February 2023 - FT Preparation has Begun!

GENERAL

Finance Transformation Preparation has Begun!

This past week, the Ariba Compliance Approver role moved from CAS departments to AST for all travel reimbursements, personal-expense reimbursements and payments to individuals.  As we shared during the February Administrator’s Meeting, the goal is to ease the administrative burden in departments as well as to ease the transition to future-state Workday Finance operations. For more information about this transition, please review the recording of the February Administrator’s meeting.

Remember: As compliance approvers, we will review for adherence to University and State regulations.  Budget review and review for grant and department policies are the responsibility of each unit’s funding approver(s).

HELP AND OPERATIONS

AST Website Feedback Survey

Want to help us understand how we can improve the AST website to be more user-friendly and efficient for you? Take our quick (5 – 8 minute) survey and your input will help us identify areas of improvement when interacting with our website. Thank you!

Note: The AST website feedback survey is different from the AST request forms survey that was sent out last month.

PAYMENTS AND PROCUREMENT

Data Processing Agreements (DPA) and Your Department’s Data

Does your department purchase license(s) for apps or storage?  If so, a DPA may be in order.  DPAs have changed over the years as the risk of misuse of data or breaches has increased.  Legislation is also changing, making it important for us to be aware of privacy implications on data stored with a third party.  Even if your department has purchased a license in the past, a DPA may now be needed prior to moving forward with renewal.

As departments purchase or renew licenses, Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) are becoming increasingly important and, in some cases, mandatory.  The University requires a DPA when personal data is stored by a third party.  The DPA addresses how the data can (or won’t) be used, how it is stored, and what controls are in place to safeguard the data.  The UW Privacy Office provides a detailed step-by-step process in determining the appropriate DPA for your needs.  Once identified, simply download and give the DPA to your vendor for signature before submitting the DPA with your invoice for payment.

PAYROLL

Salary Transfers

Salary transfers are moving to AST! Starting March 1, 2023, we’ll process these items for the following units.  There will be two subsequent roll-outs effective April 1 and May 1.  We ask that units use our new intake form (coming soon) to submit these requests. We covered this transition in the noontime workshop session on February 14, and the recording is now available for those who were unable to attend.

Spring Quarter I-9 Drop-in Schedule is Available Now!

We are pleased to announce that our spring quarter I-9 verification drop-in schedule is now available to share with new hires! These drop-in hours will run from March 27 to April 6 at the CAS Dean’s Office to assist the influx of new hires in verifying their I-9 documents (please see the attached drop-in calendar for the full schedule). Administrators, we will send an announcement with more details regarding this drop-in schedule in the upcoming month. 

Since hiring is a year-round business, our team will continue to send out I-9 reminders to newly hired employees on a rolling basis. We encourage you to continue sharing the following resources with your newly hired employees: 

• I-9 Journey Map: This resource helps guide new-to-the-university employees through the process of filling out Section 1 of their Form I-9 in Workday. 
• I-9 Verification Appointment Link: After employees complete Section 1, please have them schedule an appointment to verify their original document(s) with our team in the Dean’s office. We highly recommend this process be done within 3 business days of their hire date as required by USCIS.

Please contact us at teamcas-i9@uw.edu if you have any questions.

LOOKING AHEAD

AST Onboarding Plan

Next up on our Finance Transformation journey: we are transitioning data entry for travel reimbursement, personal expense reimbursements, and payments to individuals from units to AST. As we discussed during the February Administrator’s meeting, we have created a staged onboarding plan to support this transition. Check out the AST Onboarding Plan to see when your unit is scheduled to come aboard and be sure to reach out with any questions.

As always, please contact teamcas@uw.edu with any questions or concerns. Thank you for partnering with us!

Administrative Support Team