For further information on this or other HUB vendors contact the University of Houston HUB Operations Department:

Sandra G. Webb – (713) 743-5662
E-mail: sgwebb@central.uh.edu

Please be sure to check out Vendor Special Offers by visiting the HUB Home Page by clicking here!
 

Human Resources

Transferring Ownership of a UH-Purchased Cell Phone or PDA

Some people have asked about the possibility of transferring ownership of a UH-purchased cell phone or PDA to an employee. If an employee wants to do this, please follow the steps below:

1. Assuming the device was purchased through IT, the department submits an IT Work Request www.cts.uh.edu/wo indicating that the employee wants to transfer ownership of the UH-purchased device to the employee. Include the employee’s name, type of device (cell phone or PDA), and phone number in the work request. If the cell phone or PDA was purchased by the department directly from an outside vendor (not through IT), the department should not complete an IT Work Request.

2. IT Communication Services (ITCS) will email the employee a Release of Liability form to be completed and returned back to ITCS for processing with vendor. If the cell phone or PDA was not purchased through IT, the department must make arrangements with the provider to transfer liability for monthly service charges from UH to the employee.

3. Based on the taxable value assigned by TurboTax for medium value cell phones and PDAs, UH cell phones and PDAs transferred to employees, regardless of cost, age, or condition, will be valued as follows:
• Cell phones - $22
• PDAs (and similar devices) - $31

4. The department will complete a Taxable Payments or Reimbursements to Employees Form http://www.uh.edu/finance/pages/forms.htm in which the taxable value ($22 or $31) is added to the employee’s taxable income as Other Taxable Wage Benefits (payroll earnings code 443).

5. The department will send the completed form to Tax Compliance (mail to TAX 0907), which will review and give to Payroll.

6. Payroll will add the amount indicated as taxable income to the employee’s earnings statement, which will not increase the employee’s take-home pay but will increase the income on which he/she pays taxes. At this point, the employee will own the device.

The above procedures are an alternative to employees returning their UH-purchased cell phones and PDAs to their department and purchasing new devices for themselves. Employees who choose to transfer the UH-purchased device to themselves are not eligible to receive an Equipment Allowance for that device, since they did not purchase the device directly from an outside vendor with their own money.

To clarify, an IT Work Request is only needed in the following situations:
• To disconnect the service of a cell phone, PDA, pager, or home internet connection that is paid through IT.
• To transfer the phone number on a cell phone, PDA, or pager that is paid through IT to an employee’s personally owned cell phone, PDA, or pager.
• To transfer ownership of a UH-purchased cell phone or PDA device (including the phone number and the monthly service charges) that is paid through IT to the employee using the procedures discussed above.

As previously communicated, pagers must be returned to ITCS for surrender to vendor with cellular number and users/employee’s name noted and taped to the device.

If a department is granted an exception to MAPP 10.03.05, Mike Glisson will notify ITCS. It is not necessary to submit an IT Work Request for approved exceptions. Exception requests should be in the form of a memo or email and must be routed through the division Vice President to Jim McShan for consideration.

As a reminder, all UH-owned devices should be returned to the department (pagers are returned to ITCS) or transferred to the employee by March 31. IT will disconnect all service that has not been disconnected through IT Work Requests by April 30.

1. Require an itemized receipt for each transaction, which is a merchant-produced or non-university document that records the relevant details for each item purchased including quantities, amounts, description of goods or services purchased, the total charge amount, the date of purchase, and the merchant’s name and address.

Employees should ask the merchant for a detailed receipt at the time of purchase if one is not provided. Many merchants will also reprint a receipt that has been lost. Employees should provide a written explanation if they do not have an itemized receipt or their receipt was lost and cannot be reprinted by the merchant.

Note: Itemized receipts are also required for employee reimbursements.

2. Require cardholders to turn in their receipts promptly after a purchase or when they return from a trip to the person who will verify the receipts match the transactions in the bank’s online list of credit card transactions (SDOL). All receipts must be accounted for when the billing cycle ends.

3. Require cardholders to provide a business purpose for each transaction so it can be entered in the Expense Description field (up to 255 characters) in SDOL before printing the final Expense Report. If not printed on the Expense Report, the business purpose should be written on the backup documentation, such as a Travel Request.

