Financial Management Newsletter #23

December 2004

It's a little late but here's the news for December about---

• changes in our Financial Mgt organization
• our new Payroll Director
• more contacts during the period of GCA's reorganization
• GCA's new receivables system that is now operating
• guidelines changes for waiving tuition forfeitures
• the new calculation method for NIH salary caps
• availability of your free credit report

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES IN FINANCIAL MGT
There are a number of organizational changes occurring as
a result of my retirement at the end of January 2005. With my retirement, Ann
Anderson will move into the Controller position.

We are also creating a new unit called Decision Support to provide
analytical support to campus units by retrieving data from current
systemsand datawarehouses, analyzing it and providing ideas and
solutions. Charles Bennett is leading this effort. As Charles moves
into Decision Support, his areas will be reporting directly to Ann
(Payroll on Dec 1 and Financial Accounting/EIO/Tax on Feb 1).

To recognize the importance of Financial Mgt's other areas serving researchers and
students, these two areas will report directly
to V'Ella--Sue Camber heading GCA and MAA and Ruth Johnston heading SFS
along with our quality program. And to maintain the financial consistency and
integrity of systems and processes (eg cash
management), Ann as Controller will have a matrix coordination role
where cross-functional activities may impact them.

It's still not time for me to lay back and put my feet up--I'll be
returning part-time for some special projects and will continue to be
involved with a number of my outside service activities. But after 25
years at the UW I'm happy to see the extremely competent people in
Financial Mgt leadership positions have the challenges and opportunities
for continuing growth.

You can see the Financial Mgt organizational chart effective Feb 1 at
http://www.washington.edu/admin/finmgmt/fmqi/orgchts.htm
Then click on Financial Mgt (as of 2/1/05).

************************************************************

PAYROLL DIRECTOR CHANGE
Linda Braziel left her position as Director to return to C&C. Although we will miss
her, we are pleased that we will continue to benefit from her new coordinating role
with our heritage computing systems.

Cindy Gregovich became Director on December 1. With Cindy's move, Travel will become
part of Payables Admin, reporting to Karen Long, and EIO will become part of Jeff
Follman's Financial Accounting organization.

************************************************************
CONTACTS DURING GCA'S REORGANIZATION--GRANT & CONTRACT ACCOUNTING
You may be having a difficult time reaching GCA. They have several
new initiatives, including preparing for the reorganization in
January 2005 and learning how to use their new receivables system (see
below). GCA is sensitive to the impact that their transition is having on campus and
would like to provide additional contact sources to ensure a timely response. Please
refer to
http://www.washington.edu/research/gca/office/gcacontacts.html

***********************************************************

NEW RECEIVABLE SYSTEM (GRIP) IMPLEMENTED--GRANT AND CONTRACT ACCOUNTING
On November 15th, GCA replaced the heritage receivables system
with a new system that will enhance billing and cash application
efficiency. These improvements will also positively impact overall
grant-administration services (e.g. reporting, closing, compliance,
documentation, etc.). Benefits of the new system include:

• Increased efficiency and accuracy of invoicing to sponsors by using
  an automated process
• Improved times for payment remittance from sponsors by using a new
  aged-receivables system
• Increased speed in which payment is applied to research projects.

************************************************************

TUITION FORFEITURE PROCESS--STUDENT FISCAL SERVICES
Updates have been made to the guidelines for petitioning the tuition
forfeiture rule, RCW 28B.15.600. As a summary, here are the new
requirements for waiving a forfeiture fee--

• for University error: the departmental representative must provide
  a written statement explaining what happened AND WHY IT WAS AN ERROR.
• for "new students": students may claim the "new student" reason
  (for not being aware of the forfeiture rules) only during their first quarter of
  attendance
• for medical reasons: students must submit the Health Care Provider Verification
  Form completed by their physician

Contact Nancy Hurja (nhurja@u.washington.edu or 221-5961) if you have any questions.

Tuition Forfeiture Rules and Petitions Guidelines Chart:
http://www.washington.edu/students/sfs/sao/tuition/pet_guidelines.html

Health form:
http://www.washington.edu/students/sfs/forms/forfeit_health.pdf

Petition form:
http://www.washington.edu/students/sfs/forms/forfeit_petn.pdf

***********************************************************
REVISED CALCULATION OF NIH SALARY CAP LIMITS--MGT ACCOUNTING & ANALYSIS
Recent notices from NIH have clarified how the NIH salary cap should be
determined and applied when a faculty member's salary exceeds the cap.
Beginning in the autumn 2004 quarter, when a salary cap changes during
the quarter, the salary cap in effect for the majority of that quarter's
pay periods will be used. For example, NIH typically updates the cap
on January 1. Therefore, effort reports for winter quarter 2005
would use the cap effective on January 1 2005, since 5 of the 6 pay
periods during that quarter fall under the 2005 cap.

NIH, SAMHSA and AHRQ awards will be impacted by this change. This will
simplify the process of selecting the appropriate cap and will require
less cost sharing. Departments will see this change reflected in the
salary cap addendums attached to the autumn 2004 FECs. The current
NIH salary limitation notice can be found at:
http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-04-025.html.
For further details, contact Suzette Ashby-Larrabee
(suzette@u.washington.edu or 685-7395)

***********************************************************

FREE CREDIT REPORTS NOW AVAILABLE--STUDENT FISCAL SERVICES
Beginning December 1st, new federal rules require the three national
credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) to provide consumers
living in the Western states one free credit report every twelve months,
upon request. This is one good way for citizens (including students) to
monitor their records for Identity Theft and their credit scores, which
are used to determine credit worthiness. The free reports can be
ordered at:
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Have a great holiday season!

Frank Montgomery, Controller (frankm@u.washington.edu or 543-4993)

V'Ella Warren, Vice President, Financial Mgt & Treasurer, Board of Regents (vwarren@u.washington.edu or 543-8765)

Please direct any questions, comments or suggestions to Frank Montgomery at frankm@u.washington.edu