Expectations: The College of Nursing, in accordance with UI Accounting Services policy, requires that all financial accounts be reviewed and reconciled each month. This procedure will allow the CON administration to make an affirmative answer to Financial Sub-Certification question # 8 “Does the college perform a review of transactions appearing in its general ledger reports to internal source documents on a monthly basis?” The Account Owner is responsible for the account and will designate a Reviewer. For grant accounts, the PI of the grant is required to be the Account Owner. Other specific duties are required and are listed on the Accounting Services website (see link below.) In the College of Nursing, the Owner is generally regarded as the “decision maker” of the account and takes ultimate responsibility for transactions within the account. The Account Reviewer looks at each transaction each month and verifies that charges are reasonable and accurate and that proper documentation exists for each item. Other specific duties are required and are listed on the Accounting Services website (see link below.) In the College of Nursing, we expect the Reviewer check the transactions and make corrections as needed. The Account Owner and the Account Reviewer may be the same person. The specific duties for the Account Owner and the Account Reviewer may be found at the UI Accounting Services website: http://www.uiowa.edu/~fuscntrl/reviewoftransactionspolicy.pdf The Account Owner and the Account Reviewer (or, if they are the same person, that person plus one other person) must sign off via email message each month that the accounts have been reconciled, errors have been corrected, documentation has been provided, and that the account is within budget. CON administrators will conduct surprise audits of selected accounts each month, and it is expected that proper documentation will be readily available for review by the administrator. Procedure: The Account Reviewer will perform a reconciliation each month for each account they have responsibility for, and notify the Account Owner of any unresolved discrepancies. Both the Owner and the Reviewer will sign off on the reconciliation via an email statement to CON administration.

1. Account Reviewer receives monthly statement from Accounting Services on or about the 10th of each month.
2. Reviewer verifies that each transaction is an appropriate expense for that account, and that documentation is available for each expense.
3. Inaccurate transactions are researched and corrected.
4. Discrepancies that are unresolved are brought to the attention of the Owner, who researches and resolves.
5. Discrepancies that remain unresolved are forwarded to the Assistant Dean for Finance & Operations.
6. The statement is initialed and dated by the Reviewer, documentation is attached and it is filed in the Area or budgetary unit’s office.
7. On or about the 10th of the following month, CON administration will send an email to Account Reviewers asking for verification that accounts have been reconciled.
8. Account Reviewer replies, forwards the email to the Account Owner (or another person), and the Account Owner replies back to CON administration. The email serves as documentation that two persons have reviewed the reconciliation and all transactions are correct.
9. The emailed reply is kept as proof of compliance.
10. In the event of a CON or UI audit, reconciliations and supporting documents must be produced by the Account Reviewer and/or Account Owner.

Initiating an appointment The grant PI or Project Coordinator is responsible for contacting the CON HR staff (usually Linda Spence) to initiate a faculty or staff appointment to a grant. It is imperative that appointments are made as soon as possible after the award notification is received. It is not appropriate, and causes extra work, to wait for several months after a grant is received before initiating appointments. On the other hand, it is not always possible because some staff may not be hired yet. We will assume you’ll do the best you can to get this information to us quickly. Note – you may request an mfk, and appoint faculty and to a grant, as soon as the Award Notice is received. You do NOT need to wait until the money is received. Give the following information to our HR staff:

1. The mfk or grant/program number to be used
2. The name of the faculty or staff member
3. The amount to be paid
4. Whether or not that amount includes fringe benefits
5. The “to” and “from” dates that the amount should be paid between. Usually this is the same as your grant year, but may need to be shortened if the grant began several months ago
6. Whether or not the salary should be paid as “summer salary” (only available for academic year appointments - see below)

PI’s or Grant Coordinators should create an ‘internal’ grant budget, to be used to determine the exact amount that will be spent on salaries by the end of the project period. This exact amount, and not a % of effort, is the information that we need to make the appointment. Translating “% of Effort” into “Amount to be paid” Grant budgets are usually prepared using a “percentage of effort” that relates to the time and money that a faculty or staff spends working on the grant. A faculty member who is being paid for 10% effort, and who earns $60,000 per year, should expect to spend 4 hours per week (10% of 40 hours) and have $6,000 paid from the grant (10% of $60,000). The actual percentage and/or the actual dollar amount often change slightly, due to various reasons. These include but are not limited to:

