Committee Processes for PDL - Long

PDL-Long Committee Processes

• Purpose of the Committee
• Committee meetings
• Approval process
• Notification of approval
• Transfer of funds
• Travel diary and Fringe Benefits Tax
• Corporate travel insurance
• Workers' compensation
• Committee training
• Committee documents
• Committee procedural options

Purpose of the Committee

The PDL Committee advises the Executive Dean / Head of Division on all aspects of PDL, including making recommendations on the allocation of money to the PDL-Long and PDL-Short programs.

Faculties / Divisions should manage the amounts of money provided to these funds so that they match the application profile in the Faculty / Division.

The PDL Committe is also is also responsible for advising the Executive Dean / Head of Division of the formulation of Faculty / Divisional specific policies and procedures for PDL.

Committee meetings

The PDL Committee manages the application process for PDL-Long and will normally meet twice per year.

The PDL Committee meetings are preceded by a call for applications.

At each meeting the Committee discusses the applications submitted and makes recommendations to the Executive Dean / Head of Division on which applications should be accepted, and on the extent to which they should be funded.

In making these decisions the Committee will be guided by the merit of the individual application, and the financial position of the Faculty / Division.

Other business discussed may include

• assessing reports from academics who have returned from their PDL-Long program
• the state of the budget or
• PDL policies and procedures.

The PDL Committee may advise the Executive Dean / Head of Division on Faculty / Divisional guidelines for the management of PDL-Short, however PDL-Short remains a School / Department responsibility.

Approval process

The Executive Dean of Faculty / Head of Division approves PDL-Long programs on the basis of advice from the Faculty / Division PDL Committee.

The PDL Committee may recommend preliminary approval of a program before all supporting documentation has been received. Such supporting documentation may include:

• Formal invitations from external organisations.
• Acceptance of a paper at a conference
• Clarification from the Head of School or equivalent on how teaching duties will be covered
• Details of salaries / payments from external organisations.

Final approval will only be granted after these conditions have been met.

In many cases it may be wise to delay processing the financial aspect of a PDL-Long program until after final approval has been received.

Notification of approval

Email to applicant

Once programs are approved, the PDL Secretary will notify staff by email that their application has been approved, and the conditions on which approval is granted (e.g. receipt of supporting documentation).

Approval letter to applicant

(Resource A1)

Once the supporting documentation has been received, the PDL Secretary will send a detailed letter notifying the applicant of their responsibilities while on leave, and on return.

A copy of this letter should be supplied to the International Travel Clerk and the Senior Human Resources Advisor responsible for the Faculty.

Also included with the letter should be the travel diary (Resource A2) and the financial and tax requirements (Resource A3).

Transfer of funds

Once the details of the leave are finalised the airfare will need to be paid, and the other funds - travel allowance, conference registration fees, ground transport, etc, will need to be transferred to the applicant's bank account.

The transfer may be managed by the applicant or by a School / Department finance officer, depending on arrangements in the Faculty.

Travel diary and Fringe Benefits Tax

Visit the Finance and Resource Planning site.

Corporate travel insurance

Visit the Finance and Resource Planning site.

Workers' compensation

Workers' compensation only extends to staff members undertaking approved work for the University and hence does not apply when they are on leave. Professional Development Leave is recognised as a form of leave under the rules for workers compensation.

Normally when a staff member is on PDL leave they would not be covered for workers' compensation if injured.

However, if the staff member is on PDL leave and is also undertaking approved QUT work when injured, then the staff member may be covered but would be required by WorkCover to prove that they were undertaking QUT work at the time of the injury.

In the case of staff members on PDL programs involving study leave, either paid or unpaid, coverage may be extended where such studies are a condition of their employment.

If you require further information on Workers' Compensation please contact QUT's Rehabilitation Advisor (HR Health & Safety Advisory Services)

Committee reports

Head of School to Executive Dean/Head of Division Report

(Less than and equal to 20 working days)

Reports describe how funds were expended for PDL-Short programs within the School or equivalent section for the calendar year. Document T2 is a suggested format for the report. Schools/sections liaise with the Faculty/Divisional office for reporting procedures.

