Below is a roundup of important announcements and reminders from the Business Center. If you have a question or there is something that you'd like to include in the next roundup, please feel free to reach out to the Business Center via bsc@uconn.edu.
Announcements
Annual Budget and Staffing Plan Meetings
- Fall 2025/Spring 2026 Annual Budget and Staffing Meetings have ended, and meeting notes, follow-ups, and takeaways are in the works to be sent out as soon as possible.
Summer 2025 Special Payroll Deadlines
- Processing Deadlines for Graduate Student Special Payroll appointments for Summer 2025.
- Transactions must be submitted in CORE-CT by April 17th.
- Please submit all transactions by the CLAS deadline: Thursday, April 10th to ensure that CLAS Grant Management and Business Center teams have time to review and approve.
- Transactions must be submitted in CORE-CT by April 17th.
- Faculty summer payroll appointments (due in CORE-CT April 17th) are being processed by the CLAS Grant Management and Business Center teams.
- Please note: Faculty research summer pay can ONLY go against the 12/12ths “bucket/allotment.”
- Faculty teaching in Winter/May terms goes against the overload “bucket/allotment” ONLY.
- Faculty teaching for Summer can go under either 12/12ths or overload “bucket/allotment.”
Summer 2025 Grad Appointments – Offer Letters
- Departments should hold off on issuing letters if funding is uncertain or if there are concerns for the upcoming summer.
- Departments should ensure a backup, non-grant funded account (i.e., IDC, Startup, etc.) available to cover the offered appointment to move forward in issuing a letter in PageUp where funding is uncertain.
- Language should not be added to the offer letter that "the appointment depends on available funding.
- Please reach out to bsc@uconn.edu with any questions.
Fall AAUP Travel Funds
- The application period for AAUP/OVPR travel funds for the first half of the Fiscal Year 2026 can be submitted starting May 1st.
Exit Interviews and Returning UConn Property
- HR has created an Exit Interview Form that reviews all University property an employee may possess.
- This should be completed by the supervisor or manager once they learn that an employee is leaving via resignation or retirement.
- This is for all regular and special payroll employees, including faculty and staff leaving UConn.
- Once the Exit interview form is completed in Kuali Build:
- The employee will be prompted towards an additional online exit interview.
- There is also an option to request an exit interview with a member of HR.
Regular Payroll New Employee Orientation and Process
- Prospective new employees must accept their offer for employment no later than 10 days prior to their anticipated NEO date.
- This is the Tuesday of a non-NEO week on the week before an employee’s proposed NEO.
- All new regular employees are required to attend NEO in-person on their first day.
Paid Advertising Process Update
- Effective March 24th, HR will no longer facilitate paid advertising requests for departments.
- Departments will begin coordinating advertising for searches using UConn’s paid vendor, Graystone.
- Departments must set up purchase orders with Graystone for any paid advertising:
- Please use User-Guide for a Blanket Order Form guide for more information on setting up a PO.
- Please see Advertising a Position on the HR Website for detailed information on how to facilitate the paid advertising process with Graystone, along with additional advertising resources.
Career Progressions
- The next round of Career Progressions nominations is currently underway.
- Please submit all documents including frameworks and the Career Progression application form by Monday, March 31st.
- Please reach out to bsc@uconn.edu with any questions on eligibility, format, or submission
Reimbursements vs. Refunds
- Please review this guide written by UConn Travel, Accounts Payable, and the Procurement Center on Refunds vs Reimbursement Guide.
- This guide addresses to whom and when you should be providing reimbursements and refunds and when to use HuskyBuy vs. Concur in these situations.
Save the Date: CLAS DEI Training – Unconscious Bias
- CLAS is partnering with Transformative Leadership Strategies (TLS) for a training in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that focuses on Unconscious Bias.
- Sessions are on the following dates:
- Wednesday, March 26th from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
- Thursday, March 27th from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
- RSVP for Unconscious Bias Training.
Save the Date: Women’s Advance Conference
- UConn Women’s Advance Conference will be held at UConn Storrs Campus on May 22nd, 2025.
- This year’s theme is “Women Leading with Courage and Curiosity: Building Power and Wisdom in Community.
- Visit the Women's Center website for more information on the upcoming conference.
- Proposals for workshops and presentations can be submitted through the online submission form by March 24th.
Monthly Meetings
- Monthly meetings will take place between CLAS Shared Services Management and the following:
- Controller’s Office will take place on Friday, April 25th.
- Procurement will take place on Wednesday, April 2nd.
- Procurement and A/P will take place on Monday, April 14th.
- Payroll will take place Monday, April 7th.
- CLAS Business Center Monthly Topic Overview will be held on Thursday, April 10th.
- Please reach out to bsc@uconn.edu with ideas for future topics.
- Please feel free to reach out to bsc@uconn.edu with any areas of concern to be discussed at any of these meetings.
