October 2017- The Welcome Back Issue
Purchasing and Contracting
Purchasing: The Service Center is here to help support departments and staff with their purchasing needs. Here are some helpful tips and reminders:- Department P-Cards: Great for quick, direct purchasing for orders under $5000, most departments have the ability to use SOU issued p-cards to make purchases from online and local vendors. If you are not an authorized user, contact your department/division director to see if it is right for you. For more information about usage and policy, visit our Department Purchase Card webpage.
- Vendors: Approved department purchasers can gain access to purchase items from Office Depot and Staples at special contracted prices. SOU utilizes Amazon Business to gain access to vendors and pricing not accessible through other Amazon accounts. If you need access to these, please contact your director. For more information about vendor programs, see the Service Center Vendors webpage.
- Campus Paper Purchasing: IT and the Service Center partnered together to bring centralized paper purchasing to campus. To order copy or specialized paper for your department, complete the Paper Request Form, call 541-552-6900, or email or stop by the IT Help Desk. For current pricing and information visit the Campus Paper Purchasing section on the Service Center Purchasing Information webpage.
- Policy and Procedure: To learn more about the policies and procedures around university procurement, please visit the Service Center or Business Services Purchasing websites.
Contracting: Contracting can be complex. Let the Service Center help you so you can concentrate on the important things. Here is some information to get you going:
- Contract Requirements: There are a lot of questions and concerns regarding requirements for hiring independent contractors. Stay ahead of the curve and help communicate the requirements upfront to avoid confusion and frustration. The Service Center Contracting webpage has those requirements and more. Also, see the Business Services Contracting webpage for more information.
- Requesting a Contract: To request a contract through a Personal/Professional Services Contract, complete the Contract Request Form and let our helpful staff take it from there.
- Policy and Procedure: To learn more about the policies and procedures around university contracting, please visit the Service Center and Business Services Contracting webpages.
If you have any questions about purchasing and contracting, let one of our staff help you. Email purchasing@sou.edu or contracting@sou.edu.
Personnel Support
Student Employees: Here are some important reminders about hiring student employees:- New Employees: New student employees (those who have never worked for SOU or those who have not worked for SOU within the last year) will need to complete employee paperwork. To complete the paperwork they will need to present their original Social Security Card for the W-4 and appropriate original, current documentation for the I-9. Student employees cannot begin work until the supervisor receives a work referral form.
- Returning Employees: Returning student employees (those who have worked for SOU within the last year) who do not have a current work referral form (have not worked since end of spring term or have had a change in pay type from previous current year referral) will need to come into the Service Center for a new work referral form. Student employees cannot begin work until the supervisor receives a work referral form.
- Work Referral Forms: Students cannot work until the supervisor receives a work referral form. It is important to return the referral form to the Service Center as soon as possible so that we may set-up the job in Web Time Entry. Student employees will not see their job to post hours until this is complete. If a student does not have the job listed under Web Time Entry but is currently working, have them track hours manually until it appears (usually within 2 business days of the Service Center receiving the completed referral for, but may take longer during beginning of term).
- Web Time Entry: All student employees will utilize Web Time Entry (WTE) to enter their time. Once the job is entered, they will be able to enter time worked during any part of the current pay period. Supervisors should monitor that their student employees are entering their time in WTE weekly and remind them to submit for approval at the end of the pay period. For guides and information about how to enter time please visit our Web Time Entry webpage.
Irregular Employment Agreements: Departments hiring employees through the Irregular Employment Agreement (IEA) should submit their requests through the Contract Request Form. These requests should be submitted at least 10 business days prior to beginning of work, as it can take time to complete the process. Completed and signed IEAs need to be submitted to Payroll by the 15th to pay for work done in that same month.
If you have any questions about student employment process or IEAs, don’t hesitate to contact one of our Payroll Specialists or Personnel Support Coordinator.
Accounting and Budget
Index, Activity, and Detail Code Requests: If your department needs to add, change, or delete any index, activity, or detail code, contact your Account and Budget Specialist in the Service Center. They can help you determine what will best suit your needs.
Banner FIS and Cognos Training: Our Account and Budget Specialists can help pull data and reports for you, but if you currently, or will have, access to Banner FIS or Cognos, they can also help you navigate the information.
Support Services
Driver’s Clearance: This is an annual reminder that faculty, staff, students, and volunteers driving vehicles, rentals or personal, on official university business need to be cleared to drive prior to traveling. If you are uncertain about your clearance status, contact the Service Center at 541-552-6700 or email Faith Mitchell at mitchellf@sou.edu. If you are not driver’s cleared and your position requires travel for university business, speak with your director and complete the Driver’s Clearance Form.
