1,075: Memberships, Dues and Licenses

Last Revised: February 2010

Definitions:

Institutional Memberships - Memberships in organizations which are held in the name of the institution, but not in the name of an individual.

Individual Memberships - Memberships in organizations which are not held in the name of the institution, but in the name of an individual.

Professional Association Dues (and other similar organizations) - Dues to professional associations or organizations for which an individual qualifies by virtue of educational background, the occupational field to which the individual belongs, or because of interest.

Individual Licenses - Licenses which may be required of individuals in certain occupations by state or local law (i.e., CPA licenses, real estate licenses, and medical licenses).

Procedures:

Institutional memberships can be paid from state funds. Payments may be made from state funds under the control of vice presidents or deans. However, before such a membership is paid, it requires the approval of the appropriate vice president, dean or designee for determination that it is not a personal membership, the institutional membership is in the interest of the university, and is not a duplicate membership.

Payment for individual memberships, professional association dues, or individual licenses is not permitted to be made from state funds. However, payment for such may be authorized from non-state funds by the appropriate vice president, dean or designee and must result in the direct benefit to the university. Because of the diminishing level of returns to the university in authorizing payment for such memberships, a determination should be made that an individual does not belong to several organizations. For the same reason, care should be exercised that university funds are not authorized for various individuals to belong to the same organization.

Any delegation of approval authority for memberships, association dues, or professional licenses must be in writing, updated every time a change in that delegation occurs, approved by the President or Executive Vice President & Provost, and copies distributed to the appropriate offices.