4. Require cardholders to review and sign the Expense Report no later than the 20th of each month for the billing cycle just ended to verify the following:
a. All charges were made by the cardholder and are listed on the report for the correct amount.
b. All charges are for university business purposes and in compliance with university policy.
c. All supporting documentation and information has been provided to the department business office and is attached to the Expense Report. Each transaction must be supported by one of the following:


• Itemized receipt
• Memo from cardholder– if an erroneous charge was noted and the merchant agreed to credit the account (there is no itemized receipt in such instance)
• Memo or Dispute Form from cardholder – if an erroneous charge was noted but the merchant refused to credit the account (there is no itemized receipt in such instance)


Note: Itemized receipts are required for all purchases, even if the merchandise was subsequently returned to the vendor.

Any exceptions to the above should be noted on the Expense Report by the cardholder and any disputed charges should be reported to Accounts Payable as indicated in the P-Card and Travel Card Guidelines.

5. Require the certifying signatory (must be someone other than the cardholder) to carefully review and sign the Expense Report no later than the 20th of each month for the following:
a. Appropriateness of transactions.
b. Correct cost center and account.
c. Complete supporting documentation.
d. Cardholder signature.

The certifying signatory should note any missing documentation or questions about the appropriateness of transactions on the Expense Report and follow-up with the cardholder and cardholder’s supervisor, if necessary, to obtain an explanation before the Expense Report is uploaded to the Finance System.

The certifying signatory should follow-up on expected credits. If anticipated credits do not appear on the cardholder’s account within two billing cycles, contact Accounts Payable.

6. Upload the Expense Report, which has been reviewed and signed by the cardholder and certifying signatory, and all backup documentation to the Finance System no later than 30 days after the billing cycle ends.

7. Review any transactions identified by Accounts Payable as unusual to determine if they are legitimate. Accounts Payable sends an email to all College/Division Administrators at the end of each month, which identifies unusual transactions. There may be a legitimate explanation for these transactions, but each one should be investigated.

8. College/Division Administrators (or their designee) should review the complete list of P-Card and Travel Card transactions for their college/division at least once a month. A list of transactions is saved to the college and division share drives each month to make this review easier. Any unusual transactions should be investigated.

9. Report all suspected instances of deliberate misuse of P-Cards and Travel Cards in accordance with SAM 01.C.04, Reporting/Investigating Fraudulent Acts. Click on the Fraud and Institutional Compliance link on the Finance home page to see reporting instructions.

10. Remind employees that if anyone is found to have committed fraud their card will be cancelled, they will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination, and they will prosecuted for criminal activity to the fullest extent of the law.

Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Statistics

University of Houston HUB use for February 2008 = 16.00%

UH System Administration HUB use for February 2008 = 27.59%

UH/UHSA departments with 90% HUB use or higher that spent at least $100 in February 2008
 

The above percentages include HUB-eligible voucher and P-Card payments. However, HUB subcontractor payments are not included in the monthly HUB statistics but are included in the semi-annual and annual HUB reports. For departments with more than one DeptID, all DeptID’s were combined to determine the above ranking.

HUB reports by college/division and department are posted on the web at: http://www.uh.edu/finance/pages/HUB_Reports.htm

See the HUB Vendor Directory for a list of frequently-used HUB vendors: http://www.uh.edu/hub/

You can also call Sandra Webb at x35662 or Alan Philips at x35671 if you need help finding a HUB vendor.

• Roundtrip economy airfare within the continental US, Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, and Central America can be redeemed for 14 points.
• Roundtrip economy airfare to South America, Europe, India, Israel, Russia, Hawaii, Guam, and Asia can be redeemed for 24 points.
• Note: Taxes and fees associated with the airfare are not covered by RewardOne points and must be paid separately by the division.
  

• At least three weeks before the trip, the traveler or business office verifies that a RewardOne certificate can be used to purchase the desired flight by calling Continental Airlines reservations at 1-800-525-0280. The traveler or business office must notify the reservation agent that RewardOne program code “ER1181” and class “X/L” (economy) will be used. A reservation should not be made at this point - only confirmation that a RewardOne certificate can be used to purchase the flight.
• After the above confirmation, the Division Administrator will send an email to Sandra Silva (ssilva@uh.edu) or Edwin Rodas (erodas@uh.edu) in Accounts Payable indicating the desired flight schedule and authorized person to receive the RewardOne certificate.
• Sandra or Edwin will redeem appropriate points and issue a RewardOne certificate to the authorized person. This certificate is not in the name of any particular traveler and does not reserve or book any particular flight. It may be used for the requested flight or any other Continental flight of the same type (e.g., for any other Continental flight within the continental US), as long as the flight occurs within one year after the certificate was issued and the flight has a university business purpose.
• The authorized department will book the flight on Continental Airlines using the certificate and email the airline ticket (eTicket) to the traveler. Airline tickets can be purchased in one of the following ways:
  Phone: Call Continental Reservations (1-800-525-0280) and provide the certificate number when purchasing airfare.
  Website: Go to http://www.continental.com and select Reward Travel. Enter the certificate number in the Offer Code field. Then purchase airfare.
• Any taxes, fees, or additional charges not covered by the certificate must be paid by the division when they book the flight.

