Administrative Guidelines for Academic Department Chairs

Section Four - Miscellaneous Policies

College Airline Travel Policy 4:1
Faculty Travel Fund 4:1
Student Application for Graduation 4:1
Department Chair Fund Policy 4:1
Emergency and Temporary Replacement Policy 4:1
Compensation Rates 4:2
Summer Student Research Policy 4:2
Sabbatical Leave Policy and Application 4:2
January Interim Experience Fee Policy 4:3
Office Assignment Policy 4:3
Facilities Use Policy
* Summer 4:4
* Academic Year 4:4
Restricted Gift Acceptance and Spending 4:5
Part-time Faculty Commuting Stipend 4:6

Section 4:1

College Travel Policies

College Airline Travel Policy
For more information on the Gustavus Adolphus College Airline Travel Policy, you can view the complete policy online at: www.gustavus.edu/finance/travel.php

Faculty Travel Fund
The faculty travel fund supports faculty attendance at professional conferences. For more information on the Gustavus Adolphus Faculty Travel Fund, you can view the complete policy online at: www.gustavus.edu/kendallcenter/travel

Student Application for Graduation

This form is processed through the Office of the Registrar. Each prospective graduate must have approval of the Department Chair before processing is completed.

Department Chair Fund Policy

This line item in Departmental Budgets is intended to be a professional expense account for Department Chairs. Professional travel, purchases of books, other materials, or equipment useful to the individual or the Department are examples of legitimate uses for these funds. Making these funds available to Department Chairs is an acknowledgment of the extra work and responsibility undertaken by these persons on behalf of their Department and the College.

The rules concerning taxation of the account are consistent with other disbursements of the College. Payments to employees will be treated as taxable compensation, unless the disbursement is for the reimbursement of a College-related expense. With respect to capital purchases (e.g., equipment, books), the property must be owned by the College in order for the transaction to be treated as non-taxable.

Specifically, purchase of a personal computer would be an example of a taxable item according to IRS regulations and should not be made using your College Credit Card (thus using the College tax exempt number to avoid paying sales tax). Instead, you should simply ask Barb Lundgren to include the amount you want to cover your purchase in your next payroll check—thus subjecting it to income tax withholding. Alternatively, if buying a computer for departmental use, have GTS execute the purchase and bill the amount to your Department Chair Fund line.

You may also simply ask Barb to add the fund amount (or a portion of it) to your paycheck as either a lump sum or spread over several months. It would, this way, of course be treated as taxable income.

If there is a question regarding the taxability of a transaction, contact Barb Lundgren (blundgre@gustavus.edu or x7505), Payroll Director.

Emergency & Temporary Replacement Policy

Faculty members filling in for colleagues in emergency or family and medical leave situations may be compensated. The compensation will be based on the current one-course stipend paid to adjunct and visiting faculty on a prorated basis. Requests for such compensation must be made by the Department Chair on behalf of the faculty member to be compensated. Requests should be made as far ahead of time as possible and include a rationale explaining why compensation is appropriate.

Compensation will only be considered in situations where either the faculty member being replaced will be out of the classroom for an extended period of time (more than one week) or is not expected to return for the remainder of the semester. Other considerations in making a decision regarding compensating current employees will be class responsibilities such as lecture and syllabi preparation, grading, and student contact hours.

Emergency and temporary leave compensation will be authorized on a case-by-case basis by the Dean of the Faculty in consultation with the Department Chair. In all cases, a written contract or memorandum of understanding will contain the specifics of the agreement.

Section 4:2

Compensation Rates

Full Course Adjunct Compensation Rate
$3,500 non-full-time faculty
$3,500 full-time overload

Weekly Compensation Rate
$250.00 (4 hours per week)

Per Class Compensation Rate
$62.50/class hour

Summer Student Research Policy

Students will live in campus housing while doing summer research whenever possible. Housing assignments are made by residential life.
Only students who are doing research funded by on-campus (RSC or Presidential) or off-campus granting agencies are provided housing by the Provost's Office. Students working on departmental or individual-funded research are not eligible.
Students living on-campus will be compensated for housing by the Provost's Office.
Students living off-campus will NOT be compensated for housing.
Students will not normally be provided board plan as part of their compensation.
All students must sign an agreement before work begins. See Dean Barbara Kaiser for details.

