February 2009 Archives

The Budget Office recently released budget planning guidelines to academic and administrative units that include specific expectations with regard to internal cost and program reductions, compensation, and tuition. Clearly, reductions to the University's base budget of the magnitude proposed by Governor Pawlenty to address the substantial state budget shortfall will require a combination of shared sacrifice and targeted cuts at both the central and unit levels.

Please see the attached memo from Carol Carrier.

The annual review of academic professional and administrative staff provides an opportunity to assess a staff member's personal progress, achievements, personal or professional development, and individual efforts in relation to the ongoing mission and goals of the unit. Opportunity should be made for open dialogue between the employee and supervisor in which achievements can be reviewed, problems can be addressed, any changes in work loads and expectations can be detailed and discussed, and new goals can be agreed upon. For the employee, supervisor, and the college the annual review provides a record of employee performance for consideration of merit, special merit, documentation important for professional development leave or promotions, and, where necessary, requests for improvement. The annual review provides an occasion for an employee to fulfill a desire to excel.

Requirements

• Annual reviews are required for all P&A staff who hold appointments of 50% or greater and nine months or greater.
• Designated supervisors are responsible for initiating the annual review and conducting the evaluation conference.

Packets must include:

• written description of the unit's review process
• employee self evaluation
• signed review document
• employee response (if provided by employee).

Complete packets of review materials must be submitted in electronic format to CLA Human Resources by 4:30 p.m. on Monday, March 23, 2009.  Send review materials as attachments in a single email to Rick Jacobson at rickj@umn.edu

Further information and complete application guidelines can be found on the CLA Human Resources intranet page:  http://cla.umn.edu/intranet/hr/AnnualReviewGuidelines.php

• The process around the managing of vacation usage is at the discretion of the department, including local requirements such as approvals.

• Vacation leave usage is to be reported by the employee when possible in advance of when vacation leave is taken or immediately following use.  UM 1704 Faculty/P&A Vacation Leave Reporting form is to be used.  Reporting is done in work weeks, days and half days (e.g., 2 weeks; 1 week and 2.5 days; .5 days).  Dates of absence are also reported on the form.  Below are the URL's to the form.

Word version:
http://www.policy.umn.edu/groups/hr/documents/form/um1704.doc

PDF version:
http://www.policy.umn.edu/groups/hr/documents/form/um1704p.pdf

• The amount of vacation leave used and reported will be entered into PS by the authorized HRMS users on your Financial Service Team on a biweekly basis.  This is particularly important if the employee is at their vacation maximum (22 days/176 hours).  Please send the forms directly to your Service Team using the same process that you currently use for submitting Absence Cards for AFSCME/CS employees.

• Days entered into PS are automatically converted into hours to align with PS functionality.
• PS reflects accumulation in hours, not days.  The conversion equivalents are:
• Full-time:  100% appointment   1 day = 8 hours; .5 days = 4 hours
• Part-time:  Example of a vacation eligible appointment at less than 100% time:
• 75% appointment  1 day = 6 hours; .5 days = 3 hours
• Vacation usage is reported to faculty and P& A employee in hours on their pay statement or vacation leave report accessed via the Employee Self-Service website at http://hrss.umn.edu/.

Responsible administrators/supervisors may view vacation accrual and balances for their faculty and P&A employees through UM Reports at:  www.umreports.umn.edu

CLA Joint Financial & Human Resources Meeting
The CLA Joint Financial and Human Resources meeting will take place on Thursday, February 26 from 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. in Room 435 Blegen Hall

Next meeting:  Thursday, March 26, 9:00 - 10:30 a.m., location TBD

Arthur "Red" Motley Exemplary Teaching Award
The College invites nominations for this year's CLA "Red" Motley teaching award. Faculty members must be nominated by at least five CLA undergraduate and/or graduate students.

A description of the award, nomination form, and dossier cover sheet may be downloaded (all are pdfs) on the CLA website at:
http://cla.umn.edu/intranet/undergrad/motley0809.php or obtained from the CLA Undergraduate Programs Office, 113 Johnston Hall, (612) 624-8675.

Nomination Forms are due in 113 Johnston Hall on Friday, February 27, 2009. The Undergraduate Programs Office will contact the home department of each nominated faculty member and will provide guidelines for preparing a complete nomination dossier. The department prepares the nomination dossier for the faculty member.
Dossiers are due in 113 Johnston Hall on Friday, April 3, 2009. Departments are asked to submit the original plus 9 copies.

