Financial Policies and Guidelines

All college financial transactions are tracked in Banner ESS through organization codes or ORGNs (i.e., a department code). Each ORGN is required to have a financial manager (or FM) assigned in Banner. The FM has access to all financial activity in the ORGN as well as signing authority. Generally, the FM is responsible for overseeing the budget and stewarding the respective funds. More specifically, the FM is responsible for:

• all financial activity recorded in their ORGN;
• preventing any budget overruns for operating ORGNs or year-end deficits in restricted ORGNs; and
• managing the FDA (i.e., who has access to view the financial activity for their ORGN and who has signing authority for their ORGN).

The process of assigning FMs begins with the president delegating ORGNs to a VP/Dean. The VP/Deans can further delegate the ORGN to one of their team members. The FM then assigns who has FDA, which has two access types:

• View Only: able to see budget activity in IRIS, but unable to approve expenditures.
• View and Signing: able to see budget activity in IRIS and approve expenditures through Etrieve.

The FDA hierarchy is used by the Etrieve disbursement form to determine who can approve expenditures.

Changes to FDA can only be approved by the existing FM, Faculty Administrative Coordinator (FAC) on behalf of a Faculty Chair, or, in the absence of an FM, the position’s supervisor or associated VP/Dean. If an FM changes roles or leaves the college, the FM’s supervisor will be listed as the designated FM until the business office is notified otherwise.

The college uses the Etrieve budget access form to track changes for FDA. FMs will receive a quarterly report listing the ORGNs for which they are listed as the FM and who has access.

FDA procedures related to new hires and staff changes are as follows:

• New hires and role changes: the hiring manager will use the New/Updated Computer Requests Form to grant IRIS access for budget viewing as well as access to the Etrieve budget access form.
  • The Etrieve form will guide the FM or hiring manager through the process of adding, changing, or removing access.
• Access to the Etrieve budget form is available to all Etrieve users.
  • If access is requested by someone other than the FM, the request will be referred to the FM through the Etrieve workflow for an approval.
  • The FM must approve the request in Etrieve before a change can be made. Alternatively, an email authorization from a VP/Dean or FM may be attached to an Etrieve request.
• If the FM approves the request and selects signing access, the new hire will need budget/signer training. This training will be provided by the business office.
• Staff who are changing roles will be treated the same as new hires; training will be offered if the staff person has never had budget access before or if their access changed from view only to view and signing.
• Faculty chairs are the FM of their department (ORGN) as well as any restricted funds that roll up under their department. Chair changes occur after the beginning of the new fiscal year.
  • It is up to the chair in coordination with their Faculty Administrative Coordinator (FAC) and the Dean of Faculty’s office to determine the FDA of their department.
  • In July, the chairs will receive an FDA report listing their current FDA for their department/s. It is the chair’s responsibility to inform the business office of any changes using the budget access form in Etrieve.
  • FACs are automatically given both view and sign access to all of the ORGNs within their areas and are able to maintain the FDA for their respective departments.

See the detailed instructions (PDF) for more information about this procedure.

• Complete the Etrieve Budget Access Form to add or remove access.
• Complete the Etrieve Disbursement Form to pay invoices, reimburse for expenses paid on the college’s behalf, or pay vendors for services rendered.
• The business office maintains and tracks this information through Banner.
  • Change requests are referred to the FM or department chair each time a change is requested by someone other than the FM.
• Semiannual FDA reports will be emailed to VPs and faculty chairs.
• Those with access to view budgets and transaction activity for an ORGN can use IRIS to view the following:
  • P-Card transactions and all Etrieve payable expenses
  • Student wage account lines (staff wage account lines are not visible in IRIS)
  • Internal expenses such as bookstore, catering, print, and mail services

  • Revenue from ticket sales, student fees, etc.

Revision date: November 2023

The IRS requires that prizes, gifts, and most awards above a nominal amount be reported as taxable income. The college must therefore provide for proper accounting treatment in the limited instances where such gifts and awards are allowable. This policy allows occasional modest gifts to be made to employees for recognition, length of service, individuals who depart after many years of service, and for expression of sympathy. Purchases under this policy should not be made on the college’s P-Card and instead be submitted via Etrieve.

