Author: Lunt, Winnie

Concur-Student Travel Go-Live (From Travel)

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Dear colleagues,

We are writing to announce the launch of the student travel phase of the Concur project and to clarify the role of university fiscal officers in the system.

SAP Concur is the official university travel management and expense reporting system that went live for faculty and staff on April 22, 2020.  Student travel, at that time, remained as supported by existing systems and processes.  The project continued working with student groups and other stakeholders over the intervening period to design an implementation that would best meet the unique needs of students while preserving key parts of existing processes.  Students will be able to take full advantage of the features of the new system.  This includes, but is not limited to, automated approval workflow, use of University cards that will import nightly, and Concur mobile app for receipt capture.  The fiscal officer role will be fundamentally unchanged.  You will determine the appropriateness and budgetary capacity for applicable student pre-travel requests and will be responsible for review and approval of post-travel expense reports.

The Concur implementation of the student travel and expense reporting is tentatively scheduled to go live on 10/1/2020 pending successful testing.  Additional information regarding the implementation is available at travel.uconn.edu.

Please do not hesitate to contact travel@uconn.edu with any questions or concerns.

Special Payroll Updates (From HR)

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Dear Colleagues,

We write with several updates about Special Payroll.

First, University Compliance has updated the Conflict of Interest form. The updated form is available on the HR website and within PageUp. Please clear your cache in your browser (Chrome recommended) to ensure that the new form appears within PageUp.

Second, as a reminder, departments should submit all special payroll requests 4-6 weeks prior to the appointment’s scheduled start date to ensure that the employee is approved to work and is able to be paid on time. For quicker processing, please check for flags on the applicant card and include, if applicable, Dual Employment and Conflict of Interest forms upon initial submission.

Third, Payroll updated the Graduate Calculator for AY 2020-2021. Please use this calculator for overload appointments and 2021 summer and intersession appointments.

Finally, effective September 1, 2020, the minimum wage in the state of Connecticut is $12.00 per hour.

Please direct questions to spar@uconn.edu.

 

Thank you,
Human Resources

KFS UC Chart Final Close – TONIGHT (From KFS Listserv)

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To All KFS and KFDM Users:

The Final Close for the KFS UC Chart for Fiscal Year 2020 will take place tonight, Wednesday, August 26, 2020.  KFS will be unavailable beginning at 5 pm today.  By Thursday morning, August 27, final balances from 2020 will be carried over into Fiscal Year 2021 as beginning balances. These amounts will no longer be seen as pending entries in Fiscal Year 2021; they will be final and posted amounts.

For contract and grant accounts, ending balances for 2020 will be seen in the “Contracts Grants Beginning Balance Amount” field on the General Ledger Balance Lookup for 2021.

For all other account types, ending balances for 2020 will be seen in the “Beginning Balance Line Amount” field on the General Ledger Balance Lookup for 2021.

The Kuali Financial Data Mart (KFDM) will also be updated to include the beginning balances for Fiscal Year 2021.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Annette Pavone (Annette.pavone@uconn.edu) or Lori-Anne Hansen (lori-anne.hansen@uconn.edu)

 

Annette Pavone, CPA
Accounting Manager, Inventory Control & Capitalization
Accounting Office
University of Connecticut
343 Mansfield Road
Storrs, CT 06269-1074
Phone (860) 486-2934

KFS Upgrade Test Environment

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For those of you that utilize KFS, I wanted to share with you the link to the KFS Test Environment: https://kualinp.uconn.edu/kfs-uat/webapp/dashboard/home  so that you have an opportunity to see the new look and feel of the system before training occurs.  Additional communication will be provided on Training, Job Aids, and Go Live as we approach September, and will continue to share any information as I receive it.

As mentioned in our last Administrative Meeting a new General Ledger Transfer (GLT) document will be introduced.  Here is the link to the GLT tutorial video: https://kaltura.uconn.edu/media/General+Ledger+Transfer+Demo/1_5xatwev1

 

Thank you,
Alicia

Fall 2020 Student Employment Guidance (From Student Employee Listserv)

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Attachment: Sample Student Offer Letter August 2020

Dear Student Employee Supervisors,

The fall semester will bring a partial opening of the Storrs and regional campuses. As student supervisors we are encouraging you to follow the Human Resource Guidelines as it pertains to telecommuting and reporting to work.

Please note, these guidelines are applicable to Student Labor and Federal Work Study students.

We have compiled a list of FAQs for your reference:

  • Can I hire students for the in-person operations of my department? Am I required to obtain additional approval?  Yes, student employees can be hired for in-person operations, there is no additional approval required.

 

  • I would like to hire a student employee that will be telecommuting, do I need to seek additional approval or notify HR of the remote work environment?  Yes, students can be hired to work remote. There is no notification or approval required by Human Resources or the Student Employment Office.

 

  • Are student employees required to complete the mandatory Environmental Health & Safety Training (EH & S) upon re-entry to in-person employment?  Yes, students should complete the Environmental Health & Safety Training and alert supervisors upon completion.

 

  • What are the testing requirements for off-campus student employees who are online/distance learning only?  Student testing is being facilitated by Student Health and Wellness (SHaW). Please refer to their FAQ as it relates to testing requirements.