HRMS ePAR Status Update

By: Carla Ponzio, Director, Peoplesoft HRMS

Functional Testing of the Employee Status form and the Additional Pay form was completed at the end of February. The HRMS ePAR project team tests every aspect of the form from tabbing from one field to another, to error messages that pop up on the screen. In addition, test PARs are being data entered and routed through the workflow process.

The development of the Hire form is near completion and the development of the Job Change form is in progress. As each form development is completed, functional testing will begin.

Meetings with the Division leaders at central campus regarding individual ePAR workflow routing were completed the last week in February, and we are pleased that the drafts we created needed minimal changes to the routing within the divisions. Changes were made as needed and have been emailed back to the Division leaders for their official sign off.

When all approvals have been received by the HRMS office for Central Campus, UHCL, UHD and UHV, the new security structure in PeopleSoft will be implemented. We want to be sure that HR PeopleSoft users will be able to see the departments within their Permission List.

An email will be sent to the Main Campus Division leaders, UHCL, UHD and UHV, and a notice will be sent out on the HRMS-Payroll listserv one day prior to changing the security.

Training documents for ePAR are under development by the HRMS office. The HRMS office will create the training schedule in March and start training sessions in conjunction with the Human Resource Department upon completion of User Acceptance Testing. User Acceptance will be part of the Production Pilot program.

The Production Pilot program will consist of a group of users from the community. The users will be trained to use ePAR and will data enter PARs and route the forms from initiator through final approval. Upon completion of the Production Pilot, HRMS will begin the phased roll out to the community. The schedule for the roll out will be sent out to ePAR users sometime in March.

The feedback I have received from the divisions has been overwhelmingly positive and everyone is anxious for the project to be implemented. The HRMS office is just as excited to implement phase one for staff and students and to get started on phase two – faculty.

Termination Checklist

An updated Termination Clearance Form can be found here. Department contact information has been updated for existing clearance areas, and additional clearance requirements have also been included.

Foster Parent Leave Update

In response to recent inquiries regarding the leave entitlement and provisions for Foster Parents, the following excerpts from UHS/UH leave policies and procedures are provided for your information:

MAPP Policy 02.02.03

I. Foster parent leave: An employee who is a foster parent to a child under the conservatorship of the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (DPRS) is entitled to leave of absence to attend DPRS staffing meetings regarding the child or to attend the school district's Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) meetings regarding the child.

MAPP Procedure 02.02.03

10. Volunteer firefighter training, foster parent meetings, Red Cross training, blind employee training - The employee shall submit the Leave Request/Notification form, along with a copy of the notice of the training or meeting, as soon as possible after the notification is received.

SAM No. 02.D.04

4.4. Foster parent leave. An employee who is a foster parent to a child under the conservatorship of the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services is entitled to a leave of absence with full pay to attend staffing meetings regarding the child held by the DPRS, or to attend the Admission, Review and Dismissal (ARD) meeting held by a school district regarding the child.

An employee of the University of Houston who is a foster parent and requesting leave in accordance with the above policies should be granted leave with full pay. Payroll has created the following earning codes to utilize when processing these leave requests:

Monthly employees 143
Biweekly employees 142

(Example: Hours to be entered much like jury duty called other paid leave)

Leader Training - Coaching, Discipline & Documentation

The Human Resources Department is now offering Coaching, Discipline & Documentation training to supervisors across campus. This course introduces methods for facilitating coaching and disciplinary sessions with employees and covers methods for proper documentation. The goal is to provide supervisors with the skills necessary to facilitate coaching and disciplinary transactions that are in line with University policy. The 3-hour training session is available to any leader responsible for supervising an employee. To view available course sessions and enroll for training, visit HR Training online.

o Set and measure goals
o Encourage performance improvement
o Identify training and development opportunities