Deans’ and Senior Administrators’ Expense (DSAE)

Responsibility: Associate Vice-President, Financial Services 
Authorization: Board of Governors
Approval Date: Mar 30, 2001
Amended: Jun 1, 2009 / May 26, 2015

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that only eligible and approved expenditure categories are charged to Deans’ & Senior Administrators’ Expense funds.

Deans, Department Heads and Senior Administrators are entitled to expense funds as a result of their appointment to a specific position or because of their employment contract/collective agreement.

The primary purpose of these funds is to support professional development, but the funds may also be used to cover the cost of other college or department priorities related to the duties of the position.

The university must ensure that the guidelines associated with these funds are strictly adhered to, that the expenditures are appropriate, reasonable and legitimate university expenses, and that any personal benefits associated with the expenditures must be incidental in order to retain the non-taxable status of DSAE funds.

This policy applies to all individuals who are appointed to those positions that are eligible for a Deans’ & Senior Administrators’ Expense fund.

This policy also applies to those individuals who approve expenditures charged to a Deans’ & Senior Administrators’ Expense fund.

Within this policy, the use of terminology such as department head, dean and college are considered to also refer to director, head of administrative unit and administrative unit/division. 

Expenditures may be charged against these expense funds if the following general conditions are met:

• Expenditures must be related to the responsibilities of the eligible position, be for valid University business purposes, and are to benefit the university.
• Goods purchased on behalf of the university are university property and must be returned to the dean or vice-president, etc., prior to leaving.  This includes any equipment that was located off-campus.
• Any personal benefit must be incidental. If some personal benefit is deemed to the employee, generally the whole expenditure will be viewed as a personal benefit and not be considered an eligible expenditure
• Expenditures must be approved by the appropriate dean or vice president, etc.

At the conclusion of the individual’s appointment to an eligible position, provided the individual is continuing their employment with the university, the fund balance will be transferred to their individual APEF fund subject to the limitations set forth in the guidelines.

Employees are responsible for ensuring that the expenditures incurred are in accordance with this policy and the related guidelines and that the expenditures being claimed are limited to the balance available in their DSAE fund.

Approvers are responsible for ensuring that the expenditures are appropriate and reasonable.

As part of their financial management responsibilities, deans, vice-presidents and the president should meet with their employees annually to discuss the employee’s spending plans regarding the balance in the employee’s fund.

The Financial Services Division is responsible to the Vice President (Finance & Resources) for the administration of this policy and related procedures/guidelines.

Non-compliance with this policy will result in:

• adjusting the claim, or direct charge, to an amount defensible to a reasonable and impartial observer, or
• not processing the claim/direct charge if it does not have the required supporting documentation attached, or it has not been properly approved.

If, during a subsequent audit, it was determined that the charge, or a portion of the charge, was not an acceptable charge against the DSAE, then the declined amount would become the responsibility of the college to resolve. Resolution may include recovering, from the employee, the amount inappropriately charged to the DSAE fund.

Following due process, the University may take one or more of the following actions if it was determined that the charge, or a portion of the charge, was fraudulent: 

• Disciplinary action up to and including termination.
• Legal action that could result in criminal or civil proceedings.

DSAE Guidelines - A comprehensive list of eligible expenditures and applicable rates and explanations can be found in the knowledge base.