April

1. Keeping tabs on impact of the H1N1 virus on MIT travelers
2. UROP payments and registration for the upcoming summer
3. Technical corrections to SAP Payroll to be implemented in May
4. New process for summer session spreadsheets
5. Travel News and Notes
6. VPF Points of Interest
7. Links and Contact Information: When you need help

Ready to go paperless? If you wish to stop receiving printed monthly statements, please send an email to cao-cost-objects@mit.edu. Please provide the supervisor, addressee, or individual cost object.

1. Keeping tabs on impact of the H1N1 virus on MIT travelers

Prior to scheduling traveling, MIT Travelers should refer to MIT online resources for warnings and updates concerning the H1N1 virus. Even though the concern for virus-related fatalities in the United States has abated, MIT travelers still should heed warnings about the risk of traveling to certain countries and be prepared for potential screening for the virus at airports and borders.

In a travel health warning issued April 23 and updated May 7, MIT urged travelers to Mexico to heed warnings and routinely check for updates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization, and the U.S. Department of State.

VPF Travel in early May alerted the community to screening measures put in place at certain airports and borders. While the U.S. is not screening passengers, VPF Travel said travelers to both Canada and Mexico should be prepared for potential screening.

Screening techniques include:

• Thermal scans to detect any fever
• Health declaration card completion for official documentation
• Disinfectant foot mats on which travelers must wipe their shoes
• On-board screening done by flight crews and CDC quarantine officials in some impacted areas globally

Because screening specifics are continually evolving, VPF Travel advised travelers to monitor updates from their airlines and/or local authorities in their departure and arrival destinations to determine potential travel delays. For warnings and updates, MIT Travelers should check the MIT Travel Risk Policy.

2. UROP payments and registration for the upcoming summer

Following conversations last summer, the Institute is moving forward to provide all students participating in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) for pay in June, July, and August with "registered" status during the summer months, reflecting the academic benefit of the UROP experience. Effective with the upcoming summer term, students participating in UROP will automatically be registered by the Registrar's Office for 1 unit of URN (UROP notation) non-degree credit. This change aligns with how students doing UROPs for pay are handled during the fall and spring terms. The following GL accounts will be used: UROP off campus 400768 and UROP on campus 400770. The employee benefit rate will not be charged to these GLs, and tuition will not be assessed.

Paperwork for the UROP experience must be fully processed to facilitate the summer registration prior to issuing payments to UROPs. If a student is paid an hourly wage prior to registration, that student will be assessed social security and Medicare taxes at a combined rate of 7.65%, and these charges cannot be removed retroactively due to federal taxation guidelines. These taxes are assessed based on the status of the person when the paycheck is issued rather than when the hours are worked. Please make sure individuals processing undergraduate student hourly payroll are made aware of this issue.

3. Technical corrections to SAP Payroll to be implemented in May

The HR/Payroll team will be implementing changes to the Distribution Program in mid-May intended to correct technical issues experienced since the conversion to SAP payroll. The changes will not affect the way DLCs use the SAPweb distribution tools (eSDS and eDACCA) or the format of the information included on DACCA reports. Due to minor changes in the way some items are calculated, DLCs may see some retroactivity to prior period distribution changing amounts by pennies. The changes may also trigger minor changes to debits and credits where the net change is $0. For a very small population of individuals, payroll charges or credits will post that due to these technical issues could not post in the past. If your DLC will be affected by one of these corrections, Payroll will be in touch with you ahead of time; if you do see anything unexpected on your DACCA, or if you have any questions, please contact us at payroll@mit.edu. More details will be provided in the May Monthly Statement Message.

4. New process for summer session spreadsheets

The VPF this year will be initiating a new summer session appointment process aimed at making the process more efficient and easier and improving accuracy. We are hopeful this new process will eliminate the problems experienced in recent years that resulted in inaccurate summer pay to some faculty members. We look forward to gathering your feedback about the process after the summer session work is completed, so that the process can be further improved for next year as needed.

