52 Volunteer Service Credit Policy

POLICY STATEMENT (Board Approval Date: 02/19/13)

Murray State College as part of our philanthropic program initiatives encourages staff to volunteer their time and talents in an effort to improve the quality of life for our campus community as well as the local communities that we serve. As a result, the college will have a policy that provides work time credit for volunteer service.

Procedure (Updated: 05/12/16; 11/13/19):

The mission of Murray State College is to provide opportunities for student learning, personal growth, professional success, and community enhancement. Murray State College recognizes it is our responsibility as good corporate citizens to help strengthen the communities in which we live and work. Consequently, we encourage our employees to become involved in their communities, lending their voluntary support to programs that enrich the quality of life and opportunities for all citizens. (VSC Credit Request Form and the VSC Time Sheet can be found on Commons/MSC Forms). VSC Hours are not compensated as overtime as it is the employee opportunity to accumulate hours for holiday breaks and non-working days during summer flex time. VSC participation is not mandatory.

Employees should submit a Request for Leave Form utilizing VSC or annual leave by November 1st for the Thanksgiving Holiday, by March 1st for Spring Break Holiday and by April 1st for Summer Flex Schedule in May of each year. If the Request for Leave Form is not submitted to HR prior to each of these events HR will utilize all VSC or annual leave available and communicate the status via email to each administrator which could result in a written reprimand. If the employee plans to work an alternative schedule and take no leave the employee should email the supervisor by the required dates of each break to obtain approval. The supervisor’s approval should be forwarded to HR.

The following guidelines are for Murray State College full-time employees who serve as volunteers in community programs that are either of personal interest or are corporate-sponsored initiatives:

Description
• Personal Interest programs are those programs whose goals are considered strategically relevant to the mission of MSC, but may not be funded by the college.
• Corporate-Sponsored programs are those programs whose goals are considered of strategic importance to MSC and for which the college has provided funding.

Volunteer Time
• Volunteer time should not create need for overtime, conflict with the peak work schedule or work responsibilities, conflict with other employees’ work schedule or work responsibilities.
• Time away from work for volunteering purposes may occur during lunchtime, before work, after work, or on the weekends depending upon the type of volunteer program the employee is involved in.
• Annual leave allows employees to take time to participate in their specific volunteer program. (* please note that the amount of time given per month to employees for volunteering may be set by individual supervisor if annual leave is being taken)
• VSC Hours will be credited at a rate of 1.5 times per contact hour for Exempt, Non-Exempt employees, and 12-month Faculty. All VSC Hours will be tracked through the Human Resource Office utilizing the VSC Time Sheet. VSC Hours may be used during the week of Spring Break, Thanksgiving Break, and during the Summer Flex Schedule/4-day work week when the campus is closed. VSC Hours may be used in lieu of annual leave or extended working hours during the Summer Flex Schedule (4) day work week.
• VSC Hours can be earned retro actively and will carry into each calendar year, unless the program is amended or discontinued. Employees may carryover 8 days or 64 hours annually. The maximum carryover amount is 24 days or 192 hours. The usage of this time or lack thereof does not affect vacation accrual or sick leave usage.

Eligibility (the requirements can be altered by each individual supervisor with issues related to eligibility)
• All full-time employees with satisfactory or above performance are eligible
• Employees should meet with their supervisors, discuss their volunteer choice, schedule, and receive
approval using the VSC Request Form.

Ineligibility:
You are ineligible to participate in the Program, if:
• The employee is on a Performance Improvement Plan.
• The VSC Program is discontinued. Murray State College reserves the right to amend or terminate this program at any time without prior notice. Murray State College also reserves the right to revoke approval if it is felt that the employee is misusing the Program.

Approval Process:
• If time from work will be utilized, employees must fill out the VSC Request Form and submit it to his/her supervisor for approval at least one week before the requested time off. The supervisor should submit the approved form to the area Vice President. Upon approval, the Vice President will then forward to the Human Resource Director. Approval is at the discretion of the employee’s supervisor, Vice President, and the Human Resource Director. After VSC hours are complete, employees must submit the completed VSC Time Sheet to the Human Resource Director.
• VSC Requests will be approved on a request to request basis.
• The employee must complete a VSC Time Sheet for each volunteer event they participate in and have the event coordinator sign off on hours worked/volunteered.

Volunteer Activities should be done on an unpaid basis and include some of the following options:
• Mentoring
• Tutoring
• Coaching
• Community service activities that are faith based can be counted if you perform service to the broader community. An example might be helping run a clothing donation program through the church or an after-school program for low income youth in the community through a church or synagogue. Activities that benefit just members of the faith community or that are inherently religious activities such as study groups, Sunday school, religious worship, or proselytization are considered service to that organization and would not be counted as service to the broader community

Examples of appropriate uses for VSC:
• Competing in a charity run
• Donating your time at a food bank
• Cleaning up the beach, highway or park
• Coaching a little league sports team
• Participating in Big Brother/Big Sister programs

Inappropriate examples:
• Taking a ski vacation and charitably giving ski lessons
• Attending your kid’s PTA conference
• Attending a professional, religious, or personal interest conference