October CLAS Shared Services Updates

October 16, 2024

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

Spring 2025 Special Payroll Deadlines

  • Processing Deadlines for PageUp Adjunct Faculty appointments for Spring 2025:
    • Due in PageUp by Wednesday, Nov. 13.
      • Please submit all offers in PageUp by the CLAS deadline: Tuesday, Nov. 5.
    • Transactions must be submitted in CORE-CT by Friday, Dec. 20.
      • Please submit all transactions by the CLAS deadline: Friday, Dec. 13.
  • Processing Deadlines for Graduate Assistant appointments for Spring 2025:
    • Due in CORE-CT by Friday, Dec. 6.
      • Please submit all transactions in CORE-CT to Shared Services by the CLAS deadline: Friday, Nov. 22.
  • Please be sure to meet the CLAS deadlines so that Shared Services will have ample time to review and approve for University deadlines.

RFD Processing Update

  • In FY25, the University and Foundation will require RFDs to be submitted quarterly for all 6-Ledger Foundation accounts.
  • The Business Office will oversee this process and collaborate with the departments throughout the fiscal year.

FLSA Updates for Fall 2024

  • Salary minimums for FLSA status will be increasing:
    • July 1, 2024: increasing to $844/week and $43,888 per year.
    • Jan. 1, 2025: increasing to $1,128/week or $58,656 per year.
  • Generally, all positions at the University that are at or below the new minimums will be converted to Non-Exempt status.
    • Positions where the primary duty is teaching are excluded from this change, including Graduate Assistants (Teaching and Research titles).
      • UCPEA and Confidential Exempt employees – effective 8/23/24. These titles accrue comp time.
      • AAUP, Post Docs, Research Asst/Assoc., and Special Payroll – effective 9/20/24. These titles are paid out in the pay period when time is submitted.
    • Employees working > 40 hours/week may request approval for submitting overtime hours and should not work overtime hours until approval is officially in place.

Faculty Joint Appointment and Affiliation MOUs and MOA

  • The CLAS Dean’s Office is now collecting MOUs/MOAs for faculty who have joint appointments and, if applicable, affiliations with other academic units.
    • Every time a MOU/MOA is initiated or renewed, a final copy should be sent to clas@uconn.edu.
    • Going forward, the Dean’s Office will send reminders to academic units when MOUs/MOAs need to be renewed (typically every 3 to 5 years).
  •  If you would like information about MOUs/MOAs related to your academic unit, please contact Stephanie Turbes at clas@uconn.edu.

Compliance Chatter: Political Activity & Health and Safety Policy

  • UConn University Compliance has released its newsletter featuring Political Activity.
    • Key Takeaways:
      • University resources may not be used for political or campaign purposes such as time, email, phones, or office supplies.
      • The University may not participate in partisan political or campaign activities.
    • Visit Compliance Chatter: Political Activity to read the Guidelines for Political Activity.
  • UConn University Compliance also released a newsletter featuring Health and Safety Policy.
    • Key Takeaways
      • The policy outlines responsibilities for compliance with relevant laws, regulations, policies, and procedures regarding worker safety and public health and applies to everyone at UConn, including faculty, staff, students, and researchers across all campuses.
      • The Department of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) is responsible for enforcing the policy through training, consultation, and regular safety inspections.
    • Visit Compliance Chatter: Health and Safety Policy to read about UConn’s Health and Safety Policy.

Phone Lines

  • The University phone system recently changed from Pinnacle to Softeligent. Departments will receive monthly statements from Softeligent with your unit’s phone information.
    • There is no action needed on your end to pay the statements, which are processed automatically, so they are just informational.
  • The Business Center will be following up with departments later this fall to review and update phone line information to ensure data accuracy within Softeligent.
    • Some Phone Line Reminders:
      • Please do not cancel an existing phone line or purchase a new phone line without first connecting with the Business Center.
      • Phone lines are funded permanently, so we prefer to repurpose existing lines rather than purchasing new lines or canceling existing lines, as we will not get the perm funds returned to the College.
  • If you have any questions or concerns about your phone line data, please contact the Business Center at bsc@uconn.edu.