Sabbatical Leave Policy & Application

Complete information about Sabbatical Leave Policy and Application can be found online: www.gustavus.edu/facultybook/facultyhandbook/

Section 4:3

January Interim Experience Fee Policy

In most instances Interim Experience courses will be supported by departmental funds. However, because of the unusual content or non-repetitive nature of some courses which require out of the ordinary expenses, a limited amount of funding is available from the Interim Experience budget by application to Dean Barbara Kaiser (kaiser@gustavus.edu or x7541. Classes that appear regularly in the Interim Experience offerings or use materials that may be used by departments in other classes during the year should be budgeted for during the annual budget process. Appropriate expenditures from the Interim Experience budget include:

Van Rental (no more than two round-trips to the Twin Cities per class)
Specialized Equipment (that would remain useful property of the department)
Film or Video Rental/Purchase
Honorarium for Guest Speakers

Due to the timing of the budget process and the limited funds available in the Interim Experience budget, it is sometimes necessary to charge fees to students for Interim Experience course expenses. Such fees must be included in the course proposal, be approved by the Director of Interim Experience and relate specifically to the course. It is appropriate to require fees for:

Van Rental (in addition to that mentioned above)
Airfare
Room and Board if Away from Campus
Tickets to Perform Events, Museums, etc.
Specialized Equipment (that would not be kept by the department)
Expendable Materials
Specialized Off-campus Program Costs

While care should be taken by the instructor to hold costs to the student to a minimum, the costs associated with the instructor's participation should be built into the fee charged to the student.

Please Note: In order for the College to operate within IRS guidelines, materials and supplies should be ordered through the Book Mark. It is against College policy for students to purchase materials and supplies directly from the department or instructor. (Please see the manager of the Book Mark for more information.) Students may reimburse a department for group ticket purchases, admission fees and expendable supplies that cannot be apportioned per student.

Office Assignment Policy

Regular Contract Faculty
Faculty in tenured or tenure-track positions will, whenever possible, have single offices. Faculty offices will normally be grouped by department. Individual office assignments will be made by consensus within the department. If consensus cannot be reached, the Department Chair or a designee of the Provost will make the assignment.

Special Appointment and Part-time Faculty
The College will provide faculty in special appointment or part-time positions with appropriate office space. Contract length, years of service to the institution, course load, and other factors related to the teaching assignment will be taken into consideration when assigning offices. When possible, faculty teaching full-time (4/6 or more) will not share an office. Faculty teaching less than 4/6 will likely share an office with at least one other faculty member. When at all possible, office space will be provided in or near the appropriate departmental cluster. Departments are expected to make arrangements for visiting and adjunct faculty within their area. If space is not available within the departmental area, the Dean of the Faculty should be contacted regarding other possible locations on campus. Faculty members on leave are expected to vacate their offices so that they may be used by their replacements.

Due to the scarcity of office space on campus, it may sometimes be necessary to house faculty from one department in the office cluster of another. Unassigned or vacant faculty office space should be reported to the Dean of the Faculty by the Department Chair and may not be converted to other use (e.g., workroom, student office) without approval.

Faculty Emeriti
The Provost's Office will work to establish a group office space for faculty emeriti. Until such time as space is available, faculty emeriti will be provided office space if they have a teaching contract using the criteria for part-time faculty.

Section 4:4

Facilities Use Policy

Summer
The facilities and resources of Gustavus Adolphus College are dedicated to the education of students and the scholarly pursuits of faculty and, thus, these concerns have first priority for the summer months of the College calendar (e.g., summer school classes).

