From Lynn Battles, Berry College Controller
November 03, 2008
The use of gift cards and gift certificates as expressions of gratitude for “a job well done” by students and co-workers is not allowed by the College due to the classification of this type product by the IRS.
Generally speaking, the IRS regards these items as “cash” and, as a result, taxable to the recipient as compensation. In its Publication 15-B, Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits, the IRS states that “…You can exclude the value of a de minimis benefit you provide to an employee from the employee’s wages ... Cash and cash equivalent fringe benefits (for example, use of gift card, charge card, or credit card), no matter how little, are never excludable as a de minimis benefit ...” As the task of tracking and appropriately reporting these “wages” would be quite difficult and burdensome, the College has chosen to disallow this form of compensation.
This type item may still be used as prizes or raffle items, but must clearly be the result of something other than the efforts of the recipient. An example of an acceptable use would be where an organization has a drawing for a gift card based on attendance at an event or the purchase of a ticket.
2/21/2023 - the Graduate Assistant program is under discussion by Graduate Council.
Funding from within a department must be available to support a request for a graduate assistant. The attached procedures were approved by Graduate Council on April 21, 2009.
Use the Intent to Submit an External Proposal form on the Provost's VikingWeb page.
All applications for external funding or other support must go through the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs for institutional review before submission to a funding agency or sponsor. This review policy applies whether or not the funding agency requires institutional signatures. In addition, approval from Director of the Library is necessary early in the proposal process.
It is advisable to meet with Research and Sponsored Programs early in the planning process weeks or, in some cases, even months ahead of the grant deadline.
All research involving human participants must be submitted for review by the IRB, and must be approved before initiating any research activities.
The Berry College Intellectual Property Policy covers the development, protection, and transfer of rights to Intellectual Property resulting from the work of its Faculty, Employees, Students, and other third parties.
Librarians should note that they are not covered in the definition of Faculty and thus are covered by section 5B, Employees: "Unless otherwise, agreed to in a writing signed by the College and the relevant Employee, all intellectual Property created or developed by Employees in the course of their employment with the College, or at the specific direction or request of the College, shall be deemed a 'work made for hire' and owned by the College."