1. The original grant proposal used an estimated salary amount, and now you want to use the exact salary amount 
2. The yearly salary increase was not available when the grant was written, so it was estimated
3. The fringe benefit amount has changed
4. The grant itself could have been funded at less than 100%, with the PI left to determine where the cuts would be made

The PI or Project Coordinator should create an internal grant budget, use it to determine the exact dollar amount they want to pay in salary from the grant, and report that amount to Shirley for the appointment. This may make the “% of effort” slightly more or less than shown in the grant budget. Coordination with other grants Grant money replaces General Education Fund 050 money which is normally used to pay a faculty member their salary for the month. Each month, our faculty and staff may earn no more than their regular monthly salary amount, no matter whether the money comes from the General Fund 050 or from grant(s). A faculty member may be appointed to more than one grant during the year. The grant years may be different from each other, and they may be different from the University’s fiscal year. If a faculty is not appointed on a grant until halfway through a year, the grant salary amount might be “bunched up” in the last six months of the grant year in order to make sure the salary is paid before the grant expires. This could be a problem if other grants also need to pay the same faculty person during those months, and the regular monthly salary amount is exceeded. PI’s who have several grants need to coordinate the salary amounts, so that the regular monthly salary amount is not exceeded in any one month. This may necessitate a spreadsheet to determine the month-by-month salary that is paid from all grant and non-grant sources. Please ask Carol Haack to assist with this analysis if needed. Summer salary Faculty members who are on an academic year (9 month) appointment may be paid up to 3 additional months’ worth of salary in the summer. Usually this is paid as follows:

1. ½ month for the last 2 weeks of May
2. 1 month for June
3. 1 month for July
4. ½ month for the first 2 weeks of August

This time frame can be modified to fit the grant year, as long as we don’t exceed the regular monthly salary amount in any one month. Remember that other grants may be paying the same faculty person for the summer months, and you will have to coordinate with them. Appointment information should be given to CON HR (usually Shirley) as soon as the grant is awarded. Buyouts Buyouts may be allowed if a faculty member has enough grant money to replace a large % of their salary each month. The grant money replaces the General Education Fund 050 money; therefore, the General Education Fund 050 money is freed, and will be used to pay the salary of someone who will fulfill the teaching obligation of the faculty who is buying out. Buyout requests may not always be approved as they are contingent upon finding replacement faculty. If the buyout request comes too late to find replacement faculty, the faculty member requesting a buyout may be asked to defer for a semester. There may be other considerations for approval of a buyout. Buyouts are arranged with and approved by Associate Dean Kathy Hanson. The PI should initiate a meeting with her as soon as the award notice has been received.

CON uses the same cash handling procedure in compliance with the UI policy

http://www.bo.uiowa.edu/cashhandling/cash_handle_policy.pdf

External Funding Sources.    The College does not deposit honoraria or other funds from external entities, paid for services provided by faculty/staff outside of their regular assigned duties, into fund 240 professional development accounts.  The funds are considered taxable income to the individual performing the service and that individual should accept payment directly from the external entity.  Professional development accounts that are already in existence as of July 1, 2009, may be used to fund professional development activities of the faculty member whose work generated the funds, following the regular approval process for expenditures of College funds.  Allowable professional development expenses include travel to professional conferences, professional memberships, and subscriptions.  These funds may not be used to purchase equipment.  The funds remain the property of the College and if the faculty member for whose benefit the funds were designated leaves the College, the funds remain with the College.

Internal Funding Sources.    The College of Nursing may designate College funds as professional development funds for use by a particular faculty member.  Examples of such situations include awards given by the College and incentive payments based on practice revenue.  In those instances, the funds may be used for professional development expenses including travel to professional conferences, professional memberships, and subscriptions, following the regular approval process for expenditures of College funds.  These funds may not be used to purchase equipment.  The funds remain the property of the College and if the faculty member for whose benefit the funds were designated leaves the College, the funds remain with the College.

College of Nursing process.    The College of Nursing Dean and Assistant Dean for Operations and Finance complete the Financial Sub-certification document on behalf of the College.  To ensure that the College is in compliance with the many financial management policies, the Operations and Finance division of the College continually monitors and reviews the College’s practices, procedures, and business transactions and works with College faculty and staff to make process improvements as necessary.  The Business Manager and HR Administrator meet regularly with Area and department administrative staff to review best practices and share information.  In addition, the Business Manager meets regularly with grant administrative staff to provide similar information and guidance.  Information about University policies and procedures is also shared with all staff during the monthly College Staff Meetings.