The CLA Instructional Awards Committee will review the dossiers and make a recommendation to the Dean.

If you need further information, please contact Barbara Schwab at: 612-624-8675 or schwa133@umn.edu.

February 26
Joint Financial Services / Human Resources meeting, Room 435 Blegen Hall, 9:00 am

February 27
Motley Award Nomination Forms due in Room 113 Johnston Hall

March 3
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 03/02/2009 - 03/15/2009 pay period, 4:30 pm

March 12
Complete electronic dossiers for P&A Promotions are due, 4:30 pm

March 23
Complete packets for P&A Annual Reviews are due, 4:30 pm

March 26
Application materials are due for P&A Professional Development Leaves, 4:30 pm

April 3

The minimum wage increases to $7.25 an hour effective July 24, 2009. Currently the minimum wage is $6.55 an hour. All employees must be paid at or above this level.

The University will increase the salary floor for undergraduate student employees to $7.25 an hour effective June 8, 2009.

Central OHR will provide a separate communication to units that currently have employees whose pay must be adjusted to be compliant.

In OHR's research they found that some temporary or casual appointments had not been assigned a pay grade in PeopleSoft.

All employees must be assigned an appropriate salary grade based upon the job performed. For example, an individual hired in a temporary appointment performing editor responsibilities would be assigned the Civil Service salary grade for the editor classification and paid within that pay range.

Please work with your CLA HR Team if you have questions about a position's pay rate.

The College invites nominations for this year's CLA "Red" Motley teaching award. Faculty members must be nominated by at least five CLA undergraduate and/or graduate students.

A description of the award, nomination form, and dossier cover sheet may be downloaded (all are pdfs) on the CLA website at: http://cla.umn.edu/intranet/undergrad/motley0809.php or obtained from the CLA Undergraduate Programs Office, 113 Johnston Hall, (612) 624-8675.

Nomination Forms are due in 113 Johnston Hall on Friday, February 27, 2009. The Undergraduate Programs Office will contact the home department of each nominated faculty member and will provide guidelines for preparing a complete nomination dossier. The department prepares the nomination dossier for the faculty member.

Dossiers are due in 113 Johnston Hall on Friday, April 3, 2009. Departments are asked to submit the original plus 9 copies.

The CLA Instructional Awards Committee will review the dossiers and make a recommendation to the Dean.

If you need further information, please contact Barbara Schwab at: 612-624-8675 or schwa133@umn.edu.

Annual Reviews of Faculty Performance - 23 March 2009

All faculty activity reports and curricula vitae must be submitted electronically, on the "projects" drive. FARs and CVs should be submitted as separate files; pdf only. Please label each pdf file with the faculty member's last name and appropriate descriptor (FAR or CV). If available, please submit paper copies to the college as well. Contact Gayle Gabrielski (gabr0074; 5-1805) with questions.

Annual Review of Chairs/Directors - 30 March 2009

hairs/Directors materials include: self-evaluation, unit evaluation of Chair/Director, FAR, CV. Submit all documents electronically, on the "projects" drive as separate PDF files. Please label each pdf file with the Chair's/Director's last name and appropriate descriptor (self eval, unit eval, FAR, CV). Contact Gayle Gabrielski with questions.

FSUN General Membership Meeting - February 25th, 2009

The agenda is set for the FSUN General Membership Meeting being held Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 in Coffman Memorial Union, Great Hall. Please go to the website noted below to find the detailed agenda and other meeting information.

For those speakers who provide presentations before the meeting, they will be made available on the same website as soon as we receive them so that you can view and/or print. We will send a reminder before the meeting.

We ask that attendees be FSUN members. If you know of someone who would like to attend, but is not yet a member, please direct them to our website for membership forms and information.

An Alternative:

This meeting will be available to FSUN members using UMConnect (formerly BREEZE) webcast as an online alternative to attendance. This should prove especially convenient and provide cost savings for out-state campuses, as well as for those on campus who are unable to get away for the meeting.

You must activate your UMConnect account at the UMConnect website provided on the FSUN home page. This step prepares your computer for web conference viewing and should be done prior to the meeting.

