During fall semester, Ohio University approved the creation or revision of several university policies dealing with: employee pay; animals in or on university-owned property; relocation expenses; and access control for university facilities. These are the new or updated policies:
40.051: Compensation of Classified and Administrative Employees During Declared Emergency
This policy provides information for declaring an emergency school closing and established guidelines for the compensation of classified and administrative employees during an emergency.
What has changed: Updated to include all classified non-bargaining unit, administrative hourly, administrative salary and classified bargaining unit employees (per the bargaining agreements in place). Defined when hours can be banked as compensatory time. The Chief Human Resource Officer, Payroll Operations Manager and Administrative Senate roles were added as additional reviewers of the policy.
41.007: Twelve-Month Pay Option
This policy establishes a uniform process regarding employee eligibility for 12-month pay option. Ohio University permits all full-time and part-time faculty who have an appointment for nine, 10, or 11 consecutive months or two consecutive academic semesters to receive their pay in 24 equal installments, beginning with the first scheduled pay for the appointment period.
What has changed: The revision clarifies that only faculty are eligible for the nine, 10 and 11 over 12-month pay options. Administrators and classified employees cannot elect this option. They can only be paid during months actually worked to ensure retirement service credit can be accurately calculated.
41.008: Academic Year Pay Schedule for Faculty
This policy establishes the standard pay dates for faculty. This policy does not pertain to summer sessions or overload contracts. Ohio University pays full or part-time faculty on academic year appointments in 18 payments during the academic year. Nine equal payments will be made for each academic semester.
What has changed: Contracts that are submitted and approved after the payroll deadline has passed will be paid in equal installments over the remaining pay dates of the semester. Any off-cycle contracts will be processed in the same manor and will be divided equally over the remaining pays based on the appointment start and end date. The Payroll Operations Manager role was added as additional reviewer of the policy.
This policy describes the limitations relative to animals and animal pets in Ohio University-owned buildings, outside areas, and vehicles.
What has changed: The policy now considers pets for professional staff living on campus. The verbiage was changed to align with national standards.
This policy provides for consistent compensation to employees for certain relocation expenses related to their relocation to Ohio for employment at Ohio University.
What has changed: Federal tax law has changed and relocation payments made directly to vendors are no longer tax exempt. Updates are being made to ensure compliance and to promote administrative efficiency.
44.050: Physical Access Control
This policy establishes appropriate access control standards and procedures to enhance the physical security of Ohio University facilities and assets.
Ohio University access control is the functional area designated to maintain appropriate facility access control systems and procedures to enhance the safety and security of Ohio University students, employees, contractors, vendors, guests, assets, research, and records.
To this end, the University Access Control Office and the University Lock Shop have the sole authority to install, manage, maintain, modify, and operate all facility access control systems on the Athens campus. This includes both physical key and electronic access control systems.
Electronic access control system are maintained and operated in partnership with the Office of Information Technology. These functions may be delegated to other appropriate personnel at Ohio University regional campuses, extension campuses, and centers at the discretion of the vice president for finance & administration.
What has changed: There were no prior versions of this policy. The new policy clarifies roles and responsibilities associated with building access, lost keys, and building admission during non-standard hours.
To read all Ohio University policies, visit https://www.ohio.edu/policy/.