Operating Expenditures and Budgeting

Faculty Start-Up Expenses

At times, start-up expenses are negotiated in a faculty employment contract. This should be approved by the Dean and Provost prior to the offer being made for these expenses. If this has occurred in your department, you can record the amount agreed upon in the appropriate section of your budget template and make a note of it on the expense line. In most cases, these are for lab equipment which you record in the Object 11 - Additional Equipment section of your budget template.

Moving Expenses

At times, moving expense reimbursements are negotiated in a faculty or staff employment contract. This should be approved by the Dean and Provost prior to the offer being made for this reimbursement. If this has occurred in your department, you can record the amount agreed upon in the out of state travel section of your budget template and make a note of it on the expense line.

Faculty Professional Development Funds

Professional Development funds are allocated from the Provost to allow each Full Time Faculty member (regardless of tenure status) the ability to spend $500 each year on expenses to enhance their professional development. These funds can be used towards travel, conference registrations, IT or Lab Equipment purchases, association dues, subscriptions, periodicals/supplies, registration fees, etc. The Provost allows for a one year carryforward of these funds so that up to $1,000 can be combined to make a larger item purchase or apply towards a conference.

For purposes of recording these planned expenditures in your budget submission, you can either request each faculty member to supply you with their “intent” on spending their funds in the following year so that you can budget in the appropriate expense accounts or choose to budget the entire amount into one account if a breakout is not able to be obtained.

The Provost requests that each department complete the Professional Development and Travel Expenditures Form and submit to your Dean to review and then send to the Provost Office no later than 60 days after the end of each semester to show how each faculty member has spent the allotted funds.

PLEASE NOTE: These funds may NOT be shared with other faculty members. It is intended to provide funding for each individual and not to be combined.

Travel

State Budget Allowance per Faculty Member

The amount allotted to travel in the department’s budget from state funding is $350 for each FTT and FTTT faculty member. Please budget on the out-of-state travel line the amount of faculty you have eligible to receive these funds to determine your calculation.

It is important to note that all travel requires pre-approval from your direct supervisor or Dean before travel arrangements can be made, along with the justification as to how your classes will be covered when you are away. These funds may be shared within your department at the discretion of the Budget Administrator and Dean.
Staff Travel budget

Staff travel should be relatively easy to budget. Typically, employees attend the same conferences each year or at least have an idea of others offered that they wish to attend in the coming year. These should be pre-approved by the Budget Administrator prior to budgeting for them.
Travel from other resources

Additional sources of funds can be utilized as well for travel-related expenses. This can include funds from sources such as the SU Foundation, Indirect cost (IDC) income, grants, other auxiliary funds, etc. However, it is important to note that all travel requires pre-approval from your direct supervisor or Dean before travel arrangements can be made.
Student Trip travel

All Student travel must be approved prior to scheduling any arrangements. This approval process starts with the Faculty Member and then approvals are needed by the Department Chair, Dean and Provost. Beginning in FY2018, all internal motor pool charges for bus rentals and other vehicles will be charged to the applicable department code utilizing the service. These trips need to be considered when calculating your travel budget on your Budget Submissions. Consideration should be given to charging a class fee if travel is required for certain classes on a regular basis. If a class fee is already charged to the students, then a re-evaluation of the fee amount may be to ensure that it is recovering those costs.

Search Expenses

All search-related expenses will be incurred in the department for which the incumbent is hired. There are no longer department codes specifically for faculty search expenses. For faculty searches, no more than 10% of the prior incumbent’s salary should be budgeted for search expenses. A list of the primary search expenses to budget is as follows:

Travel Expenses for Candidates
Food Expenses & Reimbursements

Please use discretion when having food for on-campus interviews. These expenses can be charged to your department code (including state-support) and no longer requires the use of a Special Events department code. You must document the purpose and list all attendees for the State to process expense account reimbursements. Please note that if taking a candidate off-campus for a meal, a per diem limit doesn't extend to the candidate but discretion should be used. Employees will only be reimbursed the per diem amount. Alcohol will not be reimbursed under any circumstances. Utilize past history to help determine a budgeted amount.
Fingerprinting

Advertising

These expenses will be usually charged to the department based on the recruitment plan. Below is a job ad list provided by HR and who is responsible for the cost.

