February 2023 Newsletter 

  

Fiscal Updates: 

• Department 4-L Revenue Accounts 
  • To prepare for FY23 year end, the Business Office will be adjusting the balances on all department 4-L revenue-based accounts to reflect actual revenue received to date vs. projected annual revenue  
  • Budgets will be adjusted on a weekly basis to reflect any additional revenue received 
  • This process will occur in January.  Therefore, when you view available balances in KFS (Kuali Financial System) they will be reflective of actual available funding 
  • This will also reflect in the monthly reports that will batch on February 1^st  

• Summer 2023 Faculty Payrolls 
  • The Business Office will be processing summer faculty salary against any grant/contract, start-up, and/or any other salary commitments from the Dean’s Office 
    • Departments will continue to be responsible for processing non-grant summer payrolls 
    • This process will begin in early March and continue through April 12^th, which is the B.O. Deadline for Summer Payroll with an effective date of 5/23/2023 
  • 9- & 10-month appointments 
    • It is our understanding at this point that OVPR will continue to fund one week of summer for 9- and 10-month faculty who are supported 100% by Sponsored Projects 
  • 11-month appointments 
    • The B.O will work with faculty to process the summer hire 
    • This will include the PageUp Request, Dual Employment form, and the Smart-HR Transaction  
  • Summer Pre-encumbrances: Similar to Fall and Spring GA pre-encumbrance, the B.O. will be pre-encumbering salary and fringe for FY24 (starting 6/16/23 onwards) for the following payroll types:  
    • Summer Grads, Faculty Summer, and other Special Payroll appointments on grant accounts 

  

HR (Human Resources) and Payroll Updates: 

Graduate Assistant Payroll 

• Graduate School Timely Topics – See the attachment for the Spring 2023 Topics 
  • Thursday, February 2 at 1pm – Advising and Mentoring Historically Excluded or Racially Oppressed Graduate Students 
  • Thursday, February 16 at 11am – Community Engaged Scholarship 
  • Thursday, February 23 at 11am – Graduate Students and Special Payroll 
• Updated Graduate Assistant Offer Letter Templates – See the attachment for the announcement of the new templates 
  • Located on HR’s website under offer letters, Graduate Assistants, the new slimmed down templates have been created: 
    • Graduate Assistant Offer Letter Template (new or reappointments regardless of semester start) 
    • Graduate Assistant Mid-Appointment FTE or Stipend Level Change Template 
    • Remember to complete and attach the appropriate Supplemental Description of Duties for all GA letters 

• Summer Graduate Page Up and CORE Smart-HR Payroll Deadlines 
  • For those looking to compensate or hire any graduate student over the summer (5/23-8/22) please make note of the following processing deadlines 
    • Offers submitted in Page Up, need to be completed by Friday, March 3^rd for timely approval by the B.O. 
    • Smart-HR Transactions in CORE need to be completed by Wednesday, April 12^th for timely approval by the B.O.  
    • The B.O. cannot guarantee timely review and approval for May 23^rd hires that have not been submitted by April 12^th in CORE. Submission of transactions after this deadline may result in a delayed first payment 

  

CAHNR Internal Professional Development Opportunities: 

The CAHNR’s Dean’s Office is committed to providing opportunities for faculty, staff, and graduate students to expand their professional knowledge and skills. Throughout the year, the Dean’s Office will organize workshops and offer training, that will help the CAHNR community grow. Workshops and training will focus on fostering employee understanding and abilities in both hard and soft skills, such as in communication, HR/Payroll competency, and creativity. 

As Professional Development Opportunities are finalized, they will be listed on our website here. Please be sure to check regularly for new learning opportunities and other about upcoming events. 

• Business Office Open Hour  
  • Thursday, February 16^th – from 12:00PM – 1:00PM, Young 209 with a virtual option  
    • Please note the day has changed from Wednesday to Thursday due to the CAHNR Department Budget Hearing Schedule 
  • In February’s Business Office Open Hour, we will be chatting about:   
    • Fiscal Officer Role 
    • KFS and WebFocus Tips and Tricks 
    • Grant Management 
  • Please feel free to email us at CAHNRBO@uconn.edu if you have any questions about the upcoming session, or if you have anything you would like to know more about 

• Purchasing Training 
  • CLAS and CAHNR are joining forces to offer a combined Purchasing and Husky Buy Overview Training Opportunity 
  • The tentative date for this training is: 
  • Tuesday, March 28^th OR Wednesday, March 29^th, whichever day is chosen it will be offered from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM. 
  • Once a date has been confirmed, another communication will be distributed, and the location of the training will be provided 

• Staff Advisory Council Presents: Professional Development Session on Work-Life Balance 
  • Thursday, February 23^rd from 12:00PM to 1:00 PM 
  • Dr. Singe from the Department of Kinesiology will be a guest speaker  
  • Please see the attached email for more information. 
  • Be sure to RSVP by Feb 6th  

January 2023 Newsletter 

Welcome to 2023!  

