February 2024 Newsletter

Fiscal Updates:

• Summer 2024 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  
    • 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 5/22/2024  
  • Departments will continue to be responsible for processing non-grant summer payrolls. 
    • 11-month Faculty 
      • The B.O will work with faculty to process the summer hire  
      • This will include the PageUp Request and the Smart-HR Transaction   
  • Important Reminder:  
    • The updated overload policy allows faculty to be eligible to earn up to an additional 25% over their summer salary (12/12ths) for non-research activity (May and winter intersession, summer teaching, CETL course development, etc.) 
    • The overload must be requested and approved prior to the start of the non-research activity 
    • If you are processing special payroll compensation for your research-active faculty, please contact the B.O. to start the overload request  

• Summer Pre-encumbrances:  
  • The B.O. will be pre-encumbering salary and fringe for FY24 and FY25 (starting 6/14/24 onwards) for the following payroll types:   
    • Summer Grads, Faculty Summer, and other Special Payroll appointments on grant accounts  
    • The Pre-encumbrance will be reflected in the May 1^st reports 

• Annual Cash Handling Training 
  • Anyone involved in handling cash and cash equivalents are required to complete the Annual Cash Handling Training for FY24 
  • Access to submit depositing eDocs in KFS may be removed if training is not completed
  • Training may be found in Learning@Work

 

Procurement Updates:

• Apple Computer Orders 
  • CT DAS contract used by the University expires 1/31/24. Until a new contract is finalized, the Apple contract and HuskyBuy punchout will be unavailable until further notice 
  • Apple product requests may be filled through other suppliers in the HuskyBuy catalog, including but not limited to CDW-G and GovConnection 

• The UConn Foundation is now accepting credit card payments 
  • If you are planning an event at The UConn Foundation that requires an agreement to be signed, you must submit the agreement request on the new Hotel & Events Service Request form in Huskybuy 
  • Once the agreement is executed, your Travel Card may be used for payment (requisitions are no longer processed for these transactions) 

• PCard Software Exception Process 
  • There is a form in Huskybuy to request exception for buying software on PCard 
  • The streamlined review of PCard requested software and cloud purchases helps ensure that the potential Supplier’s privacy and security policies and practices protect confidential University data 
  • University PCard holders should consider the data security and privacy implications and potential risks of purchasing software and c loud services 
  • This process may be used by PCard holders only and if the following conditions apply: 
    • Supplier will not/refuses to register in HuskyBuy and/or 
    • Supplier will not/refuses to accept UConn Purchase Order 
  • For more information, visit purchasing.ubs.uconn.edu/2023/07/11/huskybuy-pcard-software-exception-process/ 

• Procurement Support Reminder 
  • • See “Huskybuy Broadcast” email from 1/26/24 

 

HR (Human Resources) and Payroll Updates:

• Grad Summer 2024 
  • Important Dates 
    • Summer dates are 5/22/2024-8/22/2024  
    • Due to PageUp: 3/15/2024  
    • Approval in Page Up: 4/10/2024  
    • Smart-HR (Internal BO) Submit by 4/12/2024  
    • Smart-HR (University) Approved by 4/19/2024  
  • Reminders: 
    • Please include a print-out of the Grad calculator in your PageUp requests 
    • Submit a PageUp request for each unique funding period.  In the Smart-HR Special Payroll hire template, the appointment’s start and end dates are sourced directly from the PageUp record and are not editable. This could lead to inaccuracies in encumbrance if adjustments to funding are required 

• Smart-HR Reminder: 
  • • • When submitting Smart-HR, please include the following information in the comments: 
        • Employee name 
        • Employee number 
        • Dept. 
        • Effective dates 
        • Funding change: from accounts and to accounts and % distribution 
        • Example: 

          John Doe; Empl id #999999; CAHNR Dean’s Office, 1/1/24 – 12/31/24;  

          From 2XXXXXX – 50%, 4XXXXXX – 50% 

          To 2YYYYYY – 50%, 4YYYYYY – 50% 

• From the Graduate School:

• • Spring 2024 – Last day of work for GAs holding F-1 and J-1 visas 
    • Graduate students who complete their degree requirements during Spring ‘24 and have their degree conferred in May will no longer be pursuing their degree after May 5, 2024 
    • Time between May 4, 2024 through May 21, 2024 should be treated as time off for any GA who holds an F-1 or J-1 visa and whose degree is conferred on May 5,2024 
    • Refer to attached email for additional information 
• • Fall 2024 Grad 
    • Refer to attached email from the Grad School regarding April 15^th resolution 
• • New award letter template for departmental fellowships – see email from 1/14/24 
    • From the Grad School: template includes language for fellowship award letters where the dept. intends for the grad to receive same total stipend as if they were full GA 

• • Graduate School Timely Topics 
    • Thursday, February 1 at 1pm – Effective Teachers and Productive Professionals: Givings TAs and Future Faculty What They Need to Succeed 
    • Thursday, February 8 at 11am – Doctoral Degrees, Master’s Degrees, and Graduate Certificates: A Comprehensive Overview of Degree Audit Processes 
    • Thursday, February 22 at 11am – Graduate Student Trends and Patterns: Insight from the Ombuds Office 

• PageUp Trainings 
  • Regular Payroll   
    • February 26 from 9:00am to 12:00pm (Register) 
    • March 25 from 9:00am to 12:00pm (Register) 
  • Special Payroll   
    • February 27 from 9:00am to 11:00am (Register) 
    • March 25 from 9:00am to 11:00am (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 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 Workshop – We have renamed the B.O. Open Hour to B.O. Workshop. 
  • • Monday, February 26^th (in-person or virtual)
    • Topics: Summer Grad Payroll Processing
    • If you would like to receive the calendar invitation, please contact CAHNRBO@uconn.edu
  • 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 Staff Advisory Council (SAC)
  • Visit the CAHNR Staff SharePoint Site for opportunities with professional development, networking, and even hobby and wellness events.

Shout Out:

• Well wishes
  • Melanie Desch, EXT Windham County

 

Fun “Dad” Jokes:

• As a farmer, I hear lots of jokes about sheep.  I’d tell them to my dog, but he’d herd them all
• Did you hear about the guy who was afraid of hurdles? He got over it
• What’s an astronaut’s favourite part of a computer? The space bar
• What did the mama cow say to the baby cow? It’s pasture bedtime