 

  • Who/what department will be facilitating/monitoring the testing for off-campus students (who are online/distance learning) but secure on-campus employment?  Testing is required for all students returning to campus for learning and/or employment. Please refer to SHaW for additional information on student testing.

 

  • Can a student employee work in an office without a full-time staff member present?  Student employees who have completed the required EH & S training and who can perform their duties independently, may work on campus without a full-time staff member present.

 

  • Will student employees be paid if they are COVID positive and are required to quarantine?  No, if the duties cannot be performed remotely, students will not be paid. However, if the student employee has earned sick time during their employment, they may use it to compensate their time off. Please refer to the student employment sick time policy for more information regarding accruals.

 

  • I would like to hire an out-of-state student to help with the reopening of campus/my  department. If they produce a negative COVID test result, can they begin work prior to the completion of the mandated, 14-day quarantine?  No, students traveling to CT from states listed on the Connecticut Travel Advisory are required to self-quarantine for 14 days. A negative COVID test result does not expedite this process.

 

  • Can I hire an international student to work remote while they are in their home country?  No, at this time the University cannot hire international students to work remotely.

 

We have attached a sample offer letter, please feel free to use this template and edit to meet the needs of your department

 

Kind regards from,

Student Employment

Skype retiring. Transition to Teams. (From ITS)

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Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to notify you of upcoming service changes to Skype for Business.

On Friday, August 7, the University is moving exclusively to Microsoft Teams and discontinuing Skype for Business. Starting that evening, you will be directed to use Teams if you launch Skype. All Skype meetings that you created will also be converted to Teams meetings.

We are making this change because Microsoft is retiring Skype for Business soon. Teams offers the same instant messaging and conferencing capabilities as Skype, but because it is integrated with Office 365, Teams provides more features and collaboration tools. While our community has been able to use both apps, there are compatibility issues between Skype and Teams.  With everyone on one app, we can communicate and collaborate more seamlessly.

Support and training information for Teams is available on the IT Knowledge Base: kb.uconn.edu. If you and others in your area would like a custom demonstration or have any questions about this transition, please do not hesitate to contact the Office 365 team at 365@uconn.edu.

 

Regards,
Meera Nair

 

From: Skype Users <SKYPEUSERS-L@LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU> On Behalf Of Nair, Meera
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2020 10:59 AM
To: SKYPEUSERS-L@LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU
Subject: Skype retiring. Transition to Teams.

Transition to Microsoft Teams (From Daily Digest)

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Transition to Microsoft Teams

At UConn, all faculty, staff, and students can instant message and meet with Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business. With Teams, you can do more. Because it is fully integrated into Office 365 (O365), you can access other apps and services, like your files in OneDrive and your calendar, while using Teams.

Microsoft is retiring Skype for Business. Before this happens, Information Technology Services (ITS) is moving our UConn community exclusively to Teams. With everyone on one app, we can communicate and collaborate seamlessly and avoid compatibility issues between Skype and Teams.

After August 7th, only Teams will be available. To support this transition, ITS is providing training opportunities.

  • On Monday, July 13 at 10:00 am, Microsoft will host a live event where they will cover how to use the Teams. You can attend the live event by clicking the following link at the scheduled time: Join Live Event. This event will be recorded and made available for later viewing.
  • If your department or area would like a session targeted to your specific needs, ITS can provide a custom demonstration. Send requests to 365@uconn.edu.

For details information about Teams, including how it compares to Skype and how to use its features, visit the IT Knowledge Base: kb.uconn.edu

For more information, contact: ITS at 365@uconn.edu

Updated Object Code Guides (From KFS Listserv)

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The following guides have been updated for Fiscal Year 2021, and can be found at: https://accountingoffice.uconn.edu/oversight-of-kfs-object-codes/

KFS Asset, Liability & Fund Balance Object Codes Descriptions
KFS Expense Object Codes Descriptions
KFS Revenue Object Codes Descriptions

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the guides or object code usage.

Thank you,
Annette

Annette Pavone, CPA
Accounting Manager, Inventory Control & Capitalization
Accounting Office
University of Connecticut
343 Mansfield Road
Storrs, CT 06269-1074
Phone (860) 486-2934

Last call for fiscal year-end gifts and disbursements (From UConn Foundation)

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Attachment: Fiscal Year-end memo

I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday weekend.  It’s hard to believe we’ve been working remotely for almost 4 months and are closing out the fiscal year in the next week.  I’m forwarding the attached memo regarding year-end processing for Foundation gifts and disbursements.

Please contact Ed Liedke with disbursement questions or Bonnie Burleigh for gift questions.  Our e-mails are eliedke@foundation.uconn.edu and bburleigh@foundation.uconn.edu

Reimbursement Type Reminder:  When creating an RFD for submission, University users should select between two options for reimbursement type:

  • If the payee is UConn or UConn Health, the reimbursement type must be University reimbursement
  • If the payee is any vendor who is not one of the above, the reimbursement type must be University Direct Pay

 

Edward Liedke
Director of Fund Administration
And Disbursements
Phone:  860-486-2006
2390 Alumni Dr. U-3206
Storrs, CT 06269