July 2023 Newsletter

June 30, 2023

July 2023 Newsletter

 

Happy New (Fiscal) Year!

We hope you are enjoying the summer season so far.  Though we miss the student population on campus during this time of the year, the plentiful parking spaces cannot be complained about.  For the preparation of summer research, the Dean’s Office and the Departments collectively processed 238 payroll authorizations for summer 2023 payroll.  Way to go, everyone!  Great teamwork!

 

Fiscal Updates:

    FY23 Fiscal Year End and FY24 New Fiscal Year

  • FY23 and FY24 are both open in KFS as of 7/1/23
  • Default will be FY24
    • As you begin to look at balances on your accounts in KFS, please note the following:
    • Though FY24 is default on balance inquiries, you have the option to change to FY 2023 by typing over 2024
    • When looking at FY23 balances on the “General Ledger Balance” inquiry, there is an additional period called “Year End.” This is where you will see any activity posted after June 30, 2023 that relates to Fiscal Year 2023. On the General Ledger Entry inquiry, you will see these transactions in Fiscal Period “13”
    • KFS has the ability to show the prior year balances carried over into the new fiscal year. Ending balances from FY23, which are scheduled to be loaded overnight on July 1st as pending entries, will be regularly updated into FY24 until the final close in August
  • Encumbrances:
    • New FY24 external encumbrances (Purchase Orders) are in KFS.
    • Prior Year external encumbrances that are carried forward into FY24 are also in KFS
    • FY24 payroll encumbrances will be posted the week of July 3, 2023
  • CCR – this will be processed by the Business Office in period 13
    • For programs that have been identified as entrepreneurial for revenue sharing, we will be processing the transfers to recoup a portion of the revenue generated for Provost’s Office and CAHNR Dean’s Office per policy – for more information, please refer to the Entrepreneurial Revenue Distribution Policy found on the College Intranet
  • FY23 Carry Forward
    • If your department is scheduled to receive any carry forward funding, the transfer of funds will not occur until after the FY23 hard close, which will likely be at the end of August
  • Business Office Reports
    • In July, there will be two report distributions for department and faculty reports.  As we move through the first couple of weeks of July, the Business Office will be preparing account budgets and update all accounts to reflect the starting FY24 balances
    • July 1st – will reflect FY23 ending balances; These will be the last report distribution for FY23
    • By July 13th – FY24 will be generated and distributed reflecting FY24 beginning balances
  • Salary Savings Accounts
    • Reminder – the BO will load any remaining prior year (FY23) salary saving account spendable balances for depts. and faculty on July 1st. These funds expire 6/30/2024
    • Salary Savings earned in FY23 will be distributed on 7/1/2024 (FY24).  These funds expire 6/30/2025
    • The same account will be utilzed and sub-accounts will identify what funds will expire in a given year.
    • The Business Office is in the process of developing a new report to capture this information
  • CAHNR Awards
    • For those who received CAHNR Awards, the BO will establish new 6L RFNDO accounts and will manage any Foundation Disbursements by the end of FY24
    • These accounts will have the award recipient listed as the ‘Account supervisor’, and will be included in their monthly account statements starting July 14th
  • AY23-24 Grad Pre-Encumbrance
    • The BO will once again be loading pre-encumbrance for Grad payroll.  Last year, only GAs coded to sponsored program accounts were pre-encumbered.  Due to the positive feedback we received regarding this project, this year the BO will also be pre-encumbering for GAs coded to university accounts in addition to sponsored program accounts.
    • The pre-encumbrance will be reflected in the FY24 monthly reports
  • Start-Up Accounts
    • The BO will be working to establish all new 8/23/23 faculty Start-Up accounts (if not completed already)
    • Reminder – Faculty (in most cases) will have three (3) 2-Ledger Start-Up Accounts:
      • Faculty Summer salary
      • GA’ Support
      • Equipment/Discretionary
    • The BO will serve as FO on both the Faculty Summer Salary and GA support accounts
  • Federal Accounts (Smith Lever, SAES Capacity)
    • Beginning this month (July), the BO will begin its annual review and establishment of the FY24 Federal Accounts
    • This will be an ongoing process until the new Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) opens on 10/1/2023 (FFY24)

 

   Purchasing Update

 

   Travel Update

  • For trips longer than 30 days, requests for long-term per diem support will only be approved with justification for why extended per diem support is required.
  • This may include specific requirements of research, limitations on accommodation related to the area of travel, non-food expenses that are being supported through per diems, or issues related to the individual context of travel
  • For more information, click here

 

    Business Office email update (CAHNRBO@uconn.edu)

    • To provide better accountability and timely responses to inquiries sent to the CAHNRBO mailbox, we will be utilizing an internal ticketing system.  There will be minimal changes as communication will still be done via email.  Our responses may include a ticket number in the subject line for reference

 

HR (Human Resources) and Payroll Updates:

Fall 2023 Payroll Deadlines

  • Fall Graduate Students
    • Smart-HR Deadlines
      • Internal BO deadline was Friday, June 30th.  Please submit ASAP for any SmartHRs not yet processed.
      • University Deadline: Friday, July 14th
    • Please note: since 2024 is a leap year, the end date for an academic year appointment will be 5/21/24 (instead of the usual 5/22)

 

  • Adjunct Faculty
    • PageUp Deadline
      • University Deadline: was Friday, May 26th
    • Smart-HR Deadline
      • Business Office Deadline: Wednesday, July 19th
      • University Deadline: Friday, July 28th

   AAUP Faculty Smart-HR Blackout period

  • Due to the merit process, there will be a blackout period for all AAUP bargaining unit members on: August 2nd – August 22nd
  • Please do not submit any faculty continuations/renewals or other faculty changes during this blackout period – this applies to any transactions effective 8/23/23 and beyond

 

PageUp

  • Trainings
    • Regular Payroll
      • July 17th from 9:30am to 12:30pm (Register)
      • August 10th from 9:30am to 12:30pm (Register)
    • Special Payroll
      • July 18th from 9:30am to 11:30am (Register)
      • August 11th from 9:30am to 11:30am (Register)
  • Search Audits
    • Reminder for search audits submitted via PageUp, should route to Business Office for review for both initial search and hire request
    • Search: Add Amanda Masztal as the Org Head in the approval process for these search audit hires.
      • Hire request: select “CAHNR Department: Audit”
      • Amanda should be listed as the Dean’s Office approver

 

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, July 20th – from 12:00PM – 1:00PM, Young 209 with a virtual option
    • In July the Business Office will host “Office Hours”
    • This hour will be left open and available for any topic and/or questions.
    • 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
  • CAHNR Admin Meeting TBD (Sept 2023)

 

Shout Out:

  • Welcome:
    • Jessica Staack, Financial Assistant 1, CAHNR Business Office
  • Farewells:
    • Well wishes to:
      • Sabrina Jahnke, Administrative Program Support 1, PVS
      • Mnal Sahoobah, Administrative Program Support 1, KINS/KSI

 

Fun facts about this month in history:

  • July 3, 1806 – The first cultivated strawberry is displayed by Michael Kent
  • July 18, 1920 – Hammonasset Beach State Park (Connecticut’s largest public beach) first opened to the public
  • July 20, 1969 – In “one small step for Man, one giant step for Mankind”, Astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the moon.