Executive Dean to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Report

The annual reporting details provide an overview of how PDL is operating within the Faculty/Division for the calendar year. Schools/sections liaise with the Faculty/Divisional office for reporting procedures.

Reports should include:

• funds allocated to PDL programs. The report should also describe the overall funding of PDL including the split of monies between the PDL-Long and PDL-Short programs.
• details of approved PDL-Long programs.

Document T1 is a suggested format for a summary overview of the PDL-Long programs. The reports should be submitted by the 15th January each year to the:

Executive Officer
Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic)
Chancellery
Gardens Point campus.

Committee training

Governance Services provide Committee Training that PDL secretaries may wish to attend to assist committee procedures.

Please refer to the Governance Services Resources page.

Committee documents

Email call and attachments

• X1 Opening email - Proforma email sent at the start of the year advising staff of PDL meeting and the call dates for applications.
• X2 Call email - Proforma email to be sent when calling for applications.
• X3 PDL application form - To be attached to call email (X2).
• x4 Financial assistance - To be attached to call email (X2). Describes financial assistance available to applicants.

Documents

• A1 PDL Approval letter - Sent to applicants to advise program details have been approved.
• A2 Travel diary form - To be attached to PDL Approval letter (A1). Completed by academic staff whilst on the program.
• A3 Financial procedures form - To be attached to PDL Approval letter (PDL). Outlines financial requirements for reimbursement.
• A4 PDL Unsuccessful letter - Proforma letter sent to applicants whom have been unsuccessful.

PDL reports

• M1 Report Acceptance Letter - Letter advising academic staff of the acceptance of their PDL-Long report by the committee.
• M2 Report Overdue - Memo advising academic their PDL-Long report is now overdue.
• M3 Report Overdue 2 - Second reminder memo advising academic staff of their overdue PDL-Long report.
• M4 Report to Dean - Memo to Executive Dean advising PDL reports from academic staff members have been received.
• M5 Note to file - Notice to HR Advisor that academic staff report has been received by and approved. This note is placed on the personal file of the staff member.
• R1 PDL Report Guidelines - Guidelines for the academic staff member in preparing their report.
• T1 PDL Annual Report to DVC (Academic) - Proforma more than 20 working days (Also used to summarise applicants for committee purposes).
• T2 PDL Annual Report to Executive Dean - Proforma 20 working days or less for the Heads of Schools for PDL-Short programs.

Committee procedural options

In addition to the central policy, Faculties / Divisions may wish to develop their own additional guidelines, policies or procedures for PDL.

The areas below are some areas in which Faculties / Divisions may choose to develop their own policies.

Central policy is silent on all of these issues.

Time between PDL Committee meetings

Faculties / Divisions may wish to specify that there must be a period of time between PDL programs undertaken by a staff member..

For example, staff may be required to wait two years after a PDL-Long program before they can apply for another.

Maximum length of PDL

Faculties / Divisions may wish to set a maximum time for a single PDL program, eg. 6 months.

Alternatively, the normal maximum might be six months, with a longer program being available in exceptional circumstances.

Travel away from home rates

The travel allowance for PDL-Long is based on a percentage of the ATO travel rates.

The recommended percentages to be paid are available at the HR web page, however Faculties / Divisions can modify these percentages if they wish.

For example, higher rates could be paid if the PDL budget is not being expended

Recommended rates for PDL-Short (up to 20 working days) have not been published, and are up to Schools / Departments to determine.

Faculties / Divisions may, however wish to provide the HOS / Head of Department with guidelines on payments to be made to staff on PDL-Short.

Remember that PDL-Short encompasses and replaces conference leave.

PDL-Short processes

The process for PDL-Short applications is largely determined by Schools / Departments.

As above, Faculties / Departments may wish to reach some uniform guidelines for how PDL-Short will be managed within the Schools / Departments.

Rulings for specific kinds of PDL (eg. PhD completion)

Some specific types of PDL leave may need special requirements.

For example, faculties may wish to state that PDL for PhD study can only be taken for the final six months of the PhD.

If Faculty / Division based rulings on the above areas are made, then they should be included in the email call for applications (Resource X2). It may also be wise to place them on a Faculty / Division web site.

Some of the changes may require changes to be made to the application form (Resource X3).