is outside the allotted release
time limits specified for college or university credit courses (including
travel time to and from the course location); and is designated as self
development time, must work additional hours in the same week or charge their
leave to an appropriate leave category.
e. Faculty
Professional Development Activities – Faculty members may attend academic
classes at
02.02 In some
instances, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may consider the payment of
tuition and fees by the University for an employee as taxable income.
a. All
employer-paid education expenses that would be considered tax deductible if the
employee had paid for it are not considered taxable wages and will not be added
to the employee’s income. According to IRS rules, tax deductible education
expenses:
1) Are
required to keep the employee’s present salary, status or job, or
2) Maintain or
improve skills needed in the employee’s present job.
3) Include
tuition, books, supplies, lab fees, and similar items
4) Include
certain travel and transportation and other education expenses.
5) Do not
include travel as education (e.g. Study Abroad travel expenses)
6) Do not
include meals.
b. Employer-paid
education expenses that qualify the employee for a different line of work may
be considered taxable wages to the employee. However, the IRS considers all
teaching and related duties as the same general line of work. Consequently,
these cases may have to be reviewed individually.
c. Education
expenses needed to meet minimum educational requirements of a certain position
as required by the University or required by law may be considered taxable
wages. If a certain position requires a minimum of education, an employee hired
into the position on an interim basis would not be exempt from taxes for
education expenses because he or she would need to meet the minimum requirements
to keep the position. If the educational requirements change after the employee
has been hired, then the employee is considered to have met the minimum requirements
and is exempt from taxes on the educational expenses. These cases may have to
be reviewed individually.
02.03 If an
employee who has had tuition or fees for academic professional development paid
terminates employment with the University prior to the end of the semester for
which the tuition and fees were paid, the employee must reimburse the
University for any and all tuition and fees paid by the University.
Terminating
employees must contact the General Accounting Office (Accounts Receivable) to make
arrangements for repayment of amounts owed.
Failure to make payment in full will have consequences such as: warrant holds against the individual being
placed with the State Comptroller, filings made with credit reporting entities,
financial holds placed on student records, and judicial prosecution.
02.04 The
release time limits and leave requirements in this section are separate from
any of those specified for programs in UPPS No. 04.04.35,
Professional Development and Educational Opportunities.
02.05 An
Enrollment in Academic Courses and Tuition/Fee Payment Request form must be
completed for everyone taking an academic course at
03. PROCEDURE FOR NOTIFICATION OF ABSENCE OR TARDINESS
03.01 Punctual
and regular attendance is expected of all University faculty and staff. When
unable to report for work, faculty and staff are expected to notify the
immediate supervisor or other appropriate individual as soon as possible.
Except in unusual cases, the faculty or staff member should personally notify
their immediate supervisor.
04. WORKING HOURS
04.01
Offices
may also be required to provide services before 8:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m.
Employees may be required by their supervisors to work hours other than 8:00 to
5:00 as a condition of employment, either regularly or temporarily, to meet the
University's service needs.
04.02 The use
of "flex time" is encouraged as a means of providing the best
possible delivery of services. When the family or personal needs of employees
do not conflict with the University's needs to meet the demands of its internal
and external customers, as well as state law and Regents' Rules regarding
operating hours, account managers may allow the workforce to stagger their work
hours. If a supervisor denies an employee request for a flexible work schedule
(one other than 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a one hour lunch period), the
supervisor must provide the employee with a written explanation of the denial
within one week following receipt of a written request for a flexible work
schedule. Only if the employee does not receive a written explanation for the
denial, may he or she appeal the denial to the supervisor's supervisor who
shall respond in writing within two weeks of receipt of the appeal. The supervisor’s
supervisor’s decision is final.
Flexible
work schedules may be used year round, but are especially encouraged during the
period between the May commencement and the August commencement ceremonies.
04.03 Two 15-minute
rest periods during the normal workday are authorized for full-time employees,
one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Employees working at least half-time,
but less than full-time, are authorized one 15-minute rest period per day. Employees
working less than half-time are not authorized rest periods. Rest periods
cannot be used to shorten the workday or lengthen the lunch hour. Rest periods
within a given office should be staggered.
05. PROCEDURES
REGARDING NON-BUSINESS VISITORS, FAMILY MEMBERS, AND NON-BUSINESS TELEPHONE
CALLS IN THE WORKPLACE
05.01 Supervisors
may deny or restrict workplace access to non-business visitors and employee
family members during both work and non-work periods. Supervisors may also
limit or restrict non-business telephone usage. Supervisors are encouraged to
adopt reasonable provisions for their particular work situations. However supervisors
have full discretion in determining appropriate policies for these matters.
