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July 1, 2011

Volume 11 | Issue 10


Annual Vacation Cutback Set for Sept. 30

Please remind classified and unclassified staff in your department to check their vacation balance and make sure they are not in danger of losing any accrued vacation time. According to the university policy regarding annual vacation leave for nonteaching unclassified and classified personnel, the maximum amount of vacation an employee can accrue is that which can be earned in a three-year period.

Employees who are over their accrual maximum must use the time by Sept. 30; if not, they will lose any vacation hours accrued beyond the maximum.

Vacation hours are earned each pay period and vary according to the employee’s years of service with Kent State and job appointment (i.e., classified or unclassified status). An explanation of vacation accrual rates, eligibility and usage is available at www.kent.edu/hr/benefits/leave/vacation.cfm.

Employees with more than 200 hours of accrued vacation time were sent an email from HR Records last week, reminding them to check their current vacation balance. Employees who earn vacation should regularly report and submit their leave and check their balances. Accurate and timely reporting is important to make sure the time is being deducted correctly and that employees are not in danger of going over their accrual maximum.

If you have questions, call 330-672-2901 and ask for a member of the HR Records unit.


New Name for Campus Environment and Operations

Effective July 1, Campus Environment and Operations will have a new name: University Facilities Management. The name change was made to better reflect the department’s universitywide responsibilities. Telephone numbers and other contact information remain the same, only the name has changed.


Changes in Grant Indexes


Grants Accounting and the Controller’s Office are making some changes to the index numbering system for sponsored projects (grants) and cost shares. The changes are outlined below and will be in effect for new grants and cost shares established in fiscal year 2012, which begins July 1. The changes will not affect existing grant or cost share indexes.

Index Numbering System
Currently all grant indexes begin with the digits “44.” Beginning July 1, the numbering convention for new grants will change (existing grant indexes will remain the same). New grants will begin with the following two-digit sequence for each Kent State Campus:

41 Kent
42
 Kent State Ashtabula
43 Kent State East Liverpool
44 Kent State Geauga
45 Kent State Salem
46 Kent State Stark
47 Kent State Trumbull
48 Kent State Tuscarawas


Currently cost share indexes begin with the number 1. All new cost share indexes after July 1 will begin with the letter “C” followed by 5 digits. (e.g., C12345).  The letter “C” will indicate that the index is cost share for a sponsored project.  

Cost Share Approvals
Currently, Grants Accounting does not review or approve cost share expenditures or requisitions before they are processed in Banner. With stricter regulations regarding sponsored projects and closer review of university cost share expenditures by granting agencies and auditors, Grants Accounting will now review and approve all new cost shares. With this change, cost share expenditures and purchase requisitions will be routed to Grants Accounting (for review and sign-off) before being processed.

Faculty Incentive Indexes
In the past, the faculty incentive portion of the indirect cost allocation has been transferred to one fund and the employee’s portion has been tracked by Research and Sponsored Programs. Early in fiscal year 2012, new funds will be set up for each employee who has a faculty incentive balance of $1,000 or greater. The index of this new fund will begin with the letters “FI” and will be set up as designated funds in the faculty’s home department. Faculty and departments will be able to directly charge purchases and expenditures to these funds. Faculty incentive balances and transactions will be available in the Budget Summary Report in FlashLine. Any balances less than $1,000 will continue to be tracked by Research and Sponsored Programs.

Any questions should be directed to the Controller’s Office at comptroller@kent.edu.


The Dos and Don’ts of University Policies

The Office of General Counsel has a new resource for anyone involved with developing and submitting a university policy. The document, Policy Development and Implementation Advisory, outlines the steps to formulate, develop and implement a new policy or make changes to an existing policy. This includes policy format, required information, the different types of policies and the approval and implementation process.

The Office of General Counsel is responsible for the administration of all university policies and the official University Policy Register. A university attorney must review any new policies, or changes to existing policies, before they are submitted to the Board of Trustees.

