Hi, Anita, At Cornell, we used to offer both university-issued devices for some and stipends for some, depending upon the individual usage expectations. However, we recently instituted a policy that totally eliminated stipends for mobile communication devices. It also made the criteria for obtaining a university-issued device much more stringent, requiring individual dean or VP approval. Additionally, for university-issued devices, the policy limits the choice of device (for a phone, our procurement office is offering one model of smart phone and one model of flip phone, both of which are "last year's model," eliminating any cost to the university). The thinking is that this will 1) allow us to procure all devices centrally, taking advantage of economies of scale and allowing university-wide pooling of minutes and plans; 2) greatly reduce the number of provided phones; and 3) because cell phones are becoming ubiquitous, will inspire the expectation that those who use them occasionally (formerly entitling them to a stipend) will simply use their own phones.
For university-issued devices, we batted around the idea of prohibiting ANY personal use on these devices (requiring people to carry two devices), but it didn't fly. So now we allow "de minimis" personal use on university-issued phones, as a compromise. We have hired a consultant (at a few dollars per line per month, passed along to the user's unit) to manage the program in partnership with the procurement office and look for patterns of abuse, with the possibility of random audit of phone usage. Only those staff members who REALLY need phones are being issued them. Incidentally, we are allowing units to make up the stipends that their employees are losing through salary increases or one-time payouts. Even though this will cost money in the short-term, the thinking is that it will remove the culture of entitlement associated with the stipend, and soon no one will expect it. So the savings will be in the culture shift. I hope this helps. We recognize that many institutions are taking a different approach. Josh From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Policy Sent: Friday, May 22, 2015 4:38 PM To: ACUPA-L Subject: [acupa-l] Mobile Device Stipend Policy ACUPA Members: We are currently considering a policy to end the University's current policy of providing cell phones to qualifying employees. The draft policy proposes stipends to employees who use their personal devices for business purposes and meet certain eligibility criteria. For those of you who have a mobile device stipend policy at your institutions, how do you address potential risks, especially associated with employees who handle HIPAA and FERPA protected information? Thank you, Anita English [image001.png@01D093E0]Anita L. English Assistant Secretary, University Operations Director of Policy Management Office of the Senior VP/Secretary Howard University 2225 Georgia Avenue, N.W., Room 729 Washington, DC 20059 Direct: (202) 238-2612 Cell: (202) 738-3437 Website: www.howard.edu/policy<http://www.howard.edu/policy> ATTN: Please be aware that when you respond to an ACUPA-L e-mail, the reply will be distributed to the ENTIRE list of members. If you do NOT want to send an e-mail to everyone, please reply directly to the individual who initiated the query (their e-mail address appears in the "From" line of their original e-mail). If you wish to remove yourself from the ACUPA e-mail list, please go to the following website and complete the form. We will remove you from the list within 24 hours, during normal business hours. http://www.acupa.org/MembershipForm_Discontinue.html If you have questions about the ACUPA e-list, please contact Jamie Parris at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]?subject=ACUPA%20e-list%20assistance> or 607-255-6837.
