The University of Virginia
Software Demonstration Materials
For
Administrative Software and Implementation Services
RFP #END032598
February 16, 2016
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1. INTRODUCTION
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1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
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OVERVIEW
DEMONSTRATION GUIDELINES
"TEST DRIVE" GUIDELINES
DEMONSTRATION AND "TEST DRIVE" SCORING
2. THE VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
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INTRODUCTION
FINANCE
HUMAN RESOURCES
STUDENT SERVICES
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3. VU ORGANIZATION CHART
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3.1
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DEFINITIONS
4. SOFTWARE DEMONSTRATION SCRIPTS
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4.1
CROSS MODULE TOPICS
4.1.1
SECURITY
4.1.2
WORKFLOW
4.1.3
IMAGING
4.1.4
AD HOC REPORTING
4.1.5
IMPORT / EXPORT DATA
4.1.6
WEB-BASED TRANSACTIONS
4.1.7
HELP FEATURES
4.1.8
SYSTEM TOOLS
4.1.9
SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY
4.1.10
FINANCIAL REPORTING
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5. FINANCE DEMONSTRATION SCRIPT
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5.1
GENERAL LEDGER (FINANCIAL REPORTING)
5.1.1
GENERAL FEATURES
5.1.2
CREATE A NEW OBJECT CODE
5.1.3
MAINTAIN ACCOUNT ATTRIBUTES
5.1.4
CLOSE AND/OR FREEZE AN ACCOUNT
5.1.5
JOURNAL ENTRY PROCESSING
5.1.6
UNIVERSITY-WIDE FINANCIAL INQUIRY AND ANALYSIS
5.1.7
FISCAL YEAR-END OR PERIOD-END PROCESSING
5.2
BUDGETING
5.2.1
BUDGET PLANNING/ASSUMPTIONS
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5.2.2
5.2.3
5.2.4
5.2.5
5.2.6
5.2.7
5.2.8
5.2.9
5.3
5.3.1
5.3.2
5.3.3
5.3.4
5.3.5
5.3.6
5.3.7
5.3.8
5.3.9
5.3.10
5.3.11
5.3.12
5.3.13
5.3.14
5.4
5.4.1
5.4.2
5.4.3
5.5
5.6
5.6.1
5.6.2
5.6.3
5.6.4
5.6.5
5.6.6
5.6.7
5.6.8
5.7
5.7.1
5.7.2
5.7.3
BUDGET PREPARATION
BUDGET REVIEW AND APPROVAL
BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION
BUDGET MONITORING AND REPORTING
ENCUMBRANCES
RESTRICTIONS
BUDGET CLOSE OUT/YEAR END
INTEGRATION WITH CASH MANAGEMENT
PROCUREMENT
VENDOR RELATIONS
INTERNAL PURCHASING:
USING A PROCUREMENT CARD:
MAKING “ON DEMAND” PAYMENTS:
PROCESSING TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENTS:
MANUAL CHECK PROCESS:
ASSISTED PROCUREMENT DEMONSTRATIONS:
DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS:
MISCELLANEOUS FEATURES OF THE ASSISTED BUYING PROCUREMENT SYSTEM:
CHANGE ORDERS:
STANDING ORDER PROCESSING:
VOUCHER PROCESSING
RECEIPT MATCHING
PAYMENT PROCESSING
ASSET MANAGEMENT
TRIGGER EVENTS
INFORMATION COLLECTION
BAR CODING/TAGGING
SPONSORED PROGRAMS ADMINISTRATION (PRE-AWARD)
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE (NON-STUDENT) AND COLLECTIONS
CREATING AN ACCOUNT
POSTING CHARGES
SENDING STATEMENTS
PROCESS CUSTOMER INFORMATION AND INQUIRY
RECEIVE AND POST PAYMENTS
ACCOUNT ADJUSTMENTS AND REFUNDS
CREDIT AND COLLECTIONS
REPORTING AND AGING
CASH MANAGEMENT
DAILY CASH MANAGEMENT
CASH FLOW FORECASTING
CASH RECEIPT PROCESSING
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6. HUMAN RESOURCES AND PAYROLL DEMONSTRATION SCRIPT
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6.1
HUMAN RESOURCE PROCESSES
6.1.1
CLASSIFICATION AND POSTING
6.1.2
POSITION CONTROL
6.1.3
APPLICANT PROCESSING
6.1.4
MAINTENANCE OF EMPLOYEE DATA
6.1.5
COMPENSATION MANAGEMENT
6.1.6
NON-RESIDENT ALIEN TAX PROCESSING
6.1.7
BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
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6.1.8
BENEFITS INTERACTIVE VOICE SYSTEM WITH WEB ACCESSIBILITY
6.1.9
TAX -DEFERRED ANNUITIES
6.1.10
DEDUCTIONS
6.2
PAYROLL PROCESSES
6.2.1
PAYROLL PROCESSING OVERVIEW