Eligibility for Special Compensation The UI “HR Appointments, Special Compensation and Purchasing" policy states "Occasionally, a grant or contract is budgeted to include special compensation for consultants for a specific purpose and period of time within the greater project. In these cases, the consultant must be from outside the PI's college and must be named in the grant or contract budget in order to receive compensation beyond salary". The UI Operations manual states "The federal government and the University do not allow grant funds to be used to reimburse faculty members of the grantee institution for consulting or other time in addition to a regular full-time institutional salary covering the same general period of employment. Special exceptions may be made when the work to be performed is in addition to the individual's normal full-time duties and the additional compensation payment is commensurate with institutional policy." There are three basic guidelines to determine if extra compensation is allowed:

1. the person in question is from outside the PI's college
2. the person is named in the budget
3. the duties were in addition to his/her regular duties.

Documentation for Special Compensation If the above points are true, documentation must be provided. The operations manual continues to state that "When the faculty member serves on a strictly limited basis as a consultant on a research or training project for which another faculty member in another college... has principle responsibility, the work involves a separate or remote operation, and the work is in addition to the consultant's regular departmental load. In such instances the project director who arranges the consulting fee must obtain written approval through the proposed consultant's departmental executive and dean, and the Executive Vice President and Provost." In other words, you must provide documentation of the following:

1. The services to be provided are essential and cannot be provided by persons receiving salary support under the grant, or otherwise compensated for their services;
2. The charge is appropriate considering the qualifications and normal charges of the consultant
3. The nature of the services to be provided
4. Written approval from the Dean, Executive Vice President and Provost, accomplished by the correct routing of the Special Compensation Prior Approval Form though Workflow.

Consultant payments transferred to Faculty Development account If the consultant is outside the PI’s college, and is named in the budget, and the work was done within normal working hours, the consultant fee should be transferred to a Departmental Faculty Development account, instead of being paid out as salary. In effect, the grant is reimbursing the department for the time spent by the consultant during their regular scheduled work hours. If the work was done within regular scheduled work hours, the faculty either must be appointed to the grant, or the money should be transferred to the department. The funds remain under the control of the department Chair, and would stay in the department in the event of a faculty member leaving the University of Iowa. The following documentation is required:

1. A spreadsheet showing the dates, services and hours that were worked. Also the hourly consultant fee and the total owed.
2. A signed & dated memo from the faculty member, stating that they acknowledge the work was performed within normal working hours, and that the contribution should be recognized with a transfer of funds to a Faculty Development account within their home department.

In order to plan the fiscal budget and teaching schedule, it is critical that we know about possible grant support as far in advance as possible.

If it looks like your grant will be funded (e.g. report of score in fundable range; receipt of request to complete ‘just in time’ materials or other communication from funding agency)

• Contact the Business Manager in the College of Nursing to let her know when the grant might be awarded, and the amount of salary/fringe which will be paid from the grant.  The Business Manager will share the information with the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
• If salary support will be included for you on a grant outside the College of Nursing, contact the Business Manager and provide the name of the PI, the PI’s department and college, the administrative support contact person, dates of funding period and level of support for your role in the grant.

When you receive an Award Activation Notice

• Make an appointment to meet with the Business Manager in the College of Nursing to discuss your grant budget and prospects for “buying out” of teaching a course.
  • Your comprehensive budget for the new grant, combined with the budgets for any existing grants, will be reviewed to determine the level of buyout available to you.  This information will be forwarded to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
  • Faculty and staff appointments to the grant based on the comprehensive budget will be forwarded to Human Resources for processing.
  • A grant management plan will be discussed with you to provide a clear expectation of the financial responsibilities for managing the grant.  College staff and other resources will be identified to assist you with the financial procedures.
• If you qualify for teaching buyout, you will meet with the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs to discuss the details of the teaching release.

