Please read below the FASoS policy about what can be purchased from personal budgets and who should be involved when purchasing IT equipment. This information is also available on the FASoS intranet. For more information, see here.
See here for the equipment purchasing flowchart.
What can and cannot be purchased from my personal budget?
This is a question we receive on a regular basis. Since the money in your personal budget is brought in by you as UM employee and as such is part of UM funds, the basic ‘rule’ is that you cannot buy items for personal use. The purchase must be necessary for you to be able to perform your educational and/or research tasks. Of course, we realise that this is somewhat of a grey area, sometimes an item is purchased for research and/or education but might be used for personal use as well.
It is therefore recommended to discuss the intended purchase with your head of department before you go to our IT department. The IT department may consult the director when in doubt about the eligibility of the purchase.
Other issues to consider when buying equipment from your personal budget:
- The item must be available through our preferred partner. Please note that this is a legal requirement. In case the preferred supplier does not have the requested item nor an equivalent alternative, and the device is indispensable to perform your education or research, the device can be ordered through another supplier. Please contact our ICT department in that case.
- You have to sign a user agreement, stating that you are the user and UM is the owner of the equipment;
- When your contract ends, you have to hand in the equipment before you leave. Depending on the age of the device, it may be possible to purchase the equipment and keep it. If you wish to do so, please contact the IT department of FASoS.
Who should you involve when you purchase IT equipment?
A- personal budget
You inform your Head of Department about your intended IT purchase(s). When in case of doubt (for example the item might not be deemed as necessary to perform educational and/or research tasks or is not offered by the preferred supplier) the Head of Department consults the director.
B- project budget
Purchases from your project budget: if you are not the Principal Investigator (PI), please discuss with the PI and contact Finance whether there are sufficient means available in the material budget of the project. If yes, please send in your request to the IT department that will place the order. When the device/equipment is not “regular” (not available, not offered by the preferred supplier etc.), the IT department consults the director and we will then try to find a solution together with you.
C – a combination of both
Please follow the procedure under B and discuss your purchase with your Head of Department as well.
On a more general note: UM has set up a taskforce that is developing a vision and corresponding policies for working from home. This includes guidelines for equipment that facilitates remote working. We expect that the new policy will be ready in the second half of this year.
