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August 2026 Newsletter Content Overview
- Help Team
- Continue reporting form issues to AST
- Accounting and Grants
- Effort and Project status updates
- Payments and Procurement
- 60-Day Reimbursement Policy Reminder
- Spend categories for food-related expenses that are not taxable
- HR/Payroll
- Autumn 2026 I-9 drop-in schedule is now available
- SDB Award Reminders
- Workday Restricted Entry Period
- Foreign National Services
- I-94 reminder for new rule ending J-1 “duration of status” practice
HELP TEAM
Continue reporting form issues to AST
AST is continuing to receive and monitor reports of form submission errors from users. One common issue is the size and number of file attachments in a form submission, which will not create a UW Connect ticket if the total size of attachments exceeds the 8 MB limit within a single request.
Please continue to monitor your requests via My Requests. If you submit a form request to AST but do not receive a confirmation email with a related UW Connect REF transaction number within 30 minutes, notify AST via our General Inquiry Form (preferred) or email teamcas@uw.edu. Our team will investigate and troubleshoot any issues that are brought to our attention.
ACCOUNTING AND GRANTS
Effort and Project status updates
The new cycle for effort and project statements opened for pre-review action on July 28. All effort coordinators have until August 19 to complete the pre-review step so that the statements are available for certifiers to begin their review and certifications on that day. Certifiers will have until October 23 to complete their step.
There are 7 effort and 37 project statements which are still needing attention from older cycles. Please prioritize their pre-reviews and certifications.
Here is the status of effort and project reporting as of August 18, 2026:
| Status | Effort | Project |
|---|---|---|
|
Pre Review |
4 |
352 |
|
Ready for Certification on 8/19/2026 |
7 |
118 |
|
Total |
11 |
470 |
Need help?
- For ECC access, visit the ECC System Access page to get started.
- For questions regarding this process, please use our Grants Inquiry form to contact our Accounting and Grants team.
PAYMENTS AND PROCUREMENT
60-Day Reimbursement Policy Reminder
As of July 6, 2026, the UW has changed how employees (including student employees) are reimbursed for travel and non-travel purchases. If an expense reimbursement isn’t submitted within 60 days, it will be treated as taxable income.
For more information about the new policy, visit AST’s Reimbursements page or the UW Travel Office’s Taxable Reimbursements page.
Spend categories for food-related expenses that are not taxable
As Workday users in the ProCard and Expense Reimbursement space know, the number of spend categories for food-related expenses has dramatically decreased. We raised the question to central offices about what to do for food purchases that are not taxable (e.g., groceries, which are not taxed nor should they be), and are waiting for additional guidance or spend categories to be added.
Until additional guidance is provided, add Tax Exempt (FT001) as an additional worktag for applicable line items. This addition will indicate to everyone that while a taxable spend category is being used, this particular expense line item is not taxable.
Here is some step-by-step guidance for using the Tax Exempt (FT001) worktag to flag a line item as tax exempt:
- Make Taxability field “Non-Taxable” on the line item.
- Add a note to the memo field regarding why this is tax exempt.
- Add FT001 worktag to the line item.
HR/PAYROLL
Autumn 2026 I-9 drop-in schedule is now available
Autumn quarter is our busiest hiring season, and AST is here to assist your incoming hires with their in-person Form I-9 verifications so that their UW employment is authorized.
We will be hosting our annual I-9 drop-in hours from September 30 to October 7 in AST’s Office, Communications Building, B042 (located on the basement level). Please view the attached autumn 2026 I-9 drop-in calendar (PDF) for the full schedule and share it with your incoming hires.
If your incoming hires are unable to attend our I-9 drop-in hours, please have them schedule an I-9 appointment via Calendly to come verify their original, unexpired document(s) with our team. The earlier the appointment, the better! We highly recommend this process be done within three business days of their hire date, as required by USCIS.
Contact teamcas-i9@uw.edu if you or your incoming hires have any questions or concerns.
SDB Award Reminders
In addition to the busy hiring season, AST also receives a high volume of SDB award requests at the beginning of autumn quarter. Before submitting your SDB award requests to AST, here are some action items your unit can take to ensure a smooth-sailing start to the upcoming academic year:
- Encourage your students to set up direct deposit and update their address information in MyUW. Signing up for direct deposit is strongly encouraged so that students can receive their funds quickly and securely. If your student is unable to set up direct deposit, any aid checks they receive will be sent to their local (not permanent) address on file.
- Submit your Requests for SDB Fund Number Setup for aid year 2026-2027 if you haven’t done so already. One of the most common delays for processing SDB award requests is not having your 6-digit fund numbers set up.
Reach out to Student Fiscal Services at sfshelp@uw.edu if you have any general questions or would like to confirm whether your funds are set up.
Workday Restricted Entry Period
Please keep in mind that the Workday Restricted Entry Period is now in effect and extends through September 11. During this restricted entry period, a number of transactions are prohibited, including:
- Compensation Changes (e.g., Base Pay Change, etc.)
- Change Jobs (e.g., Promotion, Lateral Move, etc.)
- Change Job Data Change (e.g., FTE Change, Reappointment, etc.)
Some of these transactions are prohibited for all effective dates, and some are prohibited for effective dates 9/1/2026 and later. See the FY27 Merit Process Guide for the full list of transactions affected by the restricted entry period.
For AST HR/Payroll supported units: Please note that any requests we receive prior to Friday, September 4, for these restricted business processes will be sent back with instructions to resubmit on or after September 4, as our team cannot take any action during this period. Requests received between September 4-11 will be acknowledged and placed on hold until the blackout is lifted. Once these transactions are no longer prohibited, we will prioritize transactions for the 9/1-9/15 pay period.
FOREIGN NATIONAL SERVICES
I-94 reminder for new rule ending J-1 "duration of status" practice
A new rule has been announced ending J-1 “duration of status” and replacing it with “date certain” end dates, to take effect on September 15, 2026. Thanks to those of you who have mobilized quickly to follow International Scholar Operations (ISO) recommendations for those J-1 holders affected by this change.
Once this rule goes into effect, J-1 visa holders will receive an I-94 record listing an “admit until” date. This date should match the end date of their most recent DS-2019, or a date four years out (whichever is shorter), plus their 30-day grace period. It will be important that J-1 holders check their I-94 record for accuracy upon each entry into the U.S., and to contact the Foreign National Services team at teamcas@uw.edu if they notice a discrepancy.
We will be in touch as we approach the September effective date. In the meantime, keep an eye on the ISO blog post for more details and the latest information.
As always, please fill out our General Inquiry Form (preferred) or email teamcas@uw.edu if you have any questions or concerns.
Administrative Support Team
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