2022 brought many changes.  We said farewell to several colleagues and welcomed new ones.  As the CAHNR community continues to evolve and grow, I am looking forward to working with all of you in 2023.     

Happy New Year! 

Fiscal Updates: 

• Department 4-L Revenue Accounts 
  • To prepare for FY23 year end, the Business Office will be adjusting the balances on all department 4-L revenue-based accounts to reflect actual revenue received to date vs. projected annual revenue  
  • Budgets will be adjusted on a weekly basis to reflect any additional revenue received 
  • This process will occur in January.  Therefore, when you view available balances in KFS (Kuali Financial System) they will be reflective of actual available funding. 
  • This will also reflect in the monthly reports that will batch on February 1^st  

• Spring Payroll Pre-Encumbrance   
  • Similar to the Fall Grad pre-encumbrance load, the B.O. will be pre-encumbering PA’s that cross into the 2023 calendar year for the following payroll types:  
    • Adjunct on 2Ls  
    • Grads – all accounts  
    • Post-doc – grant accounts  
    • Special Payroll and regular payroll on grant accounts that crosses fiscal years 

 

HR and Payroll Updates: 

• Regular Payroll Continuation Letters 
  • Effective January 1, 2023, all Regular Payroll Continuation Letters must contain an annual salary 
  • Offer Letter Templates for Articles 13, 24, 26 (NTT positions) are available 

• Grad Payroll 
  • To expand the options available to departments to distribute and manage Supplemental Description of Duties forms each semester, we are exploring an online version of the Supplemental Description of Duties form through Kuali Build that could be used by all departments. Paper forms or department-specific templates could still be used—this would just be one more option available to you. 
  • See attached email for additional information from Megan Petsa (email dated 12/9/2022) 

• PageUp Updates 
  • Email from Provost About new PageUp request 
    • The Provost’s Office has recently announced a process change related to certain professional staff and special payroll hires.  This change is to align with other university divisions that require review and approval from the President’s Personnel Miscellaneous Review Committee (PMRC).  
    • The following transactions will require a justification for additional review and approval:                  
      • Special Payroll – ‘NEW’ Administrative Titles 
        • An administrative position that is not considered a continuation of a previous appointment  
        • An administrative appointment that is not entirely funded through sponsored research  
      • UCPEA – ‘NEW’ position 
        • A position that is not refilling a vacancy 
          • Please work with Alicia Huckle in the B.O on appropriate justification 
        • A position that is not entirely funded through sponsored research 

• PageUp Trainings  
  • Regular Payroll  
    • January 24, 2023 from 9am to 12pm (Register) 
  • Special Payroll  
    • January 25, 2023 from 9am to 11am (Register) 

 

CAHNR Internal Professional Development Opportunities:  

The CAHNR’s Dean’s Office is committed to providing opportunities for faculty, staff, and graduate students to expand their professional knowledge and skills. Throughout the year, the Dean’s Office will organize workshops and trainings that help the CAHNR community grow their understanding and abilities of both hard and soft skills, such as communications, HR/payroll, and creativity.   

Professional development opportunities will be listed on this site as they are finalized. Check back regularly to learn about upcoming events.   

Additional training opportunities can be found: https://cahnr.uconn.edu/faculty-and-staff-resources/professional-development/   

 

• Business Office Open Hour  
  • Wednesday, January 18^th from 12:00PM – 1:00PM, Young 209 w/ Virtual option  
  • The Business Office will be hosting another open hour.  Tentative topics will include:   
    • Get to know the Business Office Staff 
    • When to contact the Business Office 
  • Our goal is to have open hours on the 3^rd Wednesday of every month moving forward 
  • If you would like to attend, please email the CAHNRBO and we will add your name to the invite  
  • For recommendations on future topics, please submit suggestion to the CAHNRBO or use our anonymous form (https://businessoffice.cahnr.uconn.edu/admin-meeting-questions-2/) 

• COMING SOON –Foundation FELIX Training 
  • TBD 
  • The Business Office will once again coordinate training with UConn Foundation to demonstrate the Foundation Felix system.   
    • This system provides helpful account information about the fund, any restrictions, real time balance, etc.  
      

Shout Out: 

• Welcome:  
  • Amanda Masztal, Administrative Program Support 3, CAHNR BO – HR/Payroll 
  • Eileen Underwood, Administrative Program Support 2, Academic Programs