Faculty and Staff Fall Term Bus Passes: If you are SOU Faculty or Staff and would like an RVTD bus pass for fall term, bring in your SOU ID card to the Service Center Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Scantron Testing: If you use Scantrons for testing in your class, the Service Center is your place for processing scores. Please review the process on the Service Center Scantrons webpage.
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Previous Issues
September 2017
Purchasing and Contracting
Campus Catering Requirements- A'viands is the official food services vendor on campus and, as such, they have first right of refusal for any campus catering need. Departments holding any event on campus that requires catering needs, including food items delivered or prepared by restaurants, are required to submit the Food Service Approval Form to SOU Dining a minimum of 10 days prior to the event. Departments must receive confirmation of approved waiver from A'viands before they can contract or order food from outside vendors. Exceptions to this are food service at home football games, department potlucks, and items purchased at grocery stores for small department gatherings.
Contracting Insurance Requirements- The State of Oregon has recently raised tort limits. This affects the amount of insurance for the Certificates of Insurance required from all companies and individuals contracting with SOU. Requirements and limits can be found under Certificates of Insurance in the Required Documents section of the Service Center Contracting webpage.
Contacting Service Center Purchasing- If you have a question or request for purchase, you may inquire by sending an email to purchasing@sou.edu and one of our Purchasing and Contracting Specialists assist you.
Personnel Support
Fall Term Student Employees- As students return to campus and departments begin to hire, please keep in mind a few items:
- Student employees cannot begin work until the work referral form is presented to the supervisor. This indicates that all employee paperwork has been received and approved.
- New student employees will need to bring in non-expired, original documentation to complete paperwork. We will need to see the original Social Security Card for the W-4 and any documentation accepted for the I-9.
- If you have a group of student employees to bring into the Service Center to complete employee paperwork, please contact our Office Coordinator at 541-552-6574 to setup a time for the group.
- Student employees who need to complete employee paperwork may get a head start by completing some of the forms in advance. The following forms for student employees may be found on the Human Resources website:
- W-4
- I-9 (page 1 only)
- Statement of Understanding of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
- Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability
- Voluntary Self-Identification of Veterans
- If student employees would like to sign-up for direct deposit, they will need to bring a voided check or official letter from their bank with routing and account information.
Accounting and Budget
Procurement Card Reconciliation- New for FY18, the Support Specialists will be handling the processing and retrieval of Budget Authority approval for monthly p-card statements. They begin with the July statements. Budget Authorities should be on the look-out for requests from their Support Specialists, instead of the Account and Budget Specialists.
Support Services
Faculty/Staff Fall Term Bus Passes- We anticipate receiving the new fall term bus stickers for Faculty and Staff within the next week. You are welcome to contact our front desk at 541-552-6700 to check before bringing your SOU ID card to the Service Center.
July 2017
Purchasing and Contracting
Service Center Changes- Effective July 1, 2017 our purchasing and contracting services will be split from our accounts payable services. What does this mean for you? The Purchasing and Contracting Specialists will assist with purchasing and contracting needs for all teams. The Support Specialists will continue to assist assigned teams with invoice entry and payment and departmental procurement card activities. Services will be requested by:- Contracting- entering information on the Contract Request Form.
- Purchasing- sending request to service-center-purchasing-contracting@sou.edu.
For further information on structure and assignments, visit the Service Center Staff webpage.
Personnel Support
Minimum Wage Increase- In accordance with the 2016 Oregon Legislature - Senate Bill 1532, the Oregon Minimum wage rate is set to increase on July 1, 2017 from $9.75 to $10.25. Annual increases are expected through 2022 and additional information can be found by visiting Oregon.gov.
Please plan accordingly and contact Human Resources Services at extension 2-8553 or hrs@sou.edu if you have questions.
Accounting and Budget
End of Fiscal Year Items- FY17 will close this month. Here are some important dates for July.
- July 5- All 2016-17 invoices and travel/personal reimbursements must be approved, coded, and turned into the Service Center.
- July 6- All 2016-17 Journal Vouchers must be entered into the Banner system by 5 pm. Requests from departments should be in to the Service Center by end of business day July 5.
- July 7- Period 12 closes.
- July 10- Period 12 Financial Reports are available.
- July 21- Period 14 closes.
- July 24- Period 14 Financial Reports are available.
See the Business Services webpage for more information.
Support Services
Summer Staff/Faculty Bus Passes- The summer Staff/Faculty bus stickers are here. Please bring your current SOU Staff ID card to the Service Center to receive yours today.
