Mobile Technology, Access To

Policy:

Provision of university funds for employee mobile technology (cellular phones, smart phones, tablets, or similar) is limited to specific circumstances:

• University employees who are REQUIRED to work in states that have statutes mandating payment/reimbursement of work-related expenses. Requirement to work in that state must be documented in the employee’s position description. Employees meeting this circumstance will have their payment processed via Employee Reimbursement (see Procedures below).
• University employees who are assigned university-owned mobile technology utilized for university business purposes only (e.g., duty phones, on-call phones, etc.). No personal use is allowed on this technology. Payment for this technology will be via Unit Purchase (see Procedures below).
• Provision of university funds for employee mobile technology is prohibited for any other purpose.
• University data and information transmitted or stored on mobile technology is subject to the Minimum Information Security Controls Standard as referenced in Information Asset Classification & Management, Policy IV.06.02.
• University data and information transmitted via mobile technology remain the property of the University of Oregon, subject to all appropriate rules and policies, including those covering public records.
• Any mobile technology that is used to access, transmit, or process university data, regardless of whether that technology is personally-owned or provided by the university, shall be relinquished to the university, upon request, if needed for response to a public records request, subpoena, or other university business purpose.

Procedures:

Employee Reimbursement (when mandated by law in the employee’s state of residence) 

• The employee’s unit processes a reimbursement payment to the employee who, in turn, is responsible for all costs associated with the device and service. Any equipment or accessories purchased by the employee remain the property of the employee at all times.
• The employee payment is not compensation; it is a reimbursement of business-related expense and is processed through the Accounts Payable system. In accordance with Internal Revenue Service guidelines issued in September 2011, the payment is not considered taxable income to the employee.

Unit Purchase:

• The university unit purchases the device and pays/administers the service contract.
• The unit retains ownership of the device and maintains inventory controls over the device.