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LHR HOME > Library HR > Library Staff Manual > Leaves and Funding for Professional Activities Leaves and Funding for Professional Activities revised 12/05 POLICY The Library encourages staff members to participate in activities of professional library and subject-oriented organizations and assists those who pursue such activities. This support is based on the assumption that staff participation in meetings, workshops, and institutes benefits each individual personally and professionally and supports the Library's own long-term goals for enhancing its policies and daily operations. To these ends, staff members may be funded to participate in a maximum of three such outside professional activities per year, of which no more than two can be outside the state of Michigan. But this is a Staff Travel limit; the new Programmatic and Cooperative Travel categories may mean increased funding for more than three trips. Requests for funding of attendance at professional gatherings are reviewed by the Staff Travel Committee. Recommendations are based on established criteria for funding. The Committee consists of Library staff members appointed by the University Librarian to two-year rotating terms. CRITERIA FOR FUNDING Relevance to job. The Staff Travel Committee recommends various amounts of funding, depending in each case on a supervisor's and Associate University Librarian's judgements on the relevance of a professional activity to an employee's duties. (Attendance at professional conferences is considered relevant to every librarian's job.) Level of responsibility or participation. Weight is given to such formal roles as speaker, panel member, chairperson, and committee member. Novice status. Consideration is given to persons who are new to the profession or a position and whose attendance at a professional gathering may be especially valuable even though their levels of responsibility or participation are low. Non-novice who needs to build new skills. Consideration is also given to staff who need to build new skills or who have become active in a new area because of changes in job duties. Comparable costs of similar activities. When similar professional gatherings are held in more than one location, the Committee may recommend funding appropriate to attendance at the nearest location. CRITERIA FOR FUNDING Employee: Obtains Request for Leave/Funding Support Form from Library Human Resources, or the Library Finance & Facilities Office. Submits completed form to his/her supervisor. Supervisor: Approves form and sends it to the appropriate Associate University Librarian, who may approve and forward it to the Staff Travel Committee. Staff Travel Committee: Considers the request and makes a recommendation for funding, using the Staff Travel Funding Formula Form . Forwards the approved request to Library Human Resources for processing. Library Human Resources: Copies the request (funding level recommendation only) and forwards a copy to the staff member for his/her information along with a copy to the Library Finance & Facilities Office. Files the original request in the staff member's personnel file. Employee: Submits Travel Expense Report Form and required receipts to the Library Finance & Facilities Office. (See Travel Reimbursement, for details.) NOTE: Any funds approved by the Staff Travel Committee and not subsequently used by the staff member are to be reported to the Committee as soon as possible.
Last updated on Dec. 5, 2005 Please send comments and questions to libhumres@umich.edu