Library Travel/Training/Development Support Policy

There are four different possible categories of travel, training, and development support within the Library:

  1. professional development travel and training
  2. staff development travel and training
  3. administrative travel and training
  4. collection development travel

These four different categories of travel either:

  • support staff to further their professional advancement (professional development and staff development), OR
  • support staff performing their job-related duties as required by the Library (administrative travel/training and collection development travel).

Below are the provisions that the Library has made for these four different types of travel, training, and development support:

1) Professional development training and travel

Purpose:
To facilitate participation in professional-related activity linked to performance in one's current job. The Library places a high priority on equitably supporting ongoing training and professional development for its employees.

Eligible staff:
All academic appointees (librarian and non-librarian), professional-classified staff (the Management & Senior Professionals (MSP), and Professional & Support Staff (PSS) series—including Programmer/Analyst classifications and non-represented step-based employees.

Note: other staff are eligible for Staff Development Committee (SDC) funds, as described below. Individuals eligible for professional travel are not eligible for Staff Development Committee funds.

Funding levels:
Assistant Librarians, Associate Librarians, and Librarians: LAUC, having its own budget and mission to support the professional development of librarians, will provide yearly per-person funding for professional training and travel. If this amount of LAUC funding is not sufficient to cover the annual expenses incurred, the Library will make available (from central Library funds) for FY20/21 up to $600 per year per librarian. An individual's "unused" funds may not be carried forward from one year to the next, except under extraordinary circumstances and with the approval of the individual's AUL/Director.

Other professionals, listed above, are eligible for up to $600 in travel and training support from central library funds for FY20/21.

Please note: Funds are spent in the fiscal year in which the activity takes place. For example, fees for a class in August 2020 will be taken from the employee's professional funds for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2020 and ending June 30, 2021. This is the case even if the employee pays for the fees in June 2020 or earlier. What matters is when you attend the activity, not when you pay for your registration.

Non-19900 funds or unit-level S&E funds may not be used by library units to supplement the per-person expenditure levels stated above.

Authorization:
Permission for all travel and training must be submitted in advance to your supervisor and AUL/Director for approval. Funding may be used to cover any portion of professional travel expenses (transportation, registration, lodging, etc.) at the discretion of the traveler.

The use of the LAUC portion of the funding is governed by LAUC. Authorization and allocation process for the LAUC-B-funded portion of travel are controlled by LAUC-B.

2) Staff Development Committee (SDC) supported training and travel

Purpose:
For educational, professional, or career-related activities linked to performance in one's current job. (Note: activities required by the Library because of one's job are supported under "Administrative travel and training" as described below)

Eligible staff:
Any staff member who is not eligible for professional travel and has completed the probationary period

Funding levels:
Up to $600 per eligible staff member for FY 20/21

Authorization:
All requests must be approved in advance by the supervisor, unit head, line AUL/Director, and SDC Chair

3) Administrative training and travel

Purpose:
To conduct essential Library business

Eligible staff:
Any staff member, regardless of classification

Funding levels:
All reasonable travel and registration costs covered, per University guidelines

Authorization:
Line AULs or Directors approve in advance all requests for administrative travel, regardless of funding source being used

4) Collection Development travel

Purpose:
To acquire library materials, or arrange for such acquisition, when normal means of acquiring materials are not available

Eligible staff:
Any staff member, regardless of classification, who performs the selection of material

Funding levels:
All reasonable travel costs covered, per University guidelines

Authorization:
AUL and Director, Collections; Director, Bancroft Library; or Director, East Asian Library approve in advance all requests for collection development travel, regardless of funding source being used. The AUL and Director of Collections approves all collection development travel funded by central Library collection budget funds.

Units should normally use unrestricted endowment funds or other funds that support travel first for support of collection development work before tapping into central Library collection budget funds.