Operational Policies

A&S University Funds Expenditure Limit for Alcohol at Official Functions

At all official dinners, regardless of fund source, the maximum expenditure for alcohol from university funds will be $15.00 per person (on average). Alcohol purchases in excess of $15.00 per person will need to be paid from personal funds. Also, departments should not reimburse any alcohol costs at lunches.
10/29/08

Timekeeping Procedures

Please note that the procedures outlined below are applicable to all employees who turn in timesheets: classified and university salaried staff, wage other, student wage, and research professionals (research assistants and research associates).  Please see the provost policy for Professional Research staff regarding the requirements for reporting time for research professionals.  

Procedures for Supervisors and Employees:

1. Timesheets must be completed in their entirety by employees, including leave codes, all hours, and the totals at the bottom.  Timekeepers will not be making any changes to timesheets, even if approved via telephone.  Employees must make and initial all changes to correct errors found by timekeepers.  Supervisors must also initial the changes if it is a change in hours.
2. Supervisors are to collect timesheets from employees, review them, require changes or sign them, and hand them directly to the departmental time keeper.  Timesheets are NOT to be returned to an employee by the supervisor once signed under any circumstances.
3. If a supervisor is out of town and can not confirm the hours worked of an employee or sign the timesheet the following should happen:
   A designee who can serve as signatory on the timesheet should be officially named in the supervisor’s absence.  This can be accomplished by sending an e-mail to the time keeper and copying the designee stating that they will be signing timesheets in the supervisor’s absence.  A designee can always be the same or change as needed, but it must be noted via e-mail.  Please also note that the designee, like the supervisor, is responsible for verifying the accuracy of the reported hours.  See below for suggestions on verifying hours for employees not co-located with supervisors.
4. The Dean’s Office is strongly encouraging supervisors who are not co-located with their employees or who do not work with their employees on a regular basis to ensure that employees are working the hours recorded.  This can be accomplished by calling the employee or stopping by their work space to inquire how they are doing or if they need anything, specifically at the beginning and/or end of their scheduled work day, on an occasional basis.  Supervisors could also require a summary of work performed each pay period or request an e-mail from the employee when the employee arrives and leaves.  These are ways that supervisors have of verifying hours worked, which is what a supervisor’s signature on a timesheet means.  It does not mean that supervisors do not trust employees.  It means that they are complying with university policy and procedure.
5. Employees and supervisors MUST sign and date the time sheet in a timely manner.

Procedures for Timekeepers:

1. Timekeepers are only to receive timesheets from supervisors.  Employees are not to hand in their own timesheets and they are not to be left in mail boxes or on chairs.
2. Timekeepers must verify the appropriate signature of the supervisor.  If the signature looks questionable or it is not from the official supervisor listed in Oracle or that supervisor’s official designee, time is not to be keyed until the issue with the signature is resolved.  If a timekeeper is unable to resolve the issue before the keying deadline, they are to report the situation to the Dean’s Office for assistance with resolution.
3. Timekeepers are NOT to change anything on a timesheet.  All changes must be made and initialed by the employee.  The supervisor must also initial the change if it is a change in hours. 
4. Original timesheets are to be kept in central departmental personnel files.  They are audit documents.
5. The required Discoverer audit reports should be run after all time is entered.  These reports are the Time and Leave Summary Report and the Standard Hours Exception Report.  Timesheets must then be compared to these reports.  The reports should then be kept in central files.

Procedures for Back-Up Timekeepers and Timekeepers Keying Their Own Time:

If possible, all departments should have two timekeepers, a primary and a back-up.  If your department only has one staff member, the Dean’s Office timekeepers serve as your back-up.  People should not key their own time unless they are the sole support person for a department.  When this is the case please follow these procedures:

1. Complete your timesheet and have it reviewed and signed by your supervisor. 
2. Key in your time.
3. Take your original timesheet to the Dean’s Office.  The Dean’s office will then run the report Payroll Period Hours and Leave Reported after the payroll is run and compare it to the timesheet to ensure that the time was keyed correctly.  The report and original timesheet will then be returned to the supervisor.  The report should then be signed by the supervisor and filed in the employee’s personnel file with the original timesheet.  

This information should serve as a reminder that falsifying a time sheet is a Group III violation according to the Standards of Conduct, which can result in the issuance of a Written Notice and discharge.  It is also a crime and will be reported to the police.

Please remember that a supervisor’s signature on a time sheet attests that the information contained on the time sheet is correct.  For supervisors of grant funded employees, it is also something that can put the university’s grant funding in jeopardy if grant funds are being misused.  As a Principal Investigator and/or supervisor of grant funded employees it is essential that you know when your employees are working.  Please remember that you have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that your grant funding is being used appropriately.  Please also note that this is true for all other sources of funding as well.
06/18/08

Sensitive Personal Data

University policies on the Protection and Use of Social Security Numbers and the Electronic Storage of Highly Sensitive Data highlight specific requirements that must be met by all who store highly sensitive University data on individual-use electronic devices or electronic media, regardless of whether those are owned by the University or the individual.
07/10/09