Professional Development Opportunities
- LinkedIn Learning is now available at no cost to all UConn staff on Storrs campus as an e-learning resource.
- LinkedIn Learning offers an opportunity to develop professional skills through a digital library of over 6000 courses.
- Visit the Microsoft App Store and navigate to the LinkedIn Learning application to activate your license.
- Please reach out to brandon.murray@uconn.edu with any questions.
- CLAS Shared Services has a lending library with a variety of books on professional development and self-improvement.
- For more information on how to borrow a book, please contact Emily Petry at emily.petry@uconn.edu.
- Academic Impressions offers professional development resources for higher education professionals. Resources include hundreds of hours of trainings in topics such as Academic Leadership, Advancement, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Faculty Success, Leadership Development, Compliance, and more.
- The Lexington Group, Inc is UConn’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The Lexington Group provides confidential face-to-face counseling, or in certain circumstances video counseling, to assist employees in identifying and resolving personal problems no matter how unique and diverse they appear. Examples include family and marital conflicts, stress, substance abuse, depression, and other emotional issues. The Lexington Group also assists with referrals for eldercare support, childcare, as well as legal and financial guidance through our Life Care program.
- Employees may call The Lexington Group for immediate and confidential assistance at 1-800-676-HELP (4357) or access The Lexington Group's website. The Lexington Group is available seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day.
- Please see the schedule on the Graduate School’s Timely Topics Webpage.
- Topics for upcoming live sessions include:
- Strength-based Advising for Neurodiverse Graduate Students – Thursday, March 27th at 11:00 AM.
- Inclusive Career Conversations: Reducing Implicit Bias in our Formal and Informal Conversations – Thursday, April 10th at 11:00 AM.
- Register for a session here.
- Topics for upcoming live sessions include:
Trainings
- Annual Compliance Training is available in your Learning@Work portal and must be completed by May 23rd, 2025.
- Topics include:
- The Code of Conduct.
- The University's Guide to the State Code of Ethics.
- Key Reminders: Privacy, Reporting Obligations Under Title IX, and Export Control Regulations.
- Trainings are available as an online, self-paced course in Learning@Work or in live sessions through WebEx.
- Live, instructor-led sessions are available at the following times:
- Thursday, March 20th, 2025 from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM.
- Friday, April 11th, 2025 from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM.
- Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 from 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM.
- Register for a live session.
- Live, instructor-led sessions are available at the following times:
- Topics include:
- Marketplace Learning Lab Registration.
- Marketplace Q&A will be held via Teams on Wednesday, March 26th at 2:00 PM.
- Concur Open Labs Registration.
- Travel Services will hold bi-weekly Open Labs at 3 Discovery Drive in the Bid Room.
- Please come prepared with receipts and supporting documents saved to your laptop or in Concur.
- The next sessions will be held on Wednesdays, March 26th and April 9th.
- Half hour slots are available between from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
- Visit the Travel Services website for more information.
- HuskyBuy Open Labs Registration.
- Please come prepared with your laptop, questions, and any quotes or supporting documents you may have questions on. Labs will be available biweekly with the next few sessions on Wednesdays, March 19th and April 2nd.
- Half hour slots are available between from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
- Please reach out to huskybuysupport@uconn.edu with any questions.
- Please come prepared with your laptop, questions, and any quotes or supporting documents you may have questions on. Labs will be available biweekly with the next few sessions on Wednesdays, March 19th and April 2nd.
- Form I-9 Training.
- Please sign up for HireRight training on Learning@Work.
- April 1st from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM.
- May 8th from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM.
- HireRight access is not granted without an employee having attended training.
- Please be sure to fill out the HireRight Access Request form in KualiBuild after the training is completed.
- Please sign up for HireRight training on Learning@Work.
- PageUp Regular Payroll: Sign up.
- April 7th from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM.
- May 19th from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM.
- PageUp Special Payroll: Sign up here.
- April 8th from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM.
- May 20th from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM.
CLAS Shared Services Grant Management
- For the month of January, CLAS faculty submitted 60 grant applications with a total requested amount of $49.8M.
- For the month of January, CLAS faculty were awarded 13 new awards with a total funded amount of $2.7M.
- If a faculty member has any questions or concerns regarding recent executive orders and their grant funding, please instruct them to email research@uconn.edu.
CLAS Shared Services Information Technology
- Break is almost over! If you’d like CLAS IT to check your AV equipment, labs, or teaching tech before classes resume, let us know soon—we still have availability.
- Email clasit@uconn.edu to schedule a visit.
Congratulations on New Adventures
- Cynthia Stewart, Educational Program Administrator, HDFS.
- Jahn Landrigan, Laboratory Technician 2, PNB.
- Sarah Al-Arshani, Editor 2, CLAS Communications.