1. 2015/16 Benefit Rate
2. Year End – PCard Processing and other tips
3. 2015 Summer Employment
4. WFS Tips and Tricks – Responsible Person
5. Budget Reminders
6. Deposits
7. Inn at Middletown – Under New Ownership
8. Purchasing News
1. 2015/16 BENEFIT RATE
The budgeted full benefit rate for 2015/16 will be 36.3% (the same rate as 2014/15). The breakdown of the rate is as follows:
21.3% Medical, dental and other
7.35% Retirement
7.65% FICA
Unrestricted operating and restricted gift and endowment smartkeys will be charged the percentages above. Grant and agency smartkeys will be charged actual medical, dental and other charges rather than the budgeted percentage for medical, dental and other. Please note that the percentages above represent budgeted amounts only. Actual amounts contributed to retirement will vary based on eligibility and participation in the retirement matching program and actual amounts contributed to FICA will vary based on salary. Any variances between budgeted rates and actual rates will be managed centrally.
2. YEAR END – PCard Processing and Other Tips
It is not too early to begin thinking about year end. The year end schedule will be distributed and posted on the Finance website this month and we will be hosting Year End Seminars in May and June. Stay tuned for additional information. The following items are things you can begin thinking about now:
- PCards – all departments should be up-to-date on PCard reconciliations through the billing cycle ending February 2015. If you have not fully reconciled, please access your PCard vouchers in WFS and complete as soon as possible to allow sufficient time for approvals.
- Budget Status – Request that any old PO’s, vouchers and/or journals be closed or deleted. Note that grant PO’s carry forward to the next fiscal year so no action is necessary.
- Prepaid Expenses – If you have a voucher that pertains to the next fiscal year, please ad hoc Susan Pavis into Workflow after AP.
- Travel Expense Reports – get them in as soon as possible for completed trips.
- Necessary expenditures through June – be sure you are not headed over budget.
- Workflow backlog – All documents will need to by processed by year end.
3. 2015 SUMMER EMPLOYMENT
Wesleyan will again coordinate a summer employment program for Wesleyan students. The funds available for the summer program are limited; therefore, the number of students employed in the program is limited. Preference will be given to students who are working toward meeting their expected student contribution from summer earnings (this does not necessarily need to be with one department) and will be evenly distributed among qualified departments. Given the increasing number of applications for summer employment eligibility, we anticipate that not all students will be approved for the summer earnings wage-split.
The summer employment program period will be for May 18th to September 6th.
Please keep in mind the following guidelines for the summer employment program as you plan your needs for the summer.
**Summer Employment Eligibility**: Students that have demonstrated need (i.e. Federal Work-Study or Term-Time eligibility) during the 2014-15 academic year will be eligible for the 50% wage reimbursement. Supervisors must complete and submit the attached Summer Employment Request Form to be considered for this wage reimbursement by May 8th – there will be no exceptions to this deadline. Completed forms must be sent to workstudy@wesleyan.edu. Requests will be reviewed and departments will receive an e-mail confirmation if their student(s) will be eligible to participate in the program during the week of May 11-15. Requests received after the May 8th deadline will not be eligible to participate in the program.
Summer Employment eligible students can earn up to $3,434 in hourly wages during the summer, during which their employer(s) will receive the benefit of the 50% wage reimbursement. Students may hold multiple jobs on-campus and all of their earnings will go toward this $3,434 individual allotment. It is the supervisor’s responsibility to monitor each student’s pay. Earning in excess of the $3,434 allotted for each student will be charged 100% to the department. Additionally, if a student qualifies for overtime, overtime earnings will be charged to the respective departmental accounts.
Summer Pay Rate: The recommended summer pay rate is set at $9.15 per hour.
Summer Employment Web Site: Please see the link below to the Student Employment web site order to update or post a job on the summer employment web site. Students have the discretion of selecting their job for the summer. We cannot guarantee that every department’s job request will be filled. Students will view all job postings on the web and make their request for an interview by e-mail unless otherwise instructed on the job posting.
For more information on posting summer positions go to: http://www.wesleyan.edu/finaid/employment/employers/posting_position.html
(Be sure to indicate in the posting that this is a summer position when submitting it.)
Questions/Contacts: Any financial questions or concerns regarding summer employment (i.e., student earnings, the 50% wage reimbursement, etc.) should be directed to financialplanning@wesleyan.edu.
Any other questions about the summer employment job postings should be directed to Michael Albano at malbano@wesleyan.edu.
