CALS Business Operations Newsletter |
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Get CBO Help at:
919-515-4226 or cbo_help@ncsu.edu
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COVID-19: CBO Updates Webpage
Keep up-to-date on business operations updates and guidance related to COVID-19 on the CBO Updates – COVID-19 webpage.
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Business Partners Weekly Meetings
Previously scheduled bi-monthly Business Partners meetings have been canceled as the CBO and CALS HR are instead holding weekly meetings with primary business and HR coordinators to answer questions and provide updates surrounding the COVID-19 situation.
Recordings of each meeting along with the agendas are posted to the CBO Business Partners webpage as they become available. If you have questions regarding these meetings, please contact Molly Bradshaw, Process Efficiency and Training Manager, at mqbradsh@ncsu.edu.
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Training Tutorials and Tip Sheets
Be sure to check out the CBO Training and Guidance webpage for tutorials, tip sheets, and workflow documentation to assist our CALS Departments, Extension, and Research Stations with helpful tips for successful processing of business transactions and adherence to our NCSU and State guidelines. We are continuously updating and adding to this page to make it a helpful resource for our CBO customers.
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FY2021 - Shop the Marketplace First Initiative Version 2.0
As of 7/1/2020 NC State is moving to required use of the NC State eProcurement MarketPlace for supply purchases of less than $1,000. Faculty, staff, and the CALS community are expected to shop Marketplace first for supply orders $1,000 or less and follow the Decision Process for Purchasing Goods. Shop MarketPlace First is an Initiative which kicked off in July 2017. The initiative is for NCSU Faculty and Staff to purchase all low dollar supplies from NC State MarketPlace.
PCard Impacts: If the supplies are not available in Marketplace then a PCard may be used to purchase from a non MarketPlace vendor. If the supply is available in MarketPlace or if the cardholder purchases from a MarketPlace vendor, supply purchases $1,000 or less paid on a PCard will require justification explaining why MarketPlace was not used.
General Accounting Impacts: Also in alignment with this initiative, supply purchases $1,000 or less can only be paid using a voucher if 1) the vendor does not accept visa/mastercard (will be confirmed by Procurement), or 2) an invoice that is below $1,000 is a portion of a larger PO (totaling over $1,000). Please note: A voucher cannot be submitted to pay a vendor listed in MarketPlace.
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Confirming Orders
Confirming Orders are purchase orders that are issued AFTER purchases above $5,000, including shipping charges, are made and have been received by employees. These orders are normally unauthorized purchases and are not allowed because all purchase orders should be issued BEFORE goods or services are received.
There are times when Confirming Orders are allowed, but Procurement Services MUST be notified PRIOR to submitting a Confirming Order. An example of when a Confirming Order is allowed is an emergency repair of equipment that causes a research project or departmental process to stop.
Requisitions that are processed as Confirming Orders must include an explanation memo from the Requester explaining why the correct University process was not followed and how their department’s business processes will be changed so this does not happen again.
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Safety Shoe Allowance for State Employees
In compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Office of State Human Resources policy related to personal protective equipment, and to ensure that State employees are provided ample opportunity to purchase the proper and necessary safety shoes required by the job for adequate foot protection, the annual reimbursement allowance for the purchase of safety shoes is set at $125 per year. The Office of State Budget and Management and the Office of State Human Resources shall review the safety shoe reimbursement practice each biennium in order to adjust the allowance to reflect inflationary changes. Any exception to this policy must be approved in advance by the Office of State Budget and Management. You may view 6.1.5 Safety Shoe Allowance for State Employees on the OSBM website.
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MarketPlace Issues?
If you are having trouble checking out while shopping in MarketPlace, this could be due to an error when using Google Chrome. Try Firefox or another internet browser and see if this corrects the issue. If not, reach out to the MarketPlace Help Desk at help@ncsu.edu or call (919) 515-HELP.
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Accounts Receivable Deposit Drop-off Schedule
As you know, NCSU has moved to online courses for all students. In addition, students have been relocated off campus back to their respective home locations. Due to this change to on-campus operations, it was decided to lock the buildings again. If access to Patterson Hall is needed, there will be phone numbers posted on the door. CBO Business Services will continue to be available to retrieve deposits from you in person on per the below schedule:
Monday’s: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., Missy Grissom, 919-513-1749
Wednesday’s: 1 p.m. - 3 p.m., Paul Ballance, 919-515-2747
Friday’s: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., Tiffany Bryant, 919-515-7919
Non-cash deposits can be mailed to the CBO, CBO Accounts Receivables, Campus Box 7644, Raleigh, NC 27695-7644.
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Travel Exception Process
Emergency Management and Mission Continuity (EMMC) will continue to coordinate the travel exception process for the university and advise the Cabinet regarding UNC System, OSBM, State of North Carolina (including Executive Orders) and CDC travel protocol. The university will adhere to recommendations ensuring prudent and, as feasible, uniform decisions. All travel exception requests must be submitted via the Travel Exception Form (except for in-state mileage-only travel or in-state travel with no overnight stay which are exempted from this requirement).
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PCard Deadlines
Please take a moment to review the deadlines and reminders below to help ensure PCard policies and procedures are being followed and transactions are processed in a timely manner.
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August Billing Cycle (Past Billing Cycle)
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The August billing cycle (July 21 - August 20) statement deadline is 5 p.m. on September 21.
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To allow cardholders and supervisors adequate time for approval, reconcilers will approve statements by September 7 unless additional information is required.
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If additional information is required in order to approve a statement, cardholders will received notification by September 7 from cals_cbo_pcard@ncsu.edu. Please be on the lookout for these communications.
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Additionally, cardholders who did not have their receipts uploaded for this billing cycle into the PCard Center as of 3:30 p.m. on August 21 would be required to submit a JV request via ServiceNow if the transaction was not charged to the appropriate project.
