Timothy C. O'Rourke Vice President	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122
		(215) 204-7077

  To:                     All Employees Using Verizon Wireless Cell Phones
  From:                 Timothy C. O’Rourke
  Date:                  September 28, 2006
  Subject:             Interpretation of Cell Phone Policy

On March 11, 2005 Temple University issued a policy on the “Procurement and Use of Cellular Equipment Supplied by Temple University.”  One of the sections of this policy deals with the personal use of University provided phones.   A great deal of concern has been raised over the amount of time necessary to meet the requirement of reimbursing the University so we have reviewed the personal use section of the policy with the intention of making the reimbursement process more efficient.

The University provides cellular equipment and services to employees for the purpose of conducting University business.  It is recognized however; that situations may arise that necessitate the use of the equipment for personal calls.  The University understands the problems of requiring separate cell phones for personal and business use, and the cost/benefit inefficiency of requiring a complete accounting each month of personal use. 

To provide for an equitable shared-use arrangement, the following rules will apply:

1. University provided cell phones are to be used primarily for business purposes.  It is the Budget Unit Head’s responsibility to assure that individuals who have University provided phones have a legitimate business need for them.  If the business use of a phone is infrequent or is normally less than personal use, the employee should provide his/her own phone and submit reimbursement requests.

2. It is the responsibility of the employee and management to use University resources as efficiently as possible.

3. Employees who use their University provided cell phones for personal use will be required to reimburse the University at the rate of 10 cents per minute for total personal usage. 
   1. Example, employee uses the phone for personal usage on an average for 150 minutes a month.  This employee should reimburse the University $15 per month.
2. Employees should only reimburse the University for chargeable minutes. Chargeable minutes do not include nights and weekend calls (code L-O) or Verizon to Verizon cell phone calls.
3. The following calls are not considered personal usage:

                                                i.      A brief call home to tell your family that you are late for dinner (or similar).

                                               ii.      One call per day to home while away on business; as defined in the Travel and Expense policy.

4. Employees are not required to do a detailed accounting each month, but are expected to make a reasonable estimate of their average personal use using some objective basis. 
   1. Departmental wide estimates and/or more stringent recordkeeping requirements can be established at the college/unit level.
   2. Estimates should be self-validated at least once a year.

5. Once an average is determined, the employee can submit a check each month or an annual check for the calculated amount.

   It is our hope that this will reduce the burden of reimbursement for personal use. If there are any questions, please contact Robert Watson in the Office of Telecommunications at 1-4419.

Updated 07/12/2007