06. PLACE OF WORK
06.01 An
employee's department head will determine the employee's normal place of work
or assigned duty point. The employee's dean or vice president must concur with
the determination. The President's authorization is required if the employee's
normal place of work is the employee's home. (See Section 06.02 Telecommuting)
06.02 Telecommuting
(work-at-home): Employees may not consider their personal residence as their
regular place of work or duty point without the prior written authorization of
the President. In addition, the following policy and procedures will apply:
a. Department
heads must route any work-at-home requests through normal administrative
channels to the President. Requests must (1) specify the time period for the work
at home arrangement, and (2) justify the request. The department head must
provide a copy of the approved request to Human Resources.
b. Timekeeping
- no employee may accrue state compensatory time, even for time worked on an
official university holiday, for work performed at the employee's personal
residence.
However,
non-exempt employees approved to work at home are eligible for FLSA overtime in
accordance with the provisions of UPPS No.
04.04.16.
c. Workers’
Compensation - Employees approved to work at home are covered by normal
Workers’ Compensation rules as provided in UPPS No.
04.04.43.
d. Employee
requirements - during the approved work-at-home period, the employee will:
1) inform the
department head of any changes which affect the work- at-home arrangements;
2) honor all
copyrights for software provided by
3) be subject
to normal university policies and procedures.
e. Termination
of arrangement - The President may terminate any work at home arrangement at
any time. Such action is not necessarily an adverse personnel action. The
President's decision is final.
f. Criteria
for approval - When evaluating work-at-home requests, the President will
consider the following criteria:
1) The best
interests of the university.
2) The minimum
technological requirements to perform the job duties and the impact on
3) The confidentiality
of information that would be taken from the regular site and the ability to
maintain that confidentiality.
4) The ability
of the employee and supervisor to establish work expectations and a means to
measure productivity and performance.
5) The amount
of time the position's duties require the employee to be physically at the
regular office site.
6) The impact
that such an arrangement will have on other employees and the services provided
to customers.
7) The confirmation
that the employee will be able to secure
07. FACULTY AND STAFF GROUP INSURANCE PROGRAMS
07.01 All
regular faculty and staff members are eligible to participate in the
University's group insurance programs which include medical, dental, term life,
accidental death and dismemberment, short and long term disability and long
term care insurance. Detailed information (including descriptions, limitations,
and premium rates) is available in each new employee packet and from Human
Resources.
08. POLITICAL ACTIVITY
08.01 State law
(Texas Constitution, Article 16, Section 40) provides that State employees
"shall not be barred from serving as members of governing bodies of school
districts, cities, towns, or other local government districts; provided,
however, that such State employees. . . shall receive no salary for serving as
members of such governing bodies." Thus, an employee could hold a
non-remunerative office concurrently with employment at
08.02 In pursuing political activities, employees
need to be cautious that they do not create the impression that they officially
represent the University and that they do not neglect their duties at the
University. Political activity involving employees will be conducted away from
the University and not at University expense. Employees will not conduct
political activities during normal working hours.
09. DISCLOSURE OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS
09.01 The
University requires its employees to furnish their social security numbers in
order to verify their identities. Disclosure of these social security numbers
is mandatory. The University's recordkeeping system was established prior to
January 1, 1975, pursuant to the authority given the Board of Regents, Texas
State University System, in Section 95.21 of the Texas Education Code. These
numbers are also solicited under the statutory authority of 42 U.S.C.A.,
Section 405(c)(2)(C).
10. CRIMINAL OFFENSE REPORTING OBLIGATIONS
10.01 All
10.02 Employees
are expected to cooperate with police and internal audit investigations.
Investigations conducted by these offices are confidential.
11. PROCEDURES FOR DISSEMINATION OF POLICY
11.01 The
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) will ensure that all
policies in this UPPS applicable to faculty are published in the Faculty
Handbook.
11.02 The
Director of Human Resources will ensure that all policies in this UPPS
applicable to staff are published in the Staff Handbook.
12. REVIEWERS OF THIS UPPS
12.01 Reviewers
of this UPPS include the following:
Position Date
Director, Human Resources July 1 E2Y
Director, Equity and Access July 1 E2Y
Chair, Staff Council July
1 E2Y
Chair, Faculty Senate July
1 E2Y
13. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT
This
UPPS has been approved by the following individuals in their official
capacities and represents
Director
of Human Resources; senior reviewer of this UPPS
Vice
President for Finance and Support Services
President