For more information, contact Michael Pfahl, associate counsel, at 330-672-2982 or mpfahl@kent.edu.


Performance Evaluations Conclude  

The annual performance appraisal process has concluded, and the Employee Relations unit in Human Resources reports that more than 2,500 evaluations were completed, signed and submitted through the online process. The classified performance evaluations ended in May, with a 100 percent completion rate.  The unclassified appraisals ended in June, with a 90 percent completion rate to date.

Employee Relations is currently compiling a list of unclassified evaluations that have not been completed and will send that list to the appropriate executive officer.  Annual performance evaluations for staff employees are required; if you have any outstanding evaluations, please complete them as soon as possible.

If you have questions, contact Employee Relations manager Karen Watson at 330-672-4636 or kswatson@kent.edu; or Sandra Cole at scole3@kent.edu or 330-672-7501.


Institute for Excellence Update

The Institute for Excellence (IE), the university’s leadership development initiative, kicked off in the Spring Semester 2011 with two tracks; Individual Contributors and Administrators.  Since January the 27 participants have been hard at work, learning new skills and finding resources to improve their capacity to lead and contribute to their teams.  

Participants spend time with university leaders while benchmarking their own skills and applying the information learned to their specific work environment.  While the current group will conclude the program in the fall, the university is planning on launching the next round of the IE in January of 2012.  Watch future editions of Management Update for more information on the application process for the 2012 class.

For more information, contact Bob Hall, manager, HR Training and Development, at 330-672-0894 or rhall4@kent.edu.


Coming Soon: New HR Webinar Series

In response to numerous requests from the university community, Human Resources Training and Development will be launching a monthly webinar series. Each webinar will be 60 minutes and will focus on a specific topic. The series is open to any university faculty and staff member. A partial list of webinar topics includes: Effective Time Management, Difficult Behaviors in the Workplace, Essentials of Communication and Managing Change.  

The monthly series will begin in July. The webinar format allows for participants to engage, share and learn right from their desk. The list of offerings and registration information is available at http://www.kent.edu/hr/register. Once there, click the link for Facilitator-led.  If you have questions, contact Renee Romine at 330-672-0898 or mromine@kent.edu.


New Rules on Recruiting Incentives

New rules from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) take affect July 1 that further prohibit schools from compensating admissions recruiters based solely on success in securing student enrollment. Among other things, the new regulations eliminate the 12 "safe harbors" that excepted certain payments from the Higher Education Act of 1965’s ban on incentive compensation payments.

Under the new guidelines, awarding bonuses to recruiters based on student retention, completion, graduation or placement is not permitted. However, incentive payments made to athletic personnel based on such factors as "team academic performance" is allowed. This suggests that bonus payments made to athletic personnel based on team cumulative GPA is acceptable as a form of "team academic performance," but graduation is not.

Anyone with direct or indirect responsibility for securing enrollments or granting student financial aid cannot be rewarded with any sum of money or thing of value for performance that is directly or indirectly related to enrollment or financial aid. This includes the president of a university or college and other members of leadership, unless they are only responsible for policy decisions. It should be noted that the appearance of a university or college president at student recruiting events to promote the institution is permitted.

You can read more about the new DOE regulations in the April 2011 Einside Legal Brief. For additional information, contact Connie Hawke, associate vice president for federal government relations and associate counsel, at 330-672-2982 or chawke@kent.edu.


Dates to Remember:

July 1 Canada Day
July 4 Independence Day (university closed)
July 9
Summer I classes end
July 11 Summer III classes begin
July 30 Summer II classes end
July 31 Ramadan begins:  Islamic holiday



Tell Us What You Think

This e-newsletter is designed to keep you, the managers and supervisors, informed.  Please take a few minutes to let us know what you think of it, along with any comments or suggestions. You may contact us at managersfeedback@kent.edu. We look forward to hearing from you.

For information about events and programs for university employees, please check out the Faculty and Staff calendar and share the information with your staff.