September Billing Cycle (Current Billing Cycle)
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The reconciliation deadline for the September billing cycle (August 21 - September 18) is September 22. However, in order to guarantee reconciliation of transactions, receipts should be uploaded by 3:30 p.m. on September 21.
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Anything uploaded after the September 21 deadline will be reconciled for this billing cycle only if time allows and the cardholder will be responsible for submitting any JV requests via ServiceNow if necessary.
As a reminder, to ensure deadlines are met, cardholders should do the following:
- Upload receipts within 1-3 days of the transaction date and avoid uploading all receipts the day before or on the day of the reconciliation deadline.
- Be sure receipts have written on them the project phase to be charged, a detailed business purpose, and the travel authorization number (if applicable).
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Detailed Business Purpose Required for PCard Transactions
A detailed business purpose is required for all PCard transactions and answers the following questions: who benefits from the transaction, where the purchased item is located (if applicable), and why the transaction was necessary. When the type of transaction may inherently imply a business purpose (e.g., toner, paper, pens, lab supplies etc.), it is still necessary to provide a business purpose that describes which location or project within the department the item was purchased.
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Virtual Conferences
In response to COVID-19 we noticed that many of the conferences planned to originally take place in-person have been shifted to a virtual conference. The cardholder purchasing virtual conferences on his/her PCard will need to ensure that they provide the following:
- The name of the attendee
- The attendee’s affiliation (Employee or Nonemployee, etc.)
- A detailed business purpose as defined in the previous section. Using phrases such as “virtual conference” will not be accepted as a detailed business purpose and the cardholder will be asked to provide more information.
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Gifts and Awards Guidelines
Gifts and awards may be purchased in recognition of accomplishments or activities however they may not be given as payment or as a reimbursement of an expense. If deciding to purchase gift cards please be reminded that gift cards may only be purchased for non employees and may not be purchased for employees.
Gifts and awards may be subject to tax and for this reason they require tracking. To ensure tracking of these purchases additional information must be provided by the cardholder and uploaded along with receipts and other documentation into the PCard Center. When purchasing gifts and awards the following should be written on the receipt or in the comments section of the transaction:
- Full name of recipient
- Recipients affiliation to the university (Employee or Nonemployee, etc.)
- Employee ID or Student ID
- Description of item received
- Total value of item received
This information will be shared with the controller's office and may result in the student receiving a 1099 for the total amount of awards/prizes received in a calendar year.
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CALS C&G COVID-19 Information
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Annual Effort Reporting due September 30
At the beginning of August, individuals required to complete an Annual Effort Report for the fiscal year ended 6/30/20, received an email notification with instructions on how to access and submit the form. Starting this month, CALS Cost Share Coordinators will be reaching out to those individuals who have not yet certified their Effort Reports. Additionally, an email will be sent out weekly to the Department Heads and Business Service Coordinators providing a list of those individuals within their department who have not yet certified their effort. For any questions regarding Effort Certification please contact the CALS Cost Share Coordinators at group-calscst@ncsu.edu.
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COI/NOI RED Training and Final Roll-out
The final phase of COI/NOI roll-out, within the RED system, occurred on August 24 via a large blast to all faculty not yet completing COI in the RED system. Within the email was an attachment with instructions and links to training associated with completion of the COI form in the RED system. The deadline for COI submission will be 9/30/20. The main website for COI/NOI information, access and training is below. Please note there are specific training guides/materials for users, reviewers and administrators. Additionally, there is a COI/NOI helpdesk to assist with any system issues.
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NEW - IRB Handbook
IRB Office has made a one-time newsletter/bulletin to use and reference as needed. It includes the following information:
- Information about changes related to federal regulations
- New IRB Office policies and procedure
- Completely new IRB Office team, team structure, and IRB Full Board
- Guidance and links to guidance
- Overall it will make the experience with the IRB process more collaborative and streamlined.
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NSF Delays Roll-out of Current & Pending and Biosketch Templates Until October 1, 2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing stress on proposers, the research community has not been able to adequately prepare and train their staff for the implementation of the new requirements. NSF has therefore made the decision to delay the requirement to use NSF-approved formats for the biographical sketch and current and pending support sections of NSF proposals until October 1, 2020.
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ORCID ID and SciENcv Biosketch Information and Steps
If you plan to submit or participate on an NSF submission, please follow the below steps to first create an ORCID ID, then a SciENcv biosketch. If there are any questions regarding the process, please contact the NCSU librarians for assistance at group-lib-citations@ncsu.edu.
Please follow the instructions below to complete this task as soon as possible.
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Create or link your ORCID record to your Unity ID by clicking "Get Started" at this link: https://ci.lib.ncsu.edu/
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Add your publications to ORCID by following these directions: https://ci.lib.ncsu.edu/user/search-and-link
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If you need help importing publications into your ORCID record, send your CV to the Libraries through this link: https://ci.lib.ncsu.edu/user/cv-service
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Log into SciENcv: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/ and select "Click here to start"
- Select "See more 3rd party sign in options" and choose "North Carolina State University"
- Log into SciENcv using your Unity ID
- In the upper right corner, go to Settings by clicking on your username
- In Settings, scroll down to "Linked Accounts" and click the "Change" button
- Search for "ORCID" in the "Search for account name" box and select "ORCID" from the results (you should now see your ORCID record in the "Your Linked Accounts" section above)
- Click on "MyNCBI" in the upper right corner to go back to the main dashboard
- Proceed to the "SciENcv" section to start creating biosketches
Additional Information Regarding the SciENcv requirements:
If there are any questions regarding the SciENcv biosketch process, please contact the NCSU librarians for assistance.
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