07-07.29 鈥� Community Service Policy

  1. Policy Statement:

    Towson University (鈥淯niversity鈥�) has established this policy and these procedures to enable employees to volunteer their services in the community during normal working hours. For the purpose of this policy, volunteerism is considered an outside activity that an employee has chosen to participate in and that benefits the community. Activities in support of University initiatives or interests, that an employee is requested to participate in, or attend on behalf of the University are not considered 鈥渧olunteer鈥� activities, but are considered assigned duties. If these activities are outside the normal business hours, compensation shall be awarded as required by governing laws, rules and regulations.

  2. Responsible Executive and Office:

    Responsible Executive:
    Associate Vice President of Human Resources

    Responsible Office:
    Office of Human Resources 

  3. Entities Affected by this Policy:

    All regular and contingent II staff. 

  4. Procedures: 

    1. The University will grant 8 hours per calendar year to each full-time employee for the purpose of participating in community service/volunteer activities that meet one or more of the following criteria: 

      1. the voluntary activity is for a public or private school (primary or secondary), childcare program, or a program for mentoring, tutoring or literacy; 

      2. the voluntary activity is for a higher education institution that is part of the University System of Maryland; or 

      3. the voluntary activity is for a community service organization, which is defined as a non-profit, non-partisan community organization designated as an IRS Code 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) agency, a governmental agency/organization, or a human service organization licensed or accredited to serve citizens with special needs including children, youth and the elderly. Although religious organizations may be eligible under this policy as 501(c)(3) organizations, community service/volunteer leave cannot be applied to specific activities designed to promote religious beliefs, such as teaching or leading religious assemblies or raising funds to support religious activities. 

    2. Part-time employees will be granted leave on a prorated basis. 

    3. The leave must be approved in advance by the employee鈥檚 supervisor. 

    4. Employees must provide written evidence of the leave in order to receive the appropriate leave credit. Failure to provide the appropriate evidence may result in the employee being charged accrued personal or annual leave. 

    5. Employees must use the appropriate leave code for time dedicated to community service/volunteering. 

    6. Paid leave will not be granted for days that employees are not scheduled to work, for time spent commuting to and from the volunteer site, or time the employee volunteers after regularly scheduled work hours. 

    7. Unused community service/volunteer leave will not be carried over to the next calendar year and employees will not be paid for the unused community service/volunteer leave upon separation from employment. Community service/volunteer leave does not contribute to time worked for determining overtime eligibility and will be offset by any additional time worked during the workweek.

Related Policies:

None.

Approval Date: 04/22/2016

Effective Date: 04/22/2016

Approved By: President鈥檚 Council 03/23/2016

Signed By: President鈥檚 Council

How to Request the Policy PDF

This online version of the policy may include updated links and names of departments. To request a PDF of the original, signed version of this policy, email the Office of the General Counsel, .