Criteria for teaching buyout

• The final decision to allow a teaching buyout rests with the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. 
• Teaching buyout must occur in the same fiscal year as the grant salary support.
• Every effort will be made to accommodate a teaching buyout request.  However, once a semester begins the faculty is obligated to complete instruction of the course.
• Support from more than one grant may be combined to reach the buyout level, provided the salary support is in the same fiscal year.
• There will be no “carryover” of teaching release outside of the specific grant funding year.
• If teaching buyout is not possible due to the academic needs of the college, compensation for overload teaching may be considered.

Salary Match, Donated and In-Kind effort

• Salary matched by the college as a requirement of the funding agency may qualify for teaching buyout if approval is given by the Dean early in the budget planning process, prior to the budget being finalized.
• Donated (in kind) work on an institutional research training grant (T32) may qualify for teaching buyout if approval is given by the Dean early in the budget planning process, prior to the budget being finalized.
• Effort on a teaching grant will not qualify for teaching buyout unless specifically approved by the Dean early in the budget planning process, and prior to the budget being finalized.
• Other donated (in kind) work on a grant does not qualify for buyout.

Level of support needed for teaching buyout

• 20% salary/fringe support for one semester = release for one course during that semester.
• 20% salary/fringe support for two semesters = release for two courses during that academic year.
• 10% salary/fringe support for two semesters = release for one course during that academic year.
• Support of less than 10% for two semesters will not qualify for teaching buyout.

Understanding effort

• Tenure Track faculty (Research Active)
  • Each semester:
    • Teach 2 courses @ 20% each                               40%
    • Research                                                                     40%
    • Service                                                                         20%

• Clinical Track faculty
  • Each semester:
    • Teach 3 courses @ 20% each                               60%
    • Scholarship/Practice                                               20%
    • Service                                                                         20%

Summer grant support

• Fiscal year (12 month) faculty are required to teach in the summer session.  20% salary support during the summer is needed to qualify for teaching buyout of one summer course.
• Note:  there is no summer course buyout available to Academic year (9 month) appointments because they do not teach in the summer. 
• Academic year (9 month) faculty who expect to have grant support during the summer must specify the salary amount in the grant budget, and it must be approved by the funding agency.  Summer grant support is in addition to, and does not replace, academic year grant support.

Academic year (9 month) faculty who are approved for the “9 + 2” summer support from the CON must first use all sources of grant funding that are available.  If approved, CON funding may supplement the grant money to ensure two full months of s

The College of Nursing encourages the growth and development of its staff as well as faculty and students. To this end, staff may register for and participate in professional conferences that are directly relevant to the performance of their job responsibilities. The judgment of relevance will be made by the staff member’s supervisor.

College of Nursing funds can be used to support the costs of conference registration in the following cases:

• Membership in the professional organization is a requirement to register for and attend the conference registration
• Membership is not required, but the total cost of membership and registration is less than the cost to register as a non-member

Payment or reimbursement in all cases will be subject to the policies of the University of Iowa Accounting Code Manual http://www.bo.uiowa.edu/~glaccman/index.cfm

Staff who attend a conference will be expected to make a brief presentation of what they learned at a College of Nursing staff meeting or other appropriate venue.

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The Office of the General Counsel has advised the College that honoraria payments from outside entities are taxable to the faculty member if the faculty member has control over where the funds are paid. In other words, if the faculty member has the option of receiving the payment directly or having the payment directed to the College, the payment is considered taxable income to the faculty member regardless of which payment option the faculty member selects. Because nearly all payors in this situation give the faculty member that option to select the payment recipient, there is no benefit to the faculty member to have the payment deposited at the College of Nursing. The faculty member is still subject to tax on that income and the faculty member’s use of the funds is then restricted to University business purposes. Effective July 1, 2009, the College of Nursing will no longer accept honoraria or other payments from non-University entities for services performed by faculty members outside of their regular faculty appointment. Faculty members must accept such payments personally, and faculty members are encouraged to consult with their tax advisor about proper reporting of such payments as income. The College may still designate College funds as professional development funds for use by a particular faculty member. Examples of such situations include awards given by the College and incentive payments based on practice revenue. In those instances, the funds may be used for professional development expenses such as travel to professional conferences, professional memberships, and subscriptions. These funds may not be used to purchase equipment. The funds remain the property of the College and if the faculty member for whose benefit the funds were designated leaves the College, the funds remain with the College. Those funds that are already in College of Nursing 240 accounts and designated as professional development accounts are still available for use by the designated faculty/staff member with the same parameters explained above.