FINANCE STAFF MEETING
TUESDAY, JULY 13, 2002
CONFERENCE ROOM B
1 P.M.

 

Present:   Debbie Jozwiak, LaRue Ninke, Deana Waida, Linda Turley, Angela Hartmann, Kathy Caylor, Andrea Blumberg, Tamye Crockett, Linda Syverson, and Melody Olsen.

Also present was Darlene Pullin, Budget Officer.

Safety :   Tamye reviewed the answers to our questions from the last meeting as follows:

1. Do we shut all the doors (hallway and office) when we leave for a fire drill? [Motal, Susie]   Only the exterior hallway doors and kitchen door would be required to be shut - do not lock.   You would only close office doors if the fire was contained in your suite.

2.   Whose responsibility is it to keep the first aid kit stocked? [Motal, Susie]   Every department has the responsibility of stocking their own first aid kit.    

Reminder: There are two first aid kits on the desk in front of Debbie Jozwiak’s office behind the typewriter.

Tamye will be instructed on “Shelter in Place” at 3 p.m. today by David Hernandez and Susie Motal.

Update: The Finance’s “Shelter in Place” location is the Faculty Lounge, upstairs. The “Shelter in Place” kit is by Tamye Crockett’s desk. The contents of the kit were discussed as to their purpose and expiration dates were noted; e.g. of contents; water, weather radio, plastic bags, gloves, masks, batteries and flashlight.   Business Services is responsible for checking expiration dates.

Tamye was told that plastic must be pre-cut and placed in the “Shelter in Place” kit for the air vents and around the door.   (Linda Syverson and Tamye Crockett have cut the plastic, labeled, and placed in the kit).   Tamye has reviewed all the procedures with Linda since Linda is the Alternate.

Problems noted for follow up:

  1. Even though it is stated in the Contingency Plan that there is a phone extension in the Faculty Lounge for communication, there isn’t a phone.
  2. A ladder is needed to reach the air vents in the ceiling and around the door for placement of the plastic. No ladder is available in the room.   It was noted, though, that there is furniture in the room that perhaps could be used to reach these heights.
  3. Are the windows sealed well enough so that they don’t need to be covered with plastic?

Benefits of having the Faculty Lounge for the “Shelter in Place” location:

  1. If there is electricity, there is a refrigerator.
  2. There is a rocking chair and a sofa.
  3. If the water isn’t turned off, there is running water.
  4. The Faculty Lounge is for the Finance department only.   A&F, Business Services and HR have a different location.   That means only “girls”. ( Don’t know if this is a “problem” or “benefit”.)

The “Sign-In, Sign-Out” board was discussed.   The purpose of the board is to know who is in the office in case of a fire, for example.   All employees need to be accounted for in case of an emergency. Linda S. said she would place a note on the kitchen door to help remind us to move our “dot” to “In” or “Out”.

The Contingency Plan was discussed regarding telephones.   According to Appendix A: A-6

IT Standby Cell Phones/Assignment , the Information Technology Department has 15 standby cell phones that will be issued.   Administration & Finance will have a phone in case of an emergency.

The cell phone number is 550-9372. Finance department will not have one.

The Recovery Team members are Toni Wyer and Debbie Jozwiak.   Specific Recovery Team Responsibility is to serve as   the control and coordination point for the management of fund related issues relating to business interruption and business resumption activities.   Detail may be found in the Business Contingency Plan, page 13.

PeopleSoft Training Update:   Linda Turley will be conducting “Work Sessions” when PS 8.4 is available.   The majority of the estimated 80 PS operators are trained.   Debbie Jozwiak will assist in the Work Sessions.   Debbie will provide one-on-one training for queries with Martha Matura and Krystal Phillips. Debbie will also help Andrea Blumberg with GL journal entries.

Travel: Tamye discussed “Travel Ideas” that are being used at other campuses asking for input as to whether or not they would be advantageous to UHV.   Even though other campuses may have a centralized Travel Office, perhaps these ideas could be adapted for departmental use.

  1. The departmental secretary could provide a “check-off” list for expenses allowed along with an envelope for travelers to place their receipts.   Tamye will work on an example of the “check off” list for review.   Perhaps the Provost office could help with this.
  2. Tamye noted that she was told that the “Employee’s Home Address” should be placed on the 2nd panel in PeopleSoft instead of the 1st panel.   The 1st panel is considered public information but the 2nd panel is not public. Currently both panels are the same.   It was decided to keep both panels the same at this time.
  3. The State noted that when a traveler is in the “traveling mode” all incidentals for example; software, office supplies, could be reimbursed on the travel voucher.   This is at the agency’s discretion.   This was discussed and decided that UHV would not reimburse these expenses on the travel voucher.

