September 2025 Newsletter

Fiscal Updates:

• FY25 Hard Close
  • Occurred: Friday, August 22nd
  • As of Monday, August 25rd, final balances from FY25 were carried over as beginning balances into FY26
  • For contract and grant accounts, ending balances for FY25 will be seen in the “Contracts Grants Beginning Balance Amount” field on the General Ledger Balance Lookup for FY26
  • For all other account types, ending balances for FY25 will be seen in the “Beginning Balance Line Amount” field on the General Ledger Balance Lookup for FY26
  • Kuali Financial Data Mart (KFDM) has also been updated to include the beginning balances for FY26

• FY25 Carry Forward 
  • If your department is scheduled to receive any carry forward funding, the transfer of funds will be processed by September 30th

• AY25-26 Grad
  • Encumbrance has been loaded for Grad Payroll
  • Retroactive appointments:
    • GA appointments must follow standard timeframes (Aug 23–Jan 7 or May 22); retroactive start dates or changes in appointment percentages are not allowed
    • Shorter-than-semester appointments require advance approval from Labor Relations and the Graduate Employee Union
    • Departments must honor accepted offer letters (per CBA Article 6), and GA work assignments cannot exceed an average of 20 hours per week (CBA Article 10)

• Federal Accounts (Smith Lever, SAES Capacity) 
  • FY25 Accounts
    • will remain open through 10/31/25 for expenses incurred by 9/30/25
    • Please avoid last minute spending
    • After October 31st, no additional transactions will be allowed on these accounts – transactions may need to be moved to an unrestricted account
    • Please monitor your continuation accounts for timely cost transfer submission
      • Please contact the BO if you need any assistance
    • On November 1st, the BO will begin the Federal FY25 close out process
  • FY26 Accounts
    • New Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) opens on 10/1/2025 (FFY26)
    • The BO has begun its annual review and establishment of the FY26 Federal Accounts
    • In September, you may see new account requests in your KFS Action List.  Please review and approve the edocs as timely as possible so the accounts are active and appear in the monthly report distribution as of Oct 1st
  • Your department Smith-Lever budget was identified in your FY26 Dept. Budget Hearing Letter from the Dean
    • *Reminder: Every expense must be categorized in 1 or more of the 5 areas strategic areas by the utilization of sub-accounts (only exception is Regular Payroll)
      • Sub-Accounts
        • Climate (CLIM)
        • Food (FOOD)
        • Health (HLTH)
        • Landscapes (LAND)
        • Misc. (MISC)

OVPR/SPS Update: 

• Changes to distribution of Indirect Costs (IDCs):
  • Starting Sept. 11, 2025, PIs will receive 5% of recovered indirect costs (IDCs) from all sponsored activities in real time, credited to their PI IDC account.
  • IDC returns are based on the Distribution of Credit (DOC) listed in InfoEd at proposal submission; each PI must have an active PI IDC account (set up by Research Finance if needed).
  • IDC returns will now be distributed nightly (instead of annually), so timely updates to DOC records are essential to avoid reconciliation issues.

• No-cost Extension Request (NCE): 
  • Effective Aug 1st, all new NCE request will be submitted and processed in JIRA.
  • The submission process does not change.  TO submit a request, continue using the existing Post-Award Forms website and select the “No-Cost Extension Request Form.”  Submissions will now route through Jira automatically.

 

HR (Human Resources) and Payroll Updates:

• AAUP Faculty Smart-HR Blackout period
  • There will be a blackout period for all AAUP bargaining unit members on August 26th – September 1st
    • Please do not submit any faculty continuations/renewals or other faculty changes during this blackout period – this applies to any transactions effective 8/23/25 and beyond

• PageUp Training
  • Regular Payroll
    • Monday, September 29, 2025 9:00am-11:30am
  • Special Payroll
    • Tuesday, September 30, 2025 9:00am-11:00am

• Graduate School Timely Topics
  • Graduate Student Enrollment: Navigating Policies, Procedures, and Reports
    • Thursday, September 11, 2025, 1:00pm
  • Partnering for Success: A Look at UConn Library Liaison Services for Graduate Students and Faculty
    • Thursday, September 18, 2025, 11:00am
  • Graduate Admissions: Program Application Processing in Slate and Admissions Cycle Kick Off!
    • Thursday, September 25, 2025, 11:00am

 

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.

• CAHNR Admin Meeting
  • Thursday, October 2^nd 9:30am – 11:00am
  • Location: Young 209 and virtually on Teams
  • Please feel free to email us at CAHNRBO@uconn.edu if you have any questions, 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.

 

Fun “Dad” Jokes:

• What is a tree’s least favorite month?
  • Sep-timber
• What do trees do in September?
  • Turn over to a new leaf
• Why did the scarecrow win an award?
  • Because he was outstanding in his field!