GENERAL
Our team has grown once again (again!)
More people have joined AST’s merry band!
- donna brooks joined AST earlier this spring as a contractor and transitioned into a permanent position in late June as one of the founding members of our Grants and Accounting team! She processes accounting adjustments and journal entries for the College, and she also supports grant close out activities.
- Rita Hu joined our HR/Payroll team in July as a Payroll Analyst and will focus on training, as well as responding to other payroll requests for our units.
General Workday and AST form submission reminders
When submitting your Pay/Pro requests through AST’s forms, please make sure to provide us with your current FDM worktags. We cannot process any requests that do not provide this information.
In addition, there are still delays in getting payments and reimbursements fully approved. Please stay on top of your approvals while Central Office continues to work through their backlog of approvals.
HELP TEAM
More AST website updates now available!
Attention! Our team is constantly updating our website with fresh and relevant content so that we can better support you and your units. With that, we are excited to share another list of updates to our website:
- You can now view any AST form drafts you created! In our website’s menubar, we’ve added a new ‘Your Form Drafts’ option that will direct you to a page that shows all drafts you saved while filling out an AST form. Please note that any drafts from UW Connect Finance will not be captured on this page.
- Both our FT FAQs and AST’s FAQs (General) have been added to our homepage’s right-column under ‘Need Help’ for easier access. Relatedly, our FT FAQs page has also been updated with a new ‘Security Roles’ section and pertinent questions.
- We’ve added information on ‘How to locate the journal lines’ in our Accounting Services FAQs.
- Our ‘Funding Transfer’ form is now live, and is located under our ‘Accounting’ services page.
- Lastly, as we’ve announced in our August 2023 newsletter, ‘Salary Transfer’ is now called ‘Payroll Accounting Adjustments.’ Our HR/Payroll and Compensation Change pages, as well as the related Payroll Accounting Adjustment form, have been updated to reflect current terminology.
File Upload Issue
We have received several reports that individuals are experiencing an infinite loading spinner that results in a file attachment failure when attaching files on AST forms. We need your help in gathering more data to pinpoint and resolve the issue. If this happens to you, please submit a ticket on AST’s General Inquiry Form and select “File Upload Issue” as the topic. You will be asked to share specific information that will help us troubleshoot the issue.
If you experience this issue, our current recommended workaround is for you to submit the form without attachments, then reply to the confirmation email and attach your files within the UW Connect ticket.
HR/PAYROLL
New forms coming October 1!
The HR/Payroll group will be launching new forms on October 1! We hope that these new forms will make navigating HR/Payroll processes more straightforward. If you have any questions or comments on the new forms after they launch, feel free to reach out to Ivy Mason-Sharrah or Jim Ballew.
Note: Any existing form drafts for HR/Payroll and Payroll Accounting Adjustment forms will be deleted on October 1 once the new forms are launched.
ACH/Direct deposit for financial aid disbursement
With autumn quarter fast approaching, AST has begun inputting SDB awards for students in your departments before tuition due date. In preparation for financial aid disbursement, we recommend that your students set up direct deposit through MyUW (different from UW Payroll direct deposit). If students are not able to use direct deposit, then any refunds or financial aid checks will be physically mailed to their local address on file. Signing up for direct deposit is strongly encouraged so that students can receive their funds quickly and securely. Please refer them to the How to Set Up Direct Deposit webpage for instructions.
Autumn I-9 drop-in hours are about to begin!
Reminder that we will be hosting drop-in hours for new hires to verify their I-9 documents! These will take place at the CAS Dean’s Office from September 27 to October 11 to assist new hires with in-person verification of their I-9 documents and authorize their employment status. Administrators, please share the drop-in schedule with any new hires.
We also encourage you to keep on 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: If your new hires are unable to attend our I-9 drop-in hours, have them schedule an appointment to verify their original, unexpired document(s) with our team. We highly recommend this process must be done within 3 business days of their hire date, as required by the USCIS.
Please contact us at teamcas-i9@uw.edu if you have any questions.
FOREIGN NATIONAL SERVICES
J-1 VISIT/VISER language requirement and fee changes
Our colleagues in the VISIT & VISER office have announced the following changes, which are in effect as of September 2, 2023. These include:
- Updated TOEFL minimum score requirement of 80 (previously 76) and IELTS score requirement of 6.5 (previous 6.0) to be consistent with the UW Graduate School English Language Proficiency Requirement (Policy 3.2). The Duolingo minimum score requirement of 105 remains the same.
- Updated fees and cost of living expenses:
- DS-2019 processing fee will increase to $562 (previously $550) – to be consistent with International Scholars Operations (ISO)
- Amendment fees will decrease to $105 (previously $113) – to be consistent with International Scholars Operations (ISO)
- LewerMark insurance fees will increase to $145 (previously $138)
- Cost of living expense estimate will increase to $2927 (previously $2635)
These changes will be effective for all applications received on or after September 2, 2023.
Remote participation allowance for J-1 exchange visitors
As of July 1, 2023, the U.S Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs ended temporary flexibilities offered during the COVID-19 national emergency and require program participation to be remote no more than 40% of the time (e.g. two days out of five). Please ensure that your J-1 exchange visitors are in compliance with this new requirement.
PAYMENTS AND PROCUREMENT
GHX invoice instructions and tips
The way suppliers and vendors submit invoices has changed. Vendors will now email all invoices to uwashington@ghxinvoicing.com for GHX to automatically scan, process, and upload into Workday.
Here are some tips and tricks to ensure the invoices get input into Workday correctly:
Include the Workday PO number on the invoice – failure to do so will hinder the matching process. Please note the PO number is different from the starting RQ number, and only appears once the requisition is fully approved in Workday.- Don’t include any important information about the transaction in the email itself. GHX will only scan and process the information in the invoice attachment.
- Let your suppliers know they should have received an email from UW with instructions in June. More information about this process can be found on Procurement Services’ For Suppliers webpage.
- Expect delays. Without the correct information, UW Central Procurement must manually match the invoice to the correct Workday transaction. This significantly increases the time it takes to process invoices in comparison to the automated GHX process.
Include the Workday PO number on the invoice – failure to do so will hinder the matching process. Please note the PO number is different from the starting RQ number, and only appears once the requisition is fully approved in Workday.Be sure to notify suppliers about the updated invoice procedure to expedite this process.
Apple products now available for ordering through CDW
As of Tuesday, September 12, 2023, the Apple catalogue is no longer available within the GHX Procurement space. ALL orders for Apple computers, accessories, and other end-point devices should now be placed with CDW (note: prices may differ from those listed on Apple’s site).
Delayed approvals on Travel and Field Advances
Travel and Field Advances are taking longer than expected to get approved, and there is no reconciliation process available in Workday yet. Please keep this in mind if you have a Travel and Field Advance in your department.
As a reminder, advances are not allowed on grants. We are unable to submit any advances using a grant worktag.
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
Last Updated: Wednesday, December 20, 2023