Recognition and Gifts

Expenses incurred in connection with expressions of congratulations are allowed only as occasional, modest expressions of support and recognition on behalf of the college. Additionally, gifts provided by the college as a door or raffle prize to incentivize participation are allowed on occasion as well. These gifts should not exceed $75 in value to any individual, unless approved in advance by the Vice President of Finance and Treasurer.

College funds may not be used to purchase personal gifts for any individual in recognition of events such as birthdays, weddings, housewarmings, births, or holidays.

For retirements or other departures of long-standing employees (at least ten years of service), non-cash gifts commensurate with the years of service can be provided, but should not exceed $200 without prior approval from the Vice President of Finance and Treasurer. (Please note that gift cards are considered to be the same as cash.) Similarly, a department may conduct a reception or lunch to recognize the departure or retirement of an employee. Gifts from college funds for employees who have been here less than ten years need to be pre-approved by the Vice President of Finance and Treasurer.

Expenses incurred in connection with expressions of sympathy or support toward employees are allowed only as occasional and modest expressions not to exceed a value of $100. Examples of such support would include death, serious illness or hospital stays for employees, students, or immediate family members.

Institutional Gifts

In a limited number of instances, the college may want to make a donation, contribution, or sponsorship to another organization. In all such cases, the contribution needs to be approved in advance by the Vice President of Finance and Treasurer. This includes payees of honorariums who wish to have their payment directed to a charitable organization.

Tax Implications

Any gift, award, or prize of tangible personal property in excess of $75 in value will be included in the recipient’s gross income and subject to applicable withholding. Any gift cards given as a gift, award, or prize will be included in the recipient's gross income and subject to applicable withholding, regardless of the amount. Please see Accounts Payable for procedures on how to report gift cards.

Startup funds are intended to assist tenure track and visiting faculty with establishing and advancing their careers at the college. The funds support faculty research expenses including items such as lab equipment and supplies. Typically specific expenditure details and a budget breakdown are included in the faculty’s startup agreement with the college.

The college has various mechanisms in place for faculty to expend funds. See the business office website for procurement procedures including the use of a college purchasing card.

Exclusions

The following is a general list of non-reimbursable expenses; this list is not all-inclusive:

• personal items (e.g., toiletries, haircuts/styling, clothing, etc.)
• personal entertainment (e.g., books, magazines, newspapers, hotel room movies, sporting events, etc.)
• child or dependent care
• additional expenses of a spouse or person accompanying an employee while traveling
• airline class, hotel, or other travel upgrades (e.g. first class, business class, hotel suites, or similar upgrades)
• kennel costs for pets
• exercise equipment
• office furniture or equipment not already provided by the college or intended for off campus (e.g. home office); any equipment or furniture purchased is the property of the college
• smart phones
• penalties or fines (e.g. library, traffic, etc.)
• medical expenses (e.g., co-pays, prescription or over-the-counter medications, etc.)
• disbursements to supplement the faculty member’s salary

The list above is not exhaustive. Any questionable expenditures should be reviewed with the Dean of Faculty prior to being incurred. Violation of this policy may result in the faculty member being financially responsible for an expenditure, loss of startup funds, or adverse taxable implications.

Lab Remodels

Some startup packages may include a lab remodel. If this is applicable to a specific startup agreement, the following procedures must be followed:

• Facilities services must be consulted on any remodels prior to commitments being made to prospective faculty members.
• The scope of the remodel and an estimate of the costs must be incorporated into the startup letter.
• A separate fund will be established to track the cost of the remodel, which will ultimately be funded by the annual startup operating budget unless otherwise approved by the VP of Finance and Treasurer.

Timeline

Startup funds are available to spend for the amount of time reflected in the startup agreement. If funds remain at the end of that time period, faculty may request approval from the Dean of the Faculty to use the remaining funds for an additional year. Faculty must substantiate their plan to utilize the funds within the set time period. If an extension is not requested or approved, the college will return unused funds to the startup pool.

Annually the dean of faculty’s office will request a projection of funds to be expended within the year. Failure to respond to this request may result in a suspension of your startup funds.