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Contracts & Grants - Human Resources - Purchasing - Receiving & Stockroom September 2008 Welcome to this first edition of RES News, a newsletter from Research Enterprise Services, a new unit serving the administrative needs of numerous science units on campus. Look for this update every other month, and please keep an eye on res.berkeley.edu, where you can access all services and information. The site will soon list transaction processing times and expectations for each area of support. Research Enterprise Services (RES) began July 1 to support the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), the Berkeley Nanosciences and Nanoengineering Institute (BNNI), the Berkeley Stem Cell Center, the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases (CEND), the Functional Genomics Laboratory, the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (HWNI), and the Institute of Cognitive and Brain Sciences. Research administration needs (such as HR, purchasing, grants administration) are provided by RES staff, while programmatic needs (such as development of educational or scientific initiatives and programs) continue to be supported by staff in each specific unit. How are we doing? Your feedback is important as we work toward our goal of providing exceptional service to our researchers and thereby freeing them from some of their administrative burdens. Investigators are invited to share comments and suggestions of all kinds through the RES Investigator Feedback page. Postings go directly to me, and can be kept confidential if desired. Need to contact the RES staff? Contracts and Grants: resgrants@berkeley.edu Human Resources: reshr@berkeley.edu Purchasing: respurchasing@berkeley.edu Receiving: resreceiving@berkeley.edu Stockroom: stanleystockroom@berkeley.edu I look forward to working with all of you as we continue to build and improve RES. Sincerely, Diane Leite, Assistant Vice Chancellor, RES CONTRACTS & GRANTS Important Grant News: The number of last-minute grant submissions has been dramatically increasing over the last several months. We have a significant number of proposals that are submitted to SPO with only a day for review. This is becoming increasingly difficult for our own contracts and grants staff to continue to provide the level of service you have all come to expect. We would like to minimize the number of proposals submitted to SPO with such a short review period so that the campus does not impose a more strict review schedule. Please help us by informing your C&G Analyst as soon as you contemplate submitting a proposal and allow at least 14 days for review and submission. Our staff will work with you to allow the longest possible period for editing and final writing while working with SPO staff as early as possible in the process. In recent years, the contract and grant environment has become one of greater and greater scrutiny by federal agencies and auditors. We will continually be providing you with information on issues as they become the focus of federal agencies and their audit divisions in their review of colleges and universities. This information will help put into context some of the reviews and actions that we must take as we carry out our support duties. Currently there are three areas that are being highlighted by the federal agencies: 1. Cost transfers. Due to the high number of late or inadequately documented costs transfers, audit divisions of the federal government are paying special attention to cost transfers across the UC system. To minimize your exposure to disallowance, RES staff will work with faculty to ensure that transfers are meeting the requirements of the campus cost transfer policy. In previous years, cost transfers that were late or inadequately documented have been disallowed by federal agencies on UC contracts and grants. 2. Sponsors enforcing contractual reporting deadlines. Federal sponsors have recently refused to pay invoices because reports were not submitted by established deadlines. This applies to all reports including technical, progress, and financial reports. RES staff will work with faculty to assist in the timely submission of all contractual reports. 3. Advance funding to subcontractors. The federal government only allows for advance funding in rare circumstances when a subcontractor lacks sufficient working capital to perform the work. Following campus direction, we will only advance the amount of money needed to cover the short-term working capital needs of the subcontractor. If an advance has been made, care needs to be exercised to ensure the work is performed in accordance with the terms of the subaward. Important NIH News: NIH Implements New Procedures to Protect NIH Application Data Sent to Peer Reviewers on Compact Disks (NOT-OD-08-071) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-071.html NIH/AHRQ Set Transition from PureEdge to Adobe Application Forms for December 2008 and Plan Subsequent Transition of Remaining Mechanisms to Electronic Submission (NOT-OD-08-073) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-073.html New GSA Directive Affects NIH Reimbursement Process for New Reviewers and Reviewers Up for CCR Renewal (NOT-OD-08-075) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-075.html NIH Policy on Submission of Additional Grant Application Materials (NOT-OD-08-082) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-082.html