Registration:

E-mail Mary Selisker at m-seli@umn.edu to register. When doing so, please make sure you identify which way you plan to attend: in person or via webcast. Registrations are due February 18, 2009 and are received on a first come, first serve basis. Once our 350 person attendance limit is reached, you will be advised that you are on a waiting list and notified if an opening arises.

For more information and steps to participate via the UMConnect webcast, go to the following link: http://www.finsys.umn.edu/fsun/fsun_home.htm

February 20
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 02/16/2009 - 03/01/2009 pay period, 4:30 pm

February 26
Joint Financial Services / Human Resources meeting, Room 435 Blegen Hall, 9:00 am

February 27
Motley Award Nomination Forms due in room 113 Johnston Hall

March 3
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 03/02/2009 - 03/15/2009 pay period, 4:30 pm

April 3
Motley Award Dossiers and 9 copies due in 113 Johnston Hall

Department Administrators: Please remember to return your completed Academic Vacation Spreadsheets to Toni Ziegler, a-zieg@umn.edu no later than Friday, February 13. If spreadsheets are not returned by this date, all employees in your area will need to go forward in the PeopleSoft system with a 3/1/09 balance of zero hours.

Please contact Toni with any questions at 4-4153.

Now that spring semester is underway, we want to remind departments about the requirements for timecards, and ask that you remind your employees of these requirements as well.

Please use the most up to date version of the timecard (the "Biweekly Payroll Time Sheet") which is in the forms library, and includes EFS chartfield string information, which replaced the CUFS account information. Timecards need to be completed in ink (not in pencil). All timecards need to be signed by the employee as well as the supervisor before they are entered. Timecards should include hours from a single pay period.

Pay period dates are available online: (http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/compensation/paytaxes/paydays/)

Completed timecards received by the financial service team by noon on the Monday of pay entry week are guaranteed to be entered by the pay entry deadline.

Also, supervisors need to be aware of the legal requirements for breaks during the work day, and to ensure that employees are complying with those requirements. Lunch breaks should be noted on time cards.

Join us for an opportunity to learn "everything you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask" about the University's Justification Standards. The financial service teams are offering this training. For your convenience and to help ensure that as many people can attend as possible, two sessions are being offered:

• Session One Wednesday, Feb. 18 1:30 - 3:00 50 Willey Hall (MPC Seminar Room)

OR

• Session Two Friday, Feb. 20 1:30 - 3:00 334 Folwell Hall

There will be time after the presentation for questions and discussion. We encourage all who work with financial documents to attend - the more experienced staff can share their knowledge with the less experienced. We intend to all learn from each other. Having justifications prepared that are clear, concise, and complete helps us all save time and process our work more quickly.

If you have questions contact Cheryl Oulicky at ouli0001@umn.edu or call 4-4117. Please consider joining us for one of these sessions.

Annual Reviews of Faculty Performance - 23 March 2009

All faculty activity reports and curricula vitae must be submitted electronically, on the "projects" drive. FARs and CVs should be submitted as separate files; pdf only. Please label each pdf file with the faculty member's last name and appropriate descriptor (FAR or CV). If available, please submit paper copies to the college as well. Contact Gayle Gabrielski (gabr0074; 5-1805) with questions.

Annual Review of Chairs/Directors - 30 March 2009

Chairs/Directors materials include: self-evaluation, unit evaluation of Chair/Director, FAR, CV. Submit all documents electronically, on the "projects" drive as separate PDF files. Please label each pdf file with the Chair's/Director's last name and appropriate descriptor (self eval, unit eval, FAR, CV). Contact Gayle Gabrielski with questions.

"Work / Life Balance"

Back by popular demand, the Carlson School's Human Resources Department invites faculty and staff to come explore that elusive concept of Work/Life Balance.

Topics covered will include:

• Why is work/life balance important, both to the employer and employee?
• The high price of stress and sleep deprivation
• Bad habits and poor boundaries
• Understanding your own priorities
• Finding time for yourself
• Incorporating mindfulness when life changes are NOT an option
• Creating a more balance workplace
• University resources for employees and employers

Date: March 18, 2009
Time: 8:30 am - 12:00 pm
Where: 1-123 CSOM

Guests should arrive and be ready to begin 5 minutes before the start time.

Please RSVP to Bryan Hauhe at: hauhe001@umn.edu

The agenda is set for the FSUN General Membership Meeting being held Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 in Coffman Memorial Union, Great Hall. Please go to the website noted below to find the detailed agenda and other meeting information.