The pre-populated spreadsheets individualized for each DLC will be available prior to May 21. We ask that completed summer session spreadsheets be submitted by June 8 to a secure VPF network folder, which has been set up so the VPF can access the spreadsheets and upload the information into SAP-Payroll. James Walsh from Payroll will provide individualized training and assistance as needed and will remain available throughout the process to assist administrators. If you have any questions, please contact James Walsh at 617-253-2723, jawalsh@mit.edu.

5. Travel News and Notes

- VPF Travel has set up a new email address to which members of the community can email questions concerning travel news, policies, and procedures. It is travel@mit.edu.

- There has been confusion among MIT travelers over which travel-related expenses can be charged to research cost objects. Below are some of the expenses over which there has been confusion.

REIMBURSABLE FROM RESEARCH COST OBJECTS

• Checked baggage fee
• Overweight baggage fee
• Oversized baggage fee
• Change fee
• Cancelled trips (airline tickets) along with processing fee
• Curb side check in fee
• Fuel charge fee
• Confirmed same day standby fee
• Paper ticket fee
• Meals that include all MIT employees on trip
• Spousal travel when the spouse is formally representing MIT (prior approval from Provost Office)
• Seat fee

REIMBURSABLE BY MIT BUT CANNOT BE CHARGED TO RESEARCH COST OBJECTS

• Upgrade fees, including Economy Plus (must be approved by DLC)
• Difference in cost between the lowest available coach fare and Economy Plus, Business or First class fare (excluding approved medical exceptions) unless approved by sponsor
• Business related meetings that include participants that are not MIT employees unless approved by sponsor (charge 421000, list participants, affiliation and topic of discussion)
• Foreign flag carriers (unless approved by sponsor)
• Blanket Fee
• Pillow Fee
• Code share flights when the designator code is a foreign carrier
• Alcohol (must be approved by DLC)
• Prospective student visits
• Fundraising
• Resource development
• Entertainment (must be approved by DLC)
• Gift in lieu of hotel stay to guest or customary gift (must be approved by DLC)

NOT REIMBURSABLE

• Frequent flyer mileage fee
• Spousal travel when the spouse is not formally representing MIT

6. VPF Points of Interest

- VPF Accounting Services has set up an email list for distributing a quarterly reminder of approaching salary certification deadlines. Certifiers (or those who certify by proxy) can subscribe online. Accounting Services will
send a reminder to this list mid-way through the certification month and again at the end of the certification month. For each quarter, the certification month is the third month after the end of the quarter. For example, for the quarter ended December 31, the certification month is March -- all certifications should have been complete by March 31. For the quarter ended March 31, certifications should be completed by June 30.

- The VPF has rewritten the MIT policy concerning gifts and gratuities (Gifts and Gratuities: Procurement Policy 1.8) and is now accepting comments from DLCs before finalizing the rewritten policy. We encourage you to provide comments through the online commenting tool at the end of the policy or by emailing Scott Rolph at srolph@mit.edu. The VPF will accept comments concerning the policy for a 30-day period, through June 12.

View a draft of the policy >>

Status Report: The VPF is spearheading a number of process redesign projects. Here is a quick status report:

Vacation Tracker for Sponsored-Research Staff: The project to implement an online vacation tracker for sponsored-research staff is ongoing. So far, the system has been implemented for Sloan, Engineering, and Architecture and Planning. Implementation for Science and SHASS are in progress. The team managing the project is offering training sessions for administrators whose areas are already using the vacation tracker. Training sessions are held the first Wednesday of each month in NE49 Little Cayman (3rd floor) from noon until 1 pm. The next session will be held on June 3. If you are interested in attending, please contact Janet Sparks at jstezzi@mit.edu.

Travel Credit Card and Online Expense Reporting Tool: A VPF team is working to assemble a group of faculty, students, and staff to participate in the pilot phase of a travel credit card and online expense reporting tool. The project team aims to engage this group in August for the three-month pilot. After the pilot, the travel credit card and online expense reporting tool will be made available to the rest of MIT community on a school by-school basis. Please contact Jennifer Tipping O'Connell at jtipping@mit.edu if you have any questions about this project.

7. Links and Contact Information – When you need help

Download PDF version of these charts >>

Web Links

Contact Information