Governance, Ethics and General

Institutional and Individual Memberships in Professional Associations

Section: Governance, Ethics & General Policies
Policy Name: Institutional and Individual Memberships in Professional Associations
Policy Owner: Executive Vice President
Responsible University Office: Office of the Vice President For Finance and Deputy Treasurer
Origination Date: April 15, 1975
Revisions: June 5, 1989; December 1, 1989; July 1, 2005
Legacy Policy Number: 1-03
  1. PURPOSETo outline the circumstances under which individuals, departments or colleges may apply for institutional memberships in professional associations.
  2. POLICY
    1. Institutional memberships in professional organizations are frequently of value to the University of Delaware. Such organizations provide valuable journals, newsletters, information and consulting services, and professional meetings with reduced charges to members. For these reasons, administrative and academic offices and the University as a whole can justify reasonable institutional memberships in professional organizations, though funds for this purpose must be weighed against other academic needs.
    2. Academic and professional offices which can give high academic priority to professional associations and show them to be of substantial benefit to the operation of the office may, with approval, charge these to their regular supplies and expense budget, though no new budgetary allocations can be made for this purpose. Upon application for a new membership or upon the first renewal of an existing membership, a statement indicating the benefits to the unit and to the University should be presented in writing to the dean or director and to the Provost or appropriate vice president for approval. Subsequent renewals are assumed to be automatically approved. Professional memberships, both organizational and individual, may be reimbursed from the annual allocation of Discretionary Funds approved for deans and senior administrative officers.
    3. Memberships which benefit the University as a whole, as distinct from an academic or professional office, are authorized through the Office of the President.
    4. The University Controller will monitor expenditures for association dues to determine compliance with this policy.