For those speakers who provide presentations before the meeting, they will be made available on the same website as soon as we receive them so that you can view and/or print. We will send a reminder before the meeting.

We ask that attendees be FSUN members. If you know of someone who would like to attend, but is not yet a member, please direct them to our website for membership forms and information.

An Alternative:
This meeting will be available to FSUN members using UMConnect (formerly BREEZE) webcast as an online alternative to attendance. This should prove especially convenient and provide cost savings for out-state campuses, as well as for those on campus who are unable to get away for the meeting.

You must activate your UMConnect account at the UMConnect website provided on the FSUN home page. This step prepares your computer for web conference viewing and should be done prior to the meeting.

Registration:

E-mail Mary Selisker at m-seli@umn.edu to register. When doing so, please make sure you identify which way you plan to attend: in person or via webcast. Registrations are due February 18, 2009 and are received on a first come, first serve basis. Once our 350 person attendance limit is reached, you will be advised that you are on a waiting list and notified if an opening arises.

For more information and steps to participate via the UMConnect webcast, go to the following link: http://www.finsys.umn.edu/fsun/fsun_home.htm

February 20
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 02/16/2009 - 03/01/2009 pay period, 4:30 pm

February 26

Based on University of Minnesota Foundation's Finance Committee review and in consideration of declining interest rates, the guaranteed annual interest rate for demand funds (crediting rate) has been changed to .1% effective February 1, 2009. If you have questions, please call Gracie Davenport at 612-624-0346.

Note that the crediting rate changed to .5% (from 2%) effective February 1, 2008. The crediting rate is applied to demand funds and also to available balances for endowments and quasi-endowments at the UM Foundation. This does not apply to University (formerly Asset Management) endowments.

What does this mean for UM Foundation funds in your unit? For demand funds, you will see little investment return, similar to what has occurred during the past year. In addition, the cash balance is not at risk due to negative fluctuations in the market. For endowments and quasi-endowments, the "available balance" is not at risk due to negative fluctuations, however the principal remains at risk when investment return is less than the 4.5% payout. When projecting FY10 payouts on endowments and quasi-endowments, you can expect about the same amount of spendable income as received in FY08 and FY09. (Exceptions would be for endowments created during the past two years. Those need to be reviewed on an individual basis by reviewing the monthly spendable transfers found in the fund statement.) If you have questions about how particular funds may be impacted, contact Rose Pederson, 6-7611, r-kerb@umn.edu.

Effective immediately, the forms for establishing vendors or making changes to existing vendors have changed.

The VAF is now one page long. Departments can send it to the vendor to complete or they can take the information over the phone and complete the form themselves. Departments should remember to provide the department contact information at the bottom of the form.

All forms are available in the U-Wide Forms Library. The related procedures have been updated and are available in the U-Wide Policy Library: http://policy.umn.edu/groups/ppd/documents/procedure/accountspayable_proc01.cfm

For new vendors, departments are required to send vendors a W9 (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf?portlet=3) to complete.

The completed and signed W9 should be submitted along with the VAF: http://policy.umn.edu/groups/ppd/documents/form/um1679.pdf

If the new vendor is a Sole Proprietor or Individual, departments are also required to complete and submit the Independent Contractor Authorization form (http://policy.umn.edu/groups/ppd/documents/form/um1650.pdf) along with the VAF and W9.

For changes to existing vendors, departments complete the appropriate fields on the VAF. Unless there is a vendor name or tax ID change, a W9 is not required. The Independent Contractor Authorization form is not needed for changes.

Please call the University Financial Helpline at 612-624-1617 or email finsys@umn.edu with questions.

Navigating in EFS to find specific information about a transaction can be confusing, especially for the occasional user. A job aid with navigational paths for documents like Requisitions or Purchase Orders can be found at: http://www.oar.umn.edu/CA/documents/Location_Location_Location_Navagation_Liz_Hinske_1_29_09.pdf

The job aid lists, click by click how to pull-up a specific document (main pathway) and how to navigate within the document to retrieve specific information, like chart string or approval history.

