April 1 of this year marked the beginning of a new fiscal year for Memorial University. In addition, it marked the beginning of a new Professional Development and Travel Expense Reimbursement (PDTER) Fund [see Clauses 31.57 through 31.66 of the current Collective Agreement (CA)].
This new Fund replaces both the support for Academic Staff Member (ASM) travel, and Professional Development Expense Reimbursement (PDER) of the old Collective Agreement (Clauses 26.01 – 26.04 and 31.60 – 31.63, respectively). While the new Fund combines both travel and professional development, there are no changes in terms of eligibility for reimbursement. In addition, now having a fixed amount available to each ASM on an annual basis may eliminate potential ambiguity with respect to travel funds, where such monies were computed on an Academic Unit-wide basis in the past. There are two (2) changes of which ASMs should take note:
- 1) In the past, PDER expenses incurred in excess of $400 in one fiscal year could be carried over and reimbursed in future fiscal years. This is no longer the case. ASMs can no longer carry a debit into the next year and have it reimbursed. ASMs are instead encouraged to delay large purchases until their PDTER balance (an entitlement of up to $4800 can be accumulated) will cover the entire cost of their professional development purchase or travel costs;
- 2) Requests for travel-related expense reimbursements must be in accordance with the Travel Guidelines- General T1 (http://www.mun.ca/finance/policies_procedures/travel_guidelines_general.php) and be submitted within ten (10) working days of trip completion. On the other hand, reimbursement for non-travel related (professional development) expenses can only be requested once in a fiscal year.
ASMs are encouraged to familiarize themselves with these new provisions in the Collective Agreement (Clauses 31.57 – 31.66). If questions remain, please feel free to contact the MUNFA Office (ext. 8642 or e-mail: munfa@mun.ca )
