Faculty Search Guidance

General Guidance

The department/unit should pay for all faculty search items allowable through NDSU (advertising, meals, travel, etc.) from Department Operating General Fund. Once all expenses related to the search are complete and a candidate has been hired, forward a summary of expenses to Ag Budget for a corresponding budget increase.

Meal attendees

Dinners should be limited to include the candidate and small number (2-3) of search committee members or dept./school representatives.

• Non-employees (e.g., commodity group reps, stakeholders, etc.) who are on the search committee may also attend the meal as long as the guideline on total number of participants is adhered to.
• Search committee members are priority for the meal.
• Second priority is area of expertise (e.g., an Extension person for an Extension position, a small grains person for a small grains position, etc.).

Meal limits

The max amount via NDSU is 125% of the GSA rate. The Banquet and Meeting Documentation form is located at https://www.ndsu.edu/accounting/forms in the “Accounts Payable Vouchers” section. Some restaurants do not fit well into these amounts. Plan ahead. Work with the restaurant to see if they could put together a menu of items that would fall within the limit, or find a less expensive location.

Alcohol

NDSU does not allow the use of NDSU funds to purchase alcoholic beverages. If any alcoholic beverages are ordered, the purchase needs to be separate from the meal, and covered with a Department/School Foundation account. No alcohol-related purchases will be reimbursed centrally. They are the responsibility of the originating unit. If Foundation account funds are used to purchase alcohol, seek prior approval from the department chair, head, or director to ensure the Foundation account MOU allows the purchase of alcohol. No pre-approval beyond the unit leader is necessary.

Policy

NDSU Policy 170 https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/170.pdf outlines the rules for paying for meals of staff and guests. To help provide the proper documentation for these expenses, a Banquet and Meeting Documentation form must be completed for NDSU Accounting.

Related Items

• Moving Expenses
  • Refer to NDSU Accounting for information on moving expenses including pre-move house hunting expenses. https://www.ndsu.edu/accounting/resources/moving_expenses
• Meal Reimbursements
  • Refer to NDSU Accounting for information on employee meal reimbursements. https://www.ndsu.edu/accounting/travel/employees/meal_reimbursements