Cell Phone Financial Policy

When an employee’s University job duties require use of a cell phone to facilitate University business, an Engineering department may allocate funds to purchase University cell phones and cell phone/data plans with the approval of the Department Chair.

University cell phones may be assigned to employees when the nature of their work requires wide mobility and simultaneous access to the telephone and/or Internet as illustrated by, but not limited to, the following examples:

a. Job duties require being frequently out of the office on University business or travel;

b. Job duties require typically working in the field or at job sites where alternative communication devices (land line phones and computers) are not readily available;

c. Job duties require being “on call” to frequently respond to work calls outside of regular business hours; and

d. Job duties require being “on call” for University-related emergency/disaster response.

Use of University supported cell phones for personal calls is permitted only in the following instance:
If the cell phone and/or cell phone/data plan is supported in full either directly or via reimbursement, the cell phone may be used for personal use provided that such use is incidental or does not burden the University with quantifiable incremental costs.

When a cell phone is paid for by the University, regardless of payment method and funding source used, it is University property and should be listed as a departmental physical asset. Upon termination, University-owned devices will need to be returned to the University and services disconnected and/or transferred. The Department Chair has responsibility for ensuring that service payments to cell phone resource providers are discontinued upon termination.

Non-University Cell Phones and Cell phone/data plans are not reimbursable except in the following instance:
You are eligible for reimbursement of your business calls if you incur additional charges by exceeding your monthly plan minutes. You will need to provide the following for reimbursement:

a. A copy of your cell phone statement

b. The name/position/title for each person called

c. The business purpose for each call being reimbursed

No reimbursement will be made either for business calls made within your plan minutes or on the basis of a percentage of total calls made for the month.