NEW DRUG POLICY WILL AFFECT STUDENT EMPLOYEES

The new drug and alcohol policy will affect anyone who receives a paycheck
from the university, including student employees, said Lisa Slay Mader,
director of marketing and public relations at USM.

The general policy on drug and alcohol use states: "The university has
chosen to adopt a 'no detectable level' standard rather than a standard
based upon perceived intoxication and/or levels above a certain permissible
limit. No employee shall report to work or remain on duty with any
detectable level of alcohol or illegal drugs in his or her body."

Students who work for the university are also required to comply with the
policy. "It's the same for any employee; if they receive a paycheck from the
university, they face termination," Mader said.

The reason for adopting the 'no detectable level' standard, as opposed to
the state's maximum blood alcohol level of .08 is because the time of
alcohol consumption or drug use could not be known, said Jack Hanbury, USM's
director of resources and risk management who wrote the policy.

"How are you going to know if that [the employee's blood alcohol level] was
the result of an employee being hungover from the night before or drinking
in the workplace," Hanbury said.

A blood alcohol level of .08 has varying effects on different people. The
'no detectable level' standard can be uniformly applied to everyone, he
said.

"Not to mention that fact that our employees and the people we serve deserve
a safe environment in which to work and function, which is of utmost
importance to our university," Mader said.

The decision for who will be tested will depend on the situation, Mader
said. The office of human resources will be responsible for the paperwork,
but a department director or dean could suggest a certain department be
tested, she said. "It just depends on the situation," Mader said.

If any employee witnesses another employee in violation of the policy they
should report what they saw to their supervisor, she said.

Hanbury said if a dean or other administrator is believed by an employee to
be in violation of this policy, as with any other disciplinary matter, it
would be sent to the provost. If upper level administrators were believed to
be in violation, then it would then go to the next level, to the president,
he said.

There isn't one person in charge of enforcing this policy, Hanbury said.
"The responsibility for enforcement would belong to every supervisor."

There was no incident that was the cause for the development of this policy,
Mader said. "It was found in a review of all university policies that we
were not in compliance with the Federal Drug Free Workplace Act. Not being
in compliance with that federal policy, we run the risk of losing all
federal funding, including federal financial aid."

The Federal Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988 requires some federal
contractors and all federal grantees to agree that they will provide
drug-free workplaces as a precondition of receiving a contract or grant from
a federal agency, according to the Web site of the U.S. Department of Labor.

All organizations covered by the act are required to publish and give a
policy statement to all covered employees, establish a drug-free awareness
program and notify employees that as a condition of employment on a Federal
contract or grant, the employee must abide by the policy and notify the
employer within five days if they are convicted of a criminal drug violation
in the workplace.

They also must notify the contracting agency within 10 days after receiving
notice that an employee has been convicted of a criminal drug violation in
the workplace, impose a penalty or require participation in a drug abuse
program for those in violation of the program and make an ongoing effort to
maintain a drug-free workplace.