The Procurement Card reconciliation process that was rolled out with the new financial system, is awkward and cumbersome at best. The good news is that the process is currently being reviewed for ways to improve functionality and streamline procedures. LaCretia Bell, Director of Disbursement Services recently met with certified approvers to clarify Procurement Card processes and get feedback for changes and improvements. She provided written responses to questions about P-Cards which can be found at: http://www.oar.umn.edu/CA/documents/P-CardquestionforJan_29-09CAUserGroupfinal.pdf

While these questions were from certified approvers and may in some cases emphasize sponsored project issues, they are useful for all P-card preparers.

With the fluctuations in the current marketplace, the Brown Bag Financial Series offers three seminars designed to help University employees become more savvy investors. The upcoming topics are:

Taking Control of Your Financial Life
Presenter: Vanguard
Wednesday, February 4
12-1 p.m., 215 Donhowe

A Perspective on Today's Economy and Portfolio Diversification
Presenter: Securian
Wednesday, February 11
12-1 p.m., 215 Donhowe

Keeping Your Investment Strategy on Track
Presenter: Fidelity
Wednesday, February 25
12-1 p.m., 215 Donhowe

Attached you will find the first of three 8.5x11 posters in pdf format with more details about the presentations. Because of the file sizes, I will send the next two posters in separate e-mails. I would appreciate if you would print these posters and post them in your area, work units, or departments. Of if you have an e-mail listserv for your department, please forward the posters. Because space is limited, please register to attend these sessions at http://www.umn.edu/ohr/benefits/events/index.html.

This year, for faculty and staff who would like to participate but are unable to attend in person, each of these seminars will be broadcast as a live Webinar through UM Connect. To ensure that your system is set up and connected before the actual presentation, go to http://www.umn.edu/ohr/benefits/events/index.html, and check the system requirements and follow the diagnostic procedures.

If you have any questions or would like more information about the Brown Bag Financial Services, feel free to contact:
Deborah Stull Kinsley
Communication Project Manager
Office of Human Resources
319 15th Avenue SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612.626.7153
stull004@umn.edu

College Awareness Day

On Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 2,700 third graders attending Minneapolis public schools will participate in the Minneapolis I Know I Can College Awareness Day. The event will bring over 200 volunteers into classrooms to share the significance of making college attendance an aspiration.

Please VOLUNTEER!

See attachment for additional information on how you can get involved. (DOC)

Friday, January 23 - Annual appraisals of probationary faculty are due in the Office of the Associate Dean for Faculty.

Information about these reviews may be found on the Appraisals of Probationary Faculty page of the Faculty website, along with links to the governing documents and forms.

1. Purchase all computers through CLA-OIT (this includes computers for all needs and funding sources). We can assist in configurations either adhering to CLA-OIT standards or custom needs. Jenny Szymanski (szym0010@umn.edu, 6-4652) is CLA-OIT's purchaser.
2. CLA no longer sells computers to individuals. The process to properly sell a computer puts an undue burden on both CLA-OIT and Financial Service Team personnel due to securing private data, EFS, and other university regulations. As the computers are of questionable value without support (something technicians cannot provide), it is not worth the additional work (e.g. erasing all software and data from the hard drives, creating an invoice in EFS, etc.) to sell them. This policy is applies to ALL computers purchased by university funds.
3. Every computer used for University business requires professional support. CLA-OIT provides support for computers up to 4 years old (contact your tech for more details). Beyond that, alternative support must be identified or the computer must be sent to CLA-OIT for proper disposal/recycling.

Questions? Contact Jamey Hansen, CLA-OIT's Director of InfoTech Services (hansenj@umn.edu, 6-3666).

Currently, postings for CLA staff positions are on hold as the college waits for more detailed information about the budget outlook. For staff positions on hold that had received a soft funding commitment from the college, those funds are also on hold until final decisions are made. If a position is subsequently not approved due to the financial situation, those dollars would be treated as part of any FY10 budget reduction your department or unit may be asked to model.

If you have questions about the funding, please contact Karen Dewanz.

A new Quick Link has been added to the CLA Office of Human Resources intranet website:

http://cla.umn.edu/intranet/hr/

Click on "Department Assignments by HR Consultant/Personnel Specialist" to see a list of which departments and units are assigned to which HR Team.

February 6
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 02/02/2009 - 02/15/2009 pay period, 4:30 pm

February 20
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 02/16/2009 - 03/01/2009 pay period, 4:30 pm

February 26
Joint Financial Services / Human Resources meeting, Room 435 Blegen Hall, 9:00 am