Dear SHARE Region,
For your eligible faculty with available funding that can be used for summer ninths compensation (such as endowed chair funds, start-up funds, etc.), I am writing today to let you know that Berkeley Regional Services (BRS) will begin collecting the information to set up summer salary payments this month. As was communicated to campus by Heather Archer, Assistant Vice Provost/Academic Personnel Office on January 17, 2020, the process is beginning earlier this year due to UCPath lockout dates (where the system will be unavailable) in May when additional UC’s will go live with UCPath.
Here’s what we know today:
The process is largely unchanged from last year.
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The RA/FA will need to provide the Department Code for summer salary position(s).
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For June and July, effort that is over 100% of time will require two (2) positions.
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There are five (5) additional columns for funding chart of account.
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Earlier Faculty and RA/FA Smartsheet approval deadlines.
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Due to the complexity of summer salary processing and UCPath changes, Position Control, HR Template and Position Funding will be done by the BRS summer salary team(s).
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Due to proration for mid-month summer salary service dates in UCPath, the pay period will be for the full months of May and August. The total number of days available for each month, however, will still be based on the summer salary period. This means:
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For effort in May, the appointment will be from May 1-May 31, 2020. The days available will be from May 18-May 31, 2020 (10 days).
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For effort in August, the appointment period will reflect August 1-August 31, 2020. The days available will be from August 1- August 18, 2020 (12 days)
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As with the prior summer, any unclaimed rows not used after the posted smartsheet approval deadline for the month of processing and any prior months will be locked for further entry.
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Financial Analysts (RA/FA) & Department Managers summer salary refresher training is scheduled for March 6, 2020 1:30pm - 3:00pm, and you'll be able to log in via web conference at: https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/662671808
We strongly recommend that your faculty and you make every effort to submit summer salary requests by the posted deadlines to avoid UCPath processing delays and potential pay errors due to retroactive actions.
What’s staying the same (and there are several things):
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For units/departments that administer their faculty’s funding (as opposed to BRS Research Administration), you will again have access to submit requests on your faculty’s behalf directly into a Summer Salary Smartsheet (similar to that used for ASE/GSR appointment requests)
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Use of the Smartsheet will provide you with visibility into the progress and completion of your requests, as well as reduce errors. This change eliminates the use of the individual request forms (unless needed for federal attestation), as you will enter and approve information directly in the tool used by BRS HR/APS for processing requests.
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Should you have any individual faculty supported by a BRS Research Administrator (RA), through affiliation with an Organized Research Unit (ORU) for example, they will continue to work directly with their RA to complete their summer salary request. As needed, RAs will work with departmental staff and other funding administrators to coordinate payments.
For specific policy questions regarding summer compensation, please contact the Academic Personnel Office (APO) at: appolicy@berkeley.edu
For L&S departments please contact your Dean’s Office Analyst or representative: lspd_appt@berkeley.edu
For any process questions related to smartsheet, please contact Yuvitza Rivera at yuvitza.rivera@berkeley.edu
Actions for you:
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By the end of business day Friday, 3/6/2020, let me know who (you or someone else in your department) will need access to the Summer Salary Smartsheet for submitting requests by completing this form. Designated staff then will receive access, instructions, and other resources.
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HR/APS is in the process of updating this year’s Smartsheets; they anticipate opening access the week of 3/9/2020. We are asking that you request information from PIs at this time so that you have the PI effort days ready to enter into Smartsheet as soon as it becomes available. Please note that we have earlier faculty and RA Smartsheet approval deadlines this summer due to UCPath lockout periods.
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If you/your designee is new to the Smartsheet tool, we are happy to help and can plan some in-person training on campus. So let me know if we should save a spot (s) for you. Once we have your list of users, we’ll let you know the dates/location. Our BRS HR/APS First Contact Team can also help by calling 664-9000, option 3.
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Our BRS website has up-to-date information with details regarding deadlines, guidelines, frequently asked questions, etc. We encourage you to take some time to review this information: https://regionalservices.berkeley.edu/brs-regional-services/research-administration-services/summer-salary-faculty Please note that for faculty to receive a salary payment on June 1 for summer effort in May, we need to have the request entered and approved on the Smartsheetno later than Tuesday, 3/31/2020.
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If your faculty knows he/she will be taking additional months for summer salary, we strongly encourage you to submit the requests early so we can stage the summer salary appointment for the duration of the summer period. This will avoid issues of renewal and auto termination of appointments by UCPath.
If you have any questions, please let me know. I look forward to working with you in support of your faculty’s summer compensation.
In partnership,
Ana Sanchez & Henry Chan