General Reminders. The student payroll dates are the same as during the academic year (Monday through Sunday). Summer student employment hours are submitted through PeopleSoft (Student Time Reporting) in the same way that hours are submitted during the academic year. Departments are responsible for submitting time for students on a timely basis because Connecticut state statutes require that all wages earned during a weekly pay period shall be paid within 8 days. The submission of time is due by Monday at noon for hours worked the prior week with the exception of special holiday payroll schedules. Hours submitted retroactively should be on an exception basis only and must be entered on the Retro Student Time panels. Retro earnings will not be eligible for the summer employment match. Allowing summer employment match on retro earnings would make it difficult for employers to track eligibility. Please impress upon the student workers that it is their responsibility to submit their hours promptly so that the time reporters can report them accurately to payroll. Failure by the students to comply may result in termination of their employment.
Students must be paid for the actual number of hours worked and they must be paid an hourly wage that meets the minimum wage. Hourly time reporting is necessary to comply with the state’s labor laws to ensure that students who hold multiple jobs have all of their work hours combined for determining and calculating overtime. It is a violation of state law to submit hourly time based on an estimated number of hours worked.
Students who participate in the summer employment program must work on-campus.
When hiring students, please contact the Payroll Office if you need to confirm that the student(s) have completed the I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification form. The students are no longer allowed to work prior to completing the proper paperwork. Any questions can be directed to Payroll at 860-685-2670.
Because the university’s fiscal year ends on June 30, wages paid after July 1st will be charged to the 2015-2016 fiscal year budget.
Failure to comply with summer employment guidelines as outlined above may jeopardize a department’s ability to receive the summer employment wage match.
Temporary Summer Housing: Students must secure housing on their own either off campus or through the Office of Residential Life. For more information regarding summer housing please refer students to the Office of Residential Life Website http://www.wesleyan.edu/reslife/.
Graduating Seniors: Departments hiring graduating seniors must contact Human Resources Office x2229 to make arrangements to convert them into temporary employees. Graduating seniors are ineligible for the summer earnings wage-split.
4. WFS Tips and Tricks – Responsible Person
In order to facilitate Smartkey searches, the Responsible Person field can be used with: Ploughbacks, Faculty Research, Startups, and some Endowments. This responsible person will appear in the column that was formerly labeled PI/PM Oper ID and has now been renamed PI/PM/RP Oper ID. The meaning of this column heading indicates something different depending on the Smartkey as follows:
o PI = Principal Investigator for Grant Smartkeys (Funds 5xx)
o PM = Project Manager for Construction and Major Maintenance Smartkeys (Funds 710 and 730)
o RP = Responsible Person for Endowment, Ploughback, Faculty Research and Startup Smartkeys (Funds 101, 104, 140, 652, 720)
5. BUDGET REMINDERS
Please be sure to check your financial reports so that you are on track in your budgets. Assuming consistent spending throughout the year, budgets should be 75% expended.
6. DEPOSITS
Please keep in mind the following when sending deposits to the Cashier’s Office:
•The Smartkey AND Account number need to be noted on either the front or back of the check.
•Remove checks from stubs.
•Other than the deposit transmittal, there is no need to attach additional deposit documentation which is for the depositer’s own reference or files.
•Do not staple or tape checks to the transmittal. Paper clipping is sufficient. Do not tape coins to the transmittal. Coins should be contained in an envelope.
•Properly band and wrap coins. Like denominations for the full amount of the currency band or coin wrapper only is the accepted procedure. Do not wrap money that is not for the full amount of the wrapper.
•Deposits not properly submitted will be denied for correction.
7. INN AT MIDDLETOWN
The following is a message from Gary Nagler, the General Manager of the Inn at Middletown:
The Inn at Middletown was recently purchased and is under new ownership. Linchris Hotel Corporation purchased the hotel on March 17th 2015. What this means to the university is very simple, business as usual. When it is not broken then why try and fix it. Those were the words of Linchris Hotels when they toured the property and met the entire team. The Inn will continue to provide all of our loyal guests with the best in product and service we have done so successfully since we opened our doors to the public in 2003. Linchris has also committed to improving what is already a superior product to even a higher level. Enhancements will be made to our guestrooms, public areas and the back of the house which I am sure all of our guests will be pleased with once completed.
The Inn at Middletown has appreciated everything that Wesleyan University has done for the property over the past twelve years and we hope that you will continue to support us as you have all these years knowing that your guests will all experience an “Unexpected Pleasure” when they stay with us. Whether accommodations for your groups, visiting guests, a social event or meeting, the Inn at Middletown will be there to make it a memorable one.
Please note our email addresses has changed and our new email addresses are listed below.
Beth.Pruchnic@innatmiddletown.com – Director of Sales & Marketing – 860-854-6310
Olga.Maxwell@innatmiddletown.com- Front Office Manager – 860-854-6314
Heidi.Heidkamp@innatmiddletown.com- Food & Beverage Director -860-854-6311
7. PURCHASING NEWS
Please see the attached Purchasing News for important information on WB Mason, year end furniture purchases, 4th annual Taste of Middletown and tonor.