April 2023 Newsletter

March 31, 2023

April 2023 Newsletter 

  

Fiscal Updates: 

  • FY23 Fiscal Year End 
    • Starting the first Monday April 3rd through the end of fiscal year 2023, the Business Office will be distributing weekly financial reports related to year end close. The report will include the following: 
      • 2.5% Carry Forward – Academic Units and Extension Storrs 
      • 2L Balances “Use it or Lose it” – all units 
      • Org fund balance Report – all units 
      • TA/Adjunct Compensation Report – Academic Units only 
      • GA Hold Account Report – Academic Units only 
      • Continuation Account Report – all units 
      • Open Encumbrance Report – all units 
      • Pending E-doc Report – all units 
    • FY23 University Year-End Deadlines 
  • 2023 Faculty Summer   
    • 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 12th, 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 Payroll 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 
  • Procurement Updates 
    • FY24 Blanket Order (see attached email) 
      • Two items to remember when submitting you FY24 Blanket Orders: 
        • Accounting Date 
        • Reference to last year PO in the cart name 
    • For any Software renewals, please contact Elaine Dumas– even if you are not ready to submit the requisition into HuskyBuy  – her team assist in navigating with this process 
  • Concur Updates 
    • Q&A with Crystal from Anthony Travel – April 18th 10: 
      • CAHNR and CLAS are collaborating and have organized time to discuss any travel booking questions 
      • If you would like to attend this Q&A, please email the Business Office (CAHNRBO@uconn.edu) 
      • Questions may also be sent in advance to the CAHNR Business Office  
  • Post Award Updates 
    • Notes form March 2023 SPA meeting: 
      • Foreign Travel on Grants – Best Practices 
        • Review terms and conditions of sponsored award to check if pre-approval is required for international travel – regardless of if it is included in the proposed budget 
        • Utilize Anthony Travel when booking flights using Federal Funding 
        • This helps to ensure compliance with the ‘Fly America Act’  
        • If traveler books travel on their own, they are still responsible for ensuring ‘Fly America Act’ compliance 

   

HR (Human Resources) and Payroll Updates: 

  • Graduate Assistant Payroll 
    • Graduate School Timely Topics – see the attached email 
      • Thursday, April 13 at 1pm – Workflow and Tools When Recruiting & Hiring GAs for Non-Academic units  
    • NEW Graduate Employee Union (GEU) contract  – IMPORTANT UPDATE: 
      • New Graduate Assistant Offer Letters needed to be sent to students by April 1st 
      • Continuing Fall Graduate Assistant Offer Letters need to be sent to students by June 1st   
    • Summer Graduate Smart-HR Deadlines – SmartHR submitted to B.O. by April 12th  
      • Processing deadlines for those with an effective date of 5/23/2023  
        • Smart-HR Transactions in CORE need to be submitted by Wednesday, April 12th for timely approval by the B.O. to ensure student receive their first paycheck in a timely manner 
        • Any transactions submitted late will result in a delayed payment to the student 
  • Wage Increases   – effective June 1, 2023 
    • Adjunct Faculty (see attached email) 
      • Effective August 23, 2023, per AAUP Contract Article 19.7, the following updates will be in effect: 
        • Adjunct faculty per credit minimum rate is $1,973.  
        • Adjuncts who have worked more than four semesters of continuous employment must minimally earn the 2% increased per credit rate of $2,012.46. 
        • Adjuncts who have worked more than twelve semesters of continuous employment must minimally earn the 3% increased per credit rate of $2,032.19. 
      • The updated rates for adjunct faculty can be found on the Special Payroll Information webpage, in the Compensation section. Any adjunct faculty hire requests for the Fall 2023 semester that are submitted with the old rates will be updated by the Special Payroll team prior to approval of the hire request. 
    • Special Payroll and Student Employees 
      • Connecticut State Minimum Wage increases to $15 per hour 

 

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, April 20th – from 12:00PM – 1:00PM, Young 209 with a virtual option  
    • In April we will review Graduate Payroll for the Fall 2023 semester 
    • 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  
  • Staff Advisory Council Presents: Professional Development Session on Ignite Your Creativity  
    • Wednesday, April 26th from 2:30PM to 1:00 PM, Location TBD 
    • Dr. Nora Madjar from the School of Business will be a guest speaker   
    • Please see the attached email for more information.  
    • Be sure to RSVP by April 7th    

 

Shout Out: 

  • Welcome:  
    • Ann-Marie Grimason, Administrative Program Support 3, AHS 
    • Chante King, Administrative Program Support 3, NRE 
    • Gina Abarno, Administrative Program Support 2, PVS CVMDL 
  • Farewells:  
    • Good Luck: Edward Harris, Financial Analyst 1, CAHNR BO