Issued: August 21, 2000

Revised: April, 2006

Radford University (RU) employees may be issued a cellular instrument (i.e. cellular telephone, Blackberry, etc.) for bona-fide non-compensatory purposes to conduct university business while away from their office or workplace. This document explains policies and procedures concerning the issuance and use of university-provided cellular instruments.

INTERNAL CONTROL RESPONSIBILITIES

A. Departmental/Employee Responsibilities:
  1. Departments requesting university-provided cellular instruments must obtain written approval from the President’s designee prior to procurement. The Associate Vice President for Business Affairs/Controller has been identified as the President’s designee. The request should be submitted on form TS4N (Nextel) or TS4US (US Cellular) and include a detailed justification of intended use.
  2. Use of a university-provided cellular instrument is restricted to official business only; the devices should not be used for personal purposes.
  3. University-provided cellular instruments must be purchased from the current state contracts.
  4. An employee assigned a university-provided cellular instrument is responsible for safeguarding this state property. RU will replace the first lost device; subsequent replacement costs for lost cellular instruments could become the responsibility of the employee.
  5. Billing statements for university-provided cellular instruments should be reviewed for accuracy on a monthly basis by the user. After verification, both the user and the user’s supervisor should sign and date the statement to document the review has been completed. Any discrepancies found should be reported to Telephone Services. Signed statements will need to be retained on file in the department for a period of no less than two years.
  6. Employees using personally-owned cellular instruments may be reimbursed for business calls when shown to be cost beneficial or out of necessity. An itemized statement must be submitted with the reimbursement voucher. In the event free minutes are used for business calls, employees are not allowed reimbursement for these calls.
  7. Since cellular service may be intercepted or overheard by third parties, confidential or sensitive matters should not be discussed on these devices. Also, for safety purposes, the user should refrain from using these devices while driving.
  8. When an employee with a university-provided cellular instrument transfers to another department or leaves the university, that employee’s supervisor should take possession of the device. The supervisor can reassign the cellular instrument to someone within the department or the device can be declared surplus. If someone in the department is reassigned the cellular instrument other than the position for whom the instrument was originally approved, a new approval will have to be secured. In either case, notify Telephone Services by e-mail or memo so the user information can be updated accordingly.
  9. Documented cases of abuse of these policies and procedures (i.e., personal use of university-provided cellular instruments) will be reported on the affected employee’s wage and earnings statement (W-2) or reimbursement by the employee to the university will be required. Disciplinary action could also be warranted under the applicable Standards of Contact.
B. Associate Vice President for Business Affairs/Controller Responsibilities
  1. Review and approve departmental requests for the purchase of cellular instruments.
  2. Notify Accounting Services and Telephone Services when departmental requests for the purchase of cellular instruments are approved.
C. Telephone Services Responsibilities
  1. Provide departments with cellular instruments contract information. Telephone Services will place orders for service and equipment; departments should not enter IFAS purchasing information for these devices
  2. Distribute a copy of the policies and procedures to employees and supervisors of employees that have been assigned a university-provided cellular instrument.
  3. Provide billing statements to cellular instrument users on a monthly basis to review for accuracy.
  4. Maintain a complete file of approved written requests and justifications for all university-provided cellular instruments.
D. Accounting Services Responsibilities
  1. Record university-provided cellular instruments in the Fixed Asset Accounting System. Each cellular instrument will be assigned a fixed asset tag number for tracking purposes.
  2. Conduct physical inventories of university-provided cellular instruments.
E. Financial Services Responsibilities
  1. Perform periodic reviews of cellular instruments usage for compliance with policies and procedures.