HUMAN RESOURCES 2008 Staff and Academic Reduction in Time (START) Program Eligible RES staff may participate in the START (Staff and Academic Reduction in Time) program. START is a temporary, voluntary program in which eligible employees may, with the approval of their supervisor, reduce their working hours and corresponding pay between 10 and 50%. START participants must remain on pay status at least 50% of full-time each month while on START will continue to accrue vacation, sick leave and UC Retirement Plan service credit at their pre-START accrual rate. More information, including details about eligibility, can be found at http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/policy/start2008/start2008_toc.htm. Retirement Education Workshops UC is sponsoring several retirement education workshops to help employees learn about investing for retirement and the steps they can take to help ensure retirement readiness. The workshops, conducted by Fidelity Retirement Services, include information on:
Non-Academic Staff Severance Payments Since 2006, the campus has been able to cover the relatively few non-academic staff severance payments from central sources. With the anticipated increase in layoffs as a result of the budget cuts, however, the campus will not be able to continue this practice for layoffs occurring after July 1, 2008. Departments and Principal Investigators will be responsible for funding severance payments to staff. For questions about layoff policies and procedures, please contact Anita Bailey (666-3310 or anita_bailey@berkeley.edu). Questions about funding can be directed to Nick Endsley (666-3645 or nendsley@berkeley.edu). PURCHASING Important changes to reimbursements for UCB travelers ++ MEALS AND INCIDENTAL EXPENSES ARE NO LONGER REIMBURSED FOR TRAVEL LESS THAN 24 HOURS ++ Effective September 1, 2008, the University will not reimburse for meals and incidental expenses such as tips and fees for service when travel is less than 24 hours, unless the trip includes an overnight stay as supported by a lodging receipt. Previously, reimbursement was allowed for trips of more than 12 hours. An exception to the overnight stay requirement may be allowed for a meal expense in connection with a business meeting, recruitment, entertainment, or other meal authorized by Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-79 "Expenditures for Business Meetings, Entertainment, and Other Occasions" (http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/bus79.pdf). This change is a result of revisions in the IRS Taxable Fringe Benefit Guide and is reflected in the "Policy and Regulations Governing Travel" (UCOP Business and Finance Bulletin G-28) available at http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/g28.pdf. Section VIII.C and Appendix C of the Bulletin provide further details about reimbursement for travel of less than 24 hours. ++ INTERNET TRAVEL PACKAGES ARE NOT REIMBURSABLE ++ Itemized expenses and supporting documentation are required when requesting reimbursement for University business travel expenses. Travel or "vacation packages" purchased from Internet vendors generally do not itemize expenses. Consequently, no University business travel should be booked through such vendors unless the traveler has confirmed that every aspect of the package will be separately itemized (e.g., explicit room charges, taxes, services, airfare, taxes, fees, etc.). Without this itemization of expenses, such travel cannot be reimbursed regardless of overall cost savings. This requirement is addressed in Section XII, "Reporting Travel Expenses" of the University Travel policy, http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/g28.pdf. Please help us inform all campus travelers of these changes by distributing copies of this notice to all travelers including students. If you have questions about these changes, please contact the Travel and Entertainment Office at 643-5652 or travel@berkeley.edu. General updates Entertainment Reimbursement request forms can be found online at http://res.berkeley.edu/res/forms.cfm. Please remember to complete all highlighted areas and signatures. All requests must be submitted with original receipts. For additional assistance please contact Jadine Palapaz at 666-3382. If you experience trouble placing a request online, please reference our "How-To Guide" at http://purchasingqb3.berkeley.edu/buy/UGuide.pdf. This guide includes a short tutorial on how to place requests for orders. For additional assistance, please contact our customer service line at 666-3311. RECEIVING & STOCKROOM The Stanley Hall Stockroom is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday to all customers. Stanley Hall occupants can access the stockroom with card key 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Johann Yopp, your Fisher representative, is on site from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Friday for assistance. Orders placed on fishersci.com by 1:30 p.m. can be delivered within one hour on the same day, or can be picked up in person within 15 minutes of placing the order. All orders placed after 1:30 will be delivered the next morning or can be picked up by the customer until 3:30 on the day of the order. If you still need a username and password come down to 156 to pick it up so you can start using the stockroom.
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