Contents:
I. LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE CALLS
II. CREDIT CARDS
III. CELLULAR TELEPHONES
IV. PRIVATE RESIDENCES
V. REQUEST FOR SERVICES
LINKS TO EXHIBITS

ETSU communication facilities are provided for University business purposes. Personal use of these facilities should be limited to emergencies only and must be approved by the budgetary unit head for each departmental account. Only University business related calls and faxes are chargeable to University accounts. Any personal long distance calls on ETSU phones must be reimbursed to the University.

Employees who have a need to make personal long distance calls are encouraged to use a personal calling card. Employees may receive a Qwest card through ETSU. The ETSU phones have been programmed to make the use of the Qwest card convenient. Employees only need to dial "5" and they will be connected to the Qwest network.

The budgetary unit head is responsible for controlling personal use of ETSU communication facilities for their unit as well as ensuring that all employees in the unit are aware of this policy. They are also responsible for reviewing the monthly billable Calls Reports for accuracy to determine compliance with this policy.

Employees must report and reimburse the University for all personal calls billed to the university on the Billable Calls Report. Reimbursement shall be made at the Cashier’s window in the Office of the Comptroller and will include the cost of the call(s) plus state tax. No exceptions shall be made to this requirement.

By the nature of the job assignment some University employees and budgetary unit heads need ETSU telephone credit cards. Request for these cards, with approval of the Vice President for the Division or designee (except when the individual reports to the President), should be submitted to Telecommunications. The card will be issued against the budget account to which the employee is assigned or the budget account designated by the budgetary unit head.

Only approved University business related calls are chargeable to the credit card. Personal use of the telephone credit card is discouraged. It is the responsibility of each card holder to identify personal calls on the Detail Call Record and reimburse the University at the Cashiers' windows in the Office of the Comptroller. This reimbursement will include the cost of the call(s) plus state tax. The Detail Call Record will be distributed to all employees with ETSU telephone credit cards by the budgetary unit head or their designee.

Lost, stolen, or surplus ETSU telephone credit cards are to be reported to Telecommunications for cancellation. Telecommunications will immediately notify the issuing company to cancel the telephone credit card.

It is the responsibility of the budgetary unit head to notify Telecommunications of the employee's termination, retirement, or reassignment to another budget account. (Telephone credit cards are a part of the "employee termination check out procedures").

The signature on the "Memorandum of Understanding" (Exhibit 19.A) sent with the request for the telephone credit card is verification that the employee understands and will abide by the stated policy.

The Dean/Director is responsible for determining which employees require the use of cellular phones. In the College of Medicine, the Chairperson will have such authority.

Due to the number of cellular phone service plans available and the changing nature of such plans, the Purchasing Office should be consulted to determine which plans are available and applicable ETSU rates. The approving party must work with the employee to determine the plan that best suits the needs of the department. Most plans include a minimum number of minutes. The department should choose the plan which best suits its needs based on the cost of the plan.

Once the department has determined the most appropriate plan, a requisition should be forwarded to the Purchasing department for the issuance of a PO in accordance with standard purchasing policy.

Only University business related calls are chargeable to the University. Personal use of the cellular telephone is discouraged. However, there may be times when personal usage is unavoidable, but such usage should be kept to a minimum.

It is the responsibility of each employee to identify personal calls on the billing report received from the cellular company and reimburse the University at the Cashier’s windows in the Office of the Comptroller. This reimbursement will include the cost of the call(s) plus state tax. When determining the amount of reimbursement, the following table should be used.

By nature of the position, some budgetary unit heads need state-owned telephones in private residences. These state-owned telephones will be issued and installed upon written request with documented justification to Telecommunications from the budgetary unit head and approval of the President. These telephones will be charged to the budget account to which the employee is assigned or the budget account designated by the budgetary unit head.

Only University business related calls are chargeable to the state owned telephones. Personal usage is discouraged; however, should the personal usage be unavoidable any cost related to the call will be reimbursed to the University.

It is the responsibility of each employee to identify personal calls on the Miscellaneous Detail Reports and reimburse the University at the Cashiers' windows in the Office of the Comptroller. This reimbursement will include the cost of the call(s) plus state tax. The Miscellaneous Detail Reports will be distributed to all employees with state owned telephones in private residences by the budgetary unit head or their designee.

Telecommunications will maintain a list of all employees issued state-owned telephones. The list will have the name of the employee, the address of the residence, the location of the telephone in the residence, the date of installation, and the budget account to be charged. It is the responsibility of the budgetary unit head to notify Telecommunications of terminations, retirements, or reassignments to another budget account.

University departments may request telecommunications services using the "Telecommunications Requisition Form" available for the Office of Telecommunications. This form covers the addition of a telephone, the move of a telephone, or the change in software features on the instrument.

The "Telecommunications Requisition" must be properly completed and signed by the department head and dean/director before it will be processed by the Office of Telecommunications. Requisitions without proper signatures will be returned.

The Director of Budget must sign the requisition if additional monies will be used (adding a telephone, change in software, etc). The cost for various services are shown in Exhibit 19.B.

Voice Mail request may be initiated via a departmental memo listing the user's name and telephone number.

All questions concerning the requisition of services should be directed to extension 94281.

Exhibit 19 A - Sample Memorandum of Understanding - Telephone Calling Cards

Exhibit 19 B - Telecommunications Service Charges

Original effective date: April 1, 1992
Revised: June 10, 2002
Last review: June 10, 2002

Web page last updated 12/14/07