GENERAL
Thank you for your feedback!
Last month, we sent out a College-wide survey to administrative, HR, and fiscal staff to gauge your feelings about working with AST. The results are in!
- 95% of survey respondents were satisfied with AST’s customer service.
- 84% reported that they found our staff helpfulness to be above average or excellent.
- The monthly CAS Administrator’s meeting was selected as our most helpful communication channel, followed by the AST website, and our newsletter.
Several themes emerged as areas for improvement, such as:
- Consistency and timeliness when communicating new requirements or policy changes.
- Support for onboarding employees as they begin to work with AST.
We look forward to reviewing your suggestions and continuing our process improvement endeavors to make AST the best shared environment at the University of Washington.
Have some thoughts that you weren’t able to share? You can always submit anonymous feedback through our User Feedback Survey, which can be found in the footer of our website, or you can share suggestions through our General Inquiry Form at any time.
HELP TEAM
Coming March 25: 'Support for Workday Finance' resource page
It’s been over eight months since UWFT officially launched Workday Finance, and we are still learning a lot through this transition. To continue supporting your units, we’ve been working to rebrand our FT support page to our ‘Support for Workday Finance’ resource page! This will house any new Workday Finance-related resources our team creates, such as how to filter for ProCard approvals in your Workday inbox, as well as our existing FT-related content and FAQs.
We encourage units to visit our new ‘Support For Workday Finance’ page once the changes are live on March 25, 2024.
Update your Workday inbox filters following our updated guidance!
We’ve recently received an uptick in questions regarding how to filter your Workday inbox. To assist with these questions, we’ve compiled and expanded our Workday filter-related resources. These new pages are now available for early access, and will be housed in our upcoming ‘Support for Workday Finance’ page.
We strongly encourage your units to check out the following resources and update your Workday filters, especially if you have a ProCard approval filter set up:
- How to set up a ProCard approval filter page (new)
- Note: There are two ProCard filters one can set up. One for Procurement Data Entry Specialists, and one for Funding Managers (Cost Center Manager or Grant Manager)
- Workday Inbox Filter Guides (updated)
Email teamcas@uw.edu if you have any Workday filter-related questions. We’ve tested numerous filter combinations and wanted to share the filters that have worked for our teams, so that you and your units are also set up for filter success.
Spring cleaning for your AST form drafts
You can now delete any incomplete form submissions that you’ve previously saved! To do so, navigate to the Your Form Drafts page (UW NetID login required) and click on the form draft you want to delete. Then, scroll to the end of the form where you will see a new ‘Reset’ button on the bottom right of the page. Click the ‘Reset’ button and voilà ! The draft is deleted!
Note: Once you’ve deleted the draft via the ‘Reset’ button, the page will refresh to a blank version of the form you have deleted the draft from.
For a visual of what the ‘Reset’ button looks like, please view the following screenshot.
PAYMENTS AND PROCUREMENT
Travel: flight comparison guidance
UW Travel Services has updated their website with helpful guidance on when and how to provide a flight comparison, such as where the comparison itinerary can come from and what it must include. This is wonderful news, as this is one of the most frequently asked questions and concerns we’ve received. Be sure to review UW Travel Services’ flight comparison requirements and best practices with your travelers.
New Workday report for Purchase Order Lifestyle
UW has created a new Workday report: Purchase Order Lifecycle R1514. This report shows the history of an entire PO in one report, including invoices, receipts, and payment information. We recommend using this report to view the POs on specific worktags and suppliers, and for overall problem solving. Depending upon the search parameters you select, you can query at the PO, specific cost center or other worktags.
Please note that this report will not pull data for the following:
- Requisitions that have not yet been converted to a Purchase Order.
- Supplier Invoices not sourced from Purchase Orders.
As we begin to use it, we will share what we discover.
HR/PAYROLL
Compensation Basics with Katie Spengler
The Dean’s Office is sponsoring a CAS specific ‘Compensation: The Basics’ course, led by Katie Spengler. Come and join us in learning about the basics of UW compensation programs for professional and classified staff and identifying the appropriate compensation processes for departmental needs. This course is recommended to individuals who regularly interact with UW staff compensation programs or need a broad understanding of the programs.
- Date: Friday, April 12, 2024
- Time: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
- Zoom Link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/3906378621?omn=96424561234&from=addon
Spring I-9 drop-in hours begin next week!
Don’t forget that AST’s I-9 team will be kicking off our spring I-9 drop-in hours next week, March 25-29, 2024! Drop-in hours will take place at the CAS Dean’s Office to assist new hires with the in-person verification of their I-9 documents for employment authorization.
Please share the attached Spring 2024 I-9 drop-in schedule (PDF) as well as the I-9 Journey Map and our I-9 Appointment Scheduling Link.
Contact teamcas-i9@uw.edu if you have any questions or concerns.
FOREIGN NATIONAL SERVICES
USCIS processing fee increases effective April 1
USCIS will be implementing several fee increases on April 1, 2024, potentially affecting the I-129 filing fee associated with H-1B visas. Per ISO, there is currently some ambiguity as to which fee amounts will apply to the UW and other state higher education institutions. Pending resolution of that ambiguity (which is expected within the next few months), ISO recommends the following set of separate filing fee checks for H-1B petitions:
- $460 I-129 filing fee for H-1B*
- $320 I-129 filing fee for H-1B*
- $600 Asylum Program fee (new)
- $500 H-1B Fraud Prevention Fee (required for new H-1Bs and changes of employer)
- $2805 Premium Processing Fee (where necessary or recommended by ISO to expedite USCIS processing)
*Note: Other fees may apply for other visa types.
Should USCIS decide that the UW is subject to lower fee amounts, the $320 and $600 filing fee checks will be returned to the units that issued them. For the time being, since USCIS will reject petitions if the fee checks attached to them do not match the relevant fee amounts exactly, filing with the checks listed above will minimize the chances of USCIS rejecting the petition.
One other change of note: the way that the Premium Processing period is calculated will change from 15 calendar days to 15 business days.
Our team will reach out regarding any cases that may require new fee checks based on these changes. Contact us at teamcas@uw.edu with any questions or concerns.
As always, please fill out our General Inquiry Form (preferred) or email teamcas@uw.edu if you have questions or concerns
Administrative Support Team
Last Updated: Wednesday, March 20, 2024