Vouchers:   Melody presented the following report:

41% ( 135 )of the total vouchers (330) received in Finance requiring corrections were returned to the department for corrections in the previous 6 ½ months (11/21/03 thru 6/30/04)

59% (195) vouchers are corrected in Finance without returning the voucher to the department.

This comparison is approximately the same for the previous 6 1/2 month period of 5/1/03 thru 11/20/03.

The most common reasons for returning vouchers appear to remain the same as follows:

  1. Proper supporting documentation is needed
  2. Departmental approval and payee cannot be the same
  3. Departmental approval is missing
  4. Invoice/receipt do not match the voucher amount
  5. Invoice amount exceeds purchase order
  6. Needs President’s approval for memberships
  7. Please request a change order
  8. Please use discretionary cost center for food
  9. The university is exempt from sales taxes

In PeopleSoft 8.4 the user may view the Voucher before printing.   This may allow the operator to “catch” mistakes.  

Other than reinforcing proper voucher preparation during PS training sessions, we are at a loss as to “how” to reduce the number of vouchers being returned to the departments.

TASSCUBO:   Toni provided a handout titled “Reality Check 21” that was presented a the recent TASSCUBO conference.

Re: Check Truncation Act (CTA) or The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21)

The primary purpose of the Act is to allow an institution to make a unilateral decision to truncate all paper checks without agreements with any other party.   The Act enables this by authorizing the creator of a substitute check from an electronic record (image) of the check for those banks and customers who have not agreed to accept the electronic record (image).

Check 21 was signed into law October 28, 2003. Implementation date 10/28/2004.

“Frequently Asked Questions” were discussed. More information can be found on the following web sites:

Electronic Check Clearing House Organization  http://www.eccho.org;

Small Value Payments Company http://www.svpco.com

American Banks Association http://www.aba.com

Roundtable:

PeopleSoft 8.4 :   Linda Turley said that PeopleSoft 8.4 will be available to users at 8 a.m., Wednesday, July 14, 2004.

Auditing vouchers:   Melody is comfortable with the transition from PS 7.5 to PS 8.4 and the auditing process.   Vouchers have been audited through July 8th.

State Accounting:   Deana has been working on the FY05 Method of Finance Allocation into USAS, and UH Service Charges for the 4th quarter.   The 3rd quarter ABEST is also due soon.

Budget:   Darlene said that PCBUD has been scheduled to be uploaded into PS 8.4 on July 15th for non-salary & wages.   The upload for S&W is planned for August 1st.   The Legislative Appropriation Request (LAR) will be due August 15th.

General Accounting: LaRue said that at the present time there are 126 accounts at the collection agency (GRC) for a total due of $145,431.42:

      >$6,000 =                3   

      >$3,000 <$6,000 =    8                

      >$2,000 <$3,000 =    6

      >$1,000 <$2,000 = 28

      < $1,000                81

           Total   126 students

The collection agency charges the student a 49.99% collection fee for an additional $72,322.41.   If the student does not respond to the collection agency after one year,   the student’s account Is returned to UHV.   At that time, if the student pays, the amount to be paid is the amount due to UHV only without the collection fee.

At the present time there are 141 students in   the “ON HOLD” status with the State of Texas for a total of $80,255.50. The student is placed “on hold” with the state when they are returned to UHV from the collection agency.

>$5,000                      1

>$2,000 <$5,000         2

>$1,000 <$2,000        12

<$1,000                   126

      Total   141 students

The type of debt that the student may owe is TPEG, Institutional Loans, Short Term Loans, Non-Sufficient Checks, Installment Loans.   Stafford Loans will be added to the list soon.

Grants:   Angela said that the final internal audit report for Grants Administration has been released.

PeopleSoft:   Kathy has been working temporarily 3 days a week (.50 FTE) for Linda Turley, PeopleSoft Specialist and 2 days a week (.50) FTE for Carole Parks, SBDC,   preparing vouchers and travel.

Central Receiving : Linda Syverson said that   Central Receiving recently received 34 boxes for Grants Administration.   There was not enough room in the Central Receiving location at University Center so Randy Faulk had to store them in IT.   Delivery of seventeen (17) laptops is expected soon also.   There is a problem with the UC central receiving area because about 80% of the storage space is filled with tables, chairs, and janitorial supplies.   Toni will have this as discussion item at the next Managers’ meeting.

Cashiering :   Tamye asked if Andrea could attend the “Prompt Payment Course” that is offered on-line from the State.   The course is about 2 ½ hours in length and was very helpful when she attended.   If there is anyone else interested, please let Toni know so that perhaps a class could be scheduled in an IT room.

Tamye will be out of the office the first week of August attending College Business Management Institute in Kentucy.

Update:   Andrea has been asked to work full days during Tamye’s absence.

Meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m .