Job Ad List	Cost
MD Workforce Exchange (all nonexempt positions)	Free
Diverse Issues in Higher Education (all exempt & faculty)	Paid by OIE ($399)
Higheredjobs.com (free, HR annual subscription)	Paid by HR
Chronicle of Higher Ed (web)	$320
Insidehighered.com	$299
Careerbuilder.com	$130
Indeed.com	$400
Linkedin.com	$199
Hispanic Outlook (web)	$195
Maryland Nurses Assn (web)	$300
Delaware Nurses Assn (web)	$350
American Assn Colleges of Nursing (web)	$588
American Assn Colleges of Nursing (web)	$588
Somerset Herald (display – condensed)	$133
Worcester County Times (display – condensed)	$265
The Capital – Annapolis (display – condensed)	$600
Capital Gazette (display)	$299
Salisbury Daily Times (print) condensed display ad Sunday	$245

Food Expenses

Food purchases (both on and off campus) for all meetings and events should only be charged to a department code beginning with a 17xxxx, 3xxxxx, or 9xxxxx unless there are special circumstances like job searches and academic accreditation. Project codes can have food expenses if they are allowed by the grantor. Each School and Administrative Division have a Special Events department code (360xxx) to cover food expenses. Approval should be obtained from the BA.

Food purchases (essentially per diems) related to out-of-state travel are usually charged to your department code.

No Alcohol can be charged to any department within the University. Foundation funds must be used for this reimbursement and upon approval of the Budget Administrator.

Classroom Furniture

Typically, the purchase of all classroom furniture is now budgeted within a Support Services department code.

New and Replacement
Broken, Missing or Damaged
During the fiscal year, furniture will become damaged or missing that wasn't originally budgeted. If this occurs, please follow the appropriate steps to notify Support Services:
1. If a chair or table is in danger of collapsing or is damaged in a way that could lead to injuries:
  1. Place a note on the damaged furniture to let others know it's broken
  2. Report the problem to your department's Administrative Assistant so they can process an on-line work order.
2. For more urgent matters:
  1. Contact Support Services either by calling or creating a work order online directly yourself:
    
    410-677-3097 or on campus ext. 73097
    
    Physical Plant Work Order
  2. Be sure to tell your Administrative Assistant you have done this to avoid duplicative requests.

Computer Purchases

New Employee (new PIN position)

New faculty/staff are entitled to the current “standard model” desktop or laptop in either Windows or Mac. If an upgraded model is desired, then the departments must budget for the price difference between the standard and upgraded model cost. Obtain an estimate of this price difference from IT.

The standard models are listed on the IT website under Procurement.
Current or replacement employee (in existing PIN position)

Salisbury University has a five year replacement cycle on full time faculty and staff PCs.

In general, the replacement cycle is targeted for the summer and fall semester. Non-standard special configurations can take longer depending on what is involved.

As faculty/staff come up for renewal, they are entitled to the current “standard model”. This standard is updated periodically (see the above link) and includes desk and laptop models for both Windows and Macs. If an upgraded model is desired upon renewal, then the departments must budget for the price difference as previously noted.

Online Database and Journal Subscriptions

Electronic resources, such as databases and online journals, need to be ordered by and included in the budget of the SU Libraries to ensure compliance with all applicable USM and state policies and to make sure that access is available to all SU students, faculty, and staff. Requests for databases and online journals should be submitted to the Dean of Libraries. The Libraries will conduct a review of all requests early in each spring semester and solicit feedback. The Libraries will establish a priority list for acquisition or licensing based on cost, feedback, needs, the availability of alternative sources of similar information, and the equitable provision of resources to meet the needs of all academic programs. Departments should not budget for or subscribe to databases and online journals on their own.

Internal Sponsorship of Campus Events

Budget Administrators should record the full anticipated expenses of all events they plan to hold. In prior years, BA’s would request funding from the Deans and other departments to “support” an event they wish to bring to campus. No longer should the funds be moved between departments for this type of request.