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University Policies and Procedures
   
   Home | Official Policy | Recent Updates | Review/Approval Process | Policies in Review | Contact Us
FY09 - 4th Quarter MAPPs in Executive Review

The following MAPPs have been recommended for review by University of Houston subject matter experts. They have been reviewed by Administration and Finance staff, college and division business administrators, the Dean’s Council, Faculty Senate, Staff Council and Internal Auditing. To review and approve these policies, please select each policy name to view the linked document and send your comments, if any, to Sara Carter at scarter@uh.edu by Friday, October 9, 2009.

The column titled "Proposed Changes" briefly explains the updates that have been submitted. The column titled "Review Comments" indicates the comments/suggestions received during the Campus Review of the policies listed below.
 
MAPP Number and Name Proposed Changes Review Comments
MAPP 02.03.02 - Contracting for Services Using Contract Workforce vs. Employment MAPP 02.03.02 was submitted for its scheduled review.  
MAPP 02.04.07 - Ethical Conduct of University Employees Reference to state laws was corrected as well as position titles and department names in MAPP 02.04.07.  
MAPP 02.04.09 - Exit Interviews Section II.B. was clarified and the web address of the online exit interview was provided in MAPP 02.04.09.  The responsible party was also updated.  
MAPP 04.01.01 - Purchase of Goods, Materials, and Supplies through the Purchasing Department Section III.F.3.a. was updated to remove the bid requirements for offset printing services under $5000.  The University Printing Department may still provide these services at any cost without competitive bidding.  A state procurement program's name was also corrected.  
MAPP 04.01.03 - Vouchers Vendor hold instructions were updated and moved to section IV.A. Purpose and benefit statement was added to the key rules for voucher submission. Bid requirements were removed from offset printing services under $5000. Additional requirements for reimbursements were clarified and consolidated into section VIII.  If an employee submits receipts for reimbursement more than 60 days after the date of purchase, the voucher must be routed through the Tax Department so that the amount is added as taxable income to the employee’s W-2 in accordance with IRS regulations. VIII.C.4. - What section of the IRS states this and does it say why after 60 days?
Response: The following publication was used to assist with the development of the reimbursement guidelines: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p463.pdf. On page 26 “Accountable Plans” are discussed. In this section a “reasonable amount of time” is defined as “adequately account for your expenses within 60 days after they were paid or incurred.” “Accountable plan rules not met” then describes the taxable income rule. It states: "Those expenses that fail to meet all the rules for accountable plans are treated as having been reimbursed under a nonaccountable plan."

VIII.B.2.b. - In some of the MAPPs where reimbursement would be made to a personal credit card it states that personal information (credit card number, etc.) should be blacked-out. I think that blacking out personal information should be mandatory and therefore “should” should be ‘will’. - Changes applied.
MAPP 04.02.01A - Travel Paid from State-Appropriated Funds MAPP 04.02.01A was updated to reflect travel rules implemented in May 2009.  Other updates include the requirement of a Travel Exemption Certification for all non-use of contracted travel services.  The form also lists the acceptable exemptions. One travel reimbursement voucher is allowed per business trip. Reimbursement requests submitted after the deadline are considered taxable income in accordance with IRS regulations and must be routed through the Tax Department. Meals and lodging per diems for travel within Texas are based on the federal rates for each destination instead of one rate for all of Texas. Itemized receipts are required for meals for travel outside the continental U.S. if the expense exceeds the federal per diem for that destination.  Non-overnight travel meal reimbursement is allowable for prospective employees only. All travel requires the submission of an itinerary or program supporting the business purpose of the trip.  
MAPP 04.02.01B - Travel Paid from Local Funds MAPP 04.02.01B was updated to reflect travel rules implemented in May 2009. Other updates include a maximum of one travel reimbursement voucher per business trip. Reimbursement requests submitted after the deadline are considered taxable income in accordance with IRS regulations and must be routed through the Tax Department. Non-overnight travel meal reimbursement is allowable for prospective employees and students only. Meal and lodging per diems for travel within Texas are based on the federal rates for each destination instead of one rate for all of Texas. All travel requires the submission of an itinerary or program supporting the business purpose of the trip.  
MAPP 05.02.02 - Official Functions and Discretionary Expenditures MAPP 05.02.02 was updated to reflect entertainment rules implemented in May 2009. Addendum B was also updated to identify whether tuition funds may be used for the indicated expense.  
MAPP 05.04.03 - Physical Inventory of Goods for Resale, Manufacture, or Repair A statement was added to MAPP 05.04.03 to allow the sale of obsolete goods at a discounted price.  
MAPP 11.03.01 - Tuition, Fees, and Charges MAPP 11.03.01 was updated to reflect tuition fund expenditure restrictions and budgeting guidelines implemented in May 2009.  


*Please note that the policies contained in this section are not official.  The changes have been submitted to the University Policies and Procedures and are currently under review.  To view official Manual of Administrative Policies and Procedures documentation go to http://www.uh.edu/mapp/.