Second priority is assigned to College-sponsored events which enhance the quality of life of Gustavus as an academic community (Fine Arts events, faculty-or-staff generated academic offerings for students or teachers; generally not for profit).

Third in priority are those events for outside groups sponsored by the College which support the total mission of the College (e.g., for-profit faculty-generated or staff-generated athletic camps, faculty-or-staff hosted professional or academic gatherings not originating from campus, synodical assemblies, other church-related retreats).

Fourth are events sponsored by outside groups desiring to use the College facilities for their own purposes, but which are encompassed in categories directly relating to our stated mission but not included in any higher priority group (e.g., Fellowship of Christian Athletes, yearbook or debate camps, other denominational church meetings). Such events may not interfere with events of higher priority, nor may they be permitted to be a hidden cost to the College or to stretch College resources. Prices charged should reflect adequate compensation to cover all costs incurred by the group.

Wedding reception facilities are not included on this list, even though numerous requests are received yearly. Dining Services is equipped for such a request, and may do so at the discretion of the Director. Places such as the Dive or Alumni Hall are not available to host such events.

Academic Year
The facilities and resources of Gustavus Adolphus College are dedicated to the education of students and the scholarly pursuits of faculty, and thus these concerns have first priority for the College calendar (e.g., classes, rehearsals and performances, practice, athletic contests, exams).

Second priority is assigned to College-sponsored events which enhance the quality of life of Gustavus as an academic community (e.g., Nobel, Christmas in Christ Chapel, MAYDAY!, films, lectures).

Third in priority are those events for outside groups sponsored by the College which support the total mission of the College (e.g., Continuing Education meetings, Physician Friends, Junior Day, Lutheran Youth Day, retreats, synodical assemblies, professional meetings sponsored by faculty, administrators or students).

Fourth, and last, are events sponsored by outside groups desiring to use College facilities for their own purpose (e.g., Saint Peter High School lock-ins, political party dinners, town committee meetings). Such events may not interfere with events of higher priority nor may they be permitted to be a hidden cost to the College or to stretch College resources. Thus rental costs should reflect reasonable compensation for use of space, special facilities, utilities, maintenance and staff time.

The College wishes to be sensitive to the needs of the community, but will find it difficult to place on the College calendar events initiated by outside groups.

Section 4:5

Restricted Gift Acceptance & Spending

Clarification of College Acceptance and Spending Policy for Restricted Gifts
(Endorsed by the Administrative Council, 09/28/1999)

Gifts directed to a specific department of the College by a donor must be received by an appropriate officer of the College Development Office.

Generally, gifts of less than $1000 directed by a donor to a specific department will be deposited into that department's general restricted fund account.

Gifts of $1000 or larger may be directed by the donor (with the approval of the department and the College) to a specific departmental fund or towards the purchase of a specific item. A restricted account will be created by the Finance Office to ensure that the intent of the donor is preserved.

Spending from all restricted accounts will follow the appropriate procedures established by the College.

All purchases of $500 or more from restricted accounts must have the approval of the appropriate vice president.

Section 4:6

Part-time Faculty Commuting Stipend

Mileage will not be paid as a regular part of a teaching contract. However, part-time visiting or adjunct faculty who live more than 50 miles from Saint Peter, and who teach less than 4/7 for the year (or 3/7 if teaching a single semester), may be offered a stipend of up to $400 per semester to help compensate for the distance they need to travel to take a part-time position at the College.

This stipend is paid at the end of the semester and is subject to withholdings.

The travel stipend is dependent on the number of days the part-time faculty member is scheduled to teach each week.

Four or five days per week = $800 per semester
Three days per week = $600 per semester
Two days per week = $400 per semester
One day per week = $200 per semester

January IEX is pro-rated at 4/15 ($215), since it is only four weeks long and thus involves fewer commutes.

Last modified: August 6, 2010, by Shanon Nowell