HuskyBuy Honoraria & Supplier Classifications

  • Things for departments to consider when paying an honorarium:
    • Procurement cannot process these as reimbursements.
      • An honorarium is considered taxable and Procurement needs to collect tax information, so please submit as an individual or company registration requests.
    • If the supplier already exists in HuskyBuy, search for the supplier using the supplier search feature. This will provide additional information about the supplier that may lead to restrictions on payments received.
      • For example, CSE flag indicates the Supplier a State of CT employee:
        • These payments cannot exceed $100 without a public bid or else they violate the state code of ethics.
        • Each CSE employee is reviewed by a compliance specialist prior to issuance of payment.
        • A state of CT employee is someone who is on CT State payroll. It does not include municipal school teachers, UConn special payroll, etc.
        • A Former UConn employee is someone who has worked at UConn in the last calendar year, this does not include students (grad or undergrad) or special payroll, but someone who was on classified/unclassified payroll at UConn. This status only applies for up to one year after the former employee’s separation.
      • A grad or regular student could qualify for an honorarium with no restriction on amounts as they are not UConn or State of CT employees as per the Code of Ethics.
  •  Registration for International Suppliers:
    • International status wouldn’t affect FUE (former UConn employee) or CSE (current State employee).
    • The Procurement team is working on revising the Foreign Supplier process with Tax and Compliance.
    • Information collected when a foreign individual supplier registers includes:
      • Are they providing services in which all of the services will be performed in the U.S.?
      • Are they selling tangible goods, including installation, service or maintenance performed in the U.S. as part of a contract?
      • Will the University be paying for the right of use, access, or reproduce an intangible item that will be used in the U.S.?

HuskyBuy Requisition Reminder

  • Please be sure to submit your requisitions with the following naming conventions:
    • DEPT Vendor Last Name Date.
      • Last Name should be the person the order is for.
    •  The UConn Point of Contact should always be the Department Name.

Monthly Meetings

  • Monthly meetings will take place between CLAS Shared Services Management and the following:
    • Controller’s Office will take place on Friday, Nov. 15.
    • Procurement will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
    • Procurement and A/P will take place on Monday, Nov. 11.
    • Payroll will take place Friday, Nov. 1.
  • CLAS Business Center Monthly Topic Overview will be held on Thursday, Nov. 14. Please reach out to bsc@uconn.edu with ideas for future topics or 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 more than 6,000 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.
  • Academic Impressions offers professional development resources for higher education professionals. Resources include hundreds of hours of training 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.
  • Graduate School’s Timely Topics Series Schedule:
    • Graduate Assistants: What Supervisors Need to Know – Oct. 24 at 1:00 p.m.
    • Graduate Admissions: Reading and Reviewing Applications in the Slate Reader – Oct. 31 at 11:00 a.m.
    • Using Pronouns: Actualizing Inclusivity – Nov. 14 at 11 a.m.
    • Recruitment: GradSlate CRM Functionality – Dec. 5 at 1 p.m.
    • Register for an upcoming session.

Trainings

CLAS Shared Services Grant Management

  • 51 proposals were submitted in September, totaling $32.4 million.
  • Seven sponsored projects were awarded to CLAS faculty in September, totaling $11 million.

CLAS Shared Services Information Technology

  • Updates to the University’s UPrint program.
    • The UPrint program was created to replace inefficient printers at UConn with fewer large, multifunction devices, providing centralized management and reducing costs.
    • ITS has taken over the program's management, offering technical support and overseeing the contract in collaboration with purchasing.
    • Departments are being encouraged to eliminate low-usage printers, with plans to refresh equipment where needed for security and compatibility.
  • For more information, visit the UConn Knowledge Base or contact the program administrator at uprint@uconn.edu.

CLAS Shared Services Facility Services

  • UConn Facilities will begin turning the heat back on Oct. 15.
  • Not all buildings will be completed on Oct. 15 but most should be back online by the end of the week (10/18).
  • Please contact your Building Manager if you have any questions or concerns.

Welcome & Congratulations

Welcome:

  • Alaina Bouchard, Student Services Program Manager 1, ASC.
  • Joseph Tinnel, Student Services Program Manager 1, ASC.
  • Benjamin Christensen, Educational Program Assistant 2, MCB.

Congratulations on new adventures:

  • Andrew Kolano, Financial Assistant 1, PSYC.