6.2.2
PAYROLL EMPLOYEE INFORMATION MAINTENANCE
6.2.3
EARNINGS
6.2.4
PAYROLL PROCESSING/CHECK PRODUCTION
6.2.5
TIME REPORTING
6.2.6
RESEARCH EFFORT PROCESSING
6.2.7
STUDENT EMPLOYMENT
6.3
TRAINING & CAREER DEVELOPMENT
6.3.1
TRAINING
6.3.2
TRACKING
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7. STUDENT SERVICES DEMONSTRATION SCRIPT
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7.1
7.1.1
7.1.2
7.1.3
7.2
7.2.1
7.2.2
7.2.3
7.2.4
7.2.5
7.2.6
7.2.7
7.3
7.3.1
7.3.2
7.3.3
7.3.4
7.3.5
7.3.6
7.3.7
7.3.8
7.3.9
7.4
7.4.1
7.4.2
7.4.3
7.4.4
7.4.5
7.4.6
7.4.7
7.4.8
RECRUIT AND ADMIT PROCESSES
PROSPECT AND CANDIDATE ACCESS
APPLICATION SUBMISSION AND MAINTENANCE
SELECT, OFFER AND NOTIFY STUDENTS
STUDENT RECORDS
COURSE CATALOG
COURSE SCHEDULE
COURSE ENROLLMENT
FINAL REGISTRATION
GRADING AND GRADE REPORTING
FACULTY ADVISING AND DEGREE AUDIT
TRANSCRIPTS AND CERTIFICATIONS
STUDENT FINANCIALS
STUDENT ACCOUNT CREATION (REG)
TUITION AND FEE CALCULATIONS
ACCEPT OTHER CHARGES
BILLING
PAYMENT PROCESSING AND CASHIERING
REFUND CALCULATIONS AND PROCESSING
STUDENT ACCOUNT ADJUSTMENTS
DELINQUENT ACCOUNTS
POSTING FINANCIAL AID
FINANCIAL AID
APPLICATION / DOCUMENT TRACKING
PACKAGING
NEED ANALYSIS
AWARDING
EXTERNAL SCHOLARSHIPS
LOAN PROCESSING
DEPARTMENT / SCHOOL AWARDS
REFUNDS
8. VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY
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8.1
THE VIRTUAL UNDERGRADUATE
8.1.1
STUDENT ONE
8.1.2
STUDENT TWO
8.2
SCHOOL/DEPT AWARDS
8.3
THE VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY HUMAN RESOURCE SCRIPT
8.3.1
EDUCATIONAL LEAVE WITHOUT PAY
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9. “TEST DRIVE" REQUIREMENTS
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10. DEMONSTRATION SCHEDULE
ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
11. UNIVERSITY CONTACTS
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12. GLOSSARY OF TERMS
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1.
5
Introduction
1.1
Overview
The University of Virginia is a large research university with a broad set of academic and
research programs. The University is in the process of evaluating integrated software solutions
that provide finance, human resources, and student services functional capabilities. As part of
the process of selecting the software, The University of Virginia has translated key functional
requirements into demonstration scripts that will be used as the basis for scoring a vendor's
ability to meet the functional needs of the organization.
Your company may be invited to provide a scripted demonstration of the capabilities of your
package to a team of University staff members who will score the demonstrations. Because of
the importance and complexity of these demonstration scripts, the evaluation team has opted to
distribute this information to vendors in advance of issuing invitations to conduct
demonstrations. Receipt of this information does not imply that your firm will receive an
invitation to make a demonstration. The evaluation team expects to issue invitations to conduct
demonstrations on or about June 19, 1998. The demonstrations are scheduled to occur the third
week of July through the first week in August at a time and location to be determined. Each
vendor’s demonstration is expected to last four and ½ days.
The University of Virginia is interested in making an informed selection, and is seeking the
software vendor that can best satisfy its overall requirements. The University is interested in
assisting each vendor to prepare for the evaluation, and with providing each vendor with an
opportunity to favorably present their software’s capabilities.
1.2
Demonstration Guidelines
To facilitate scoring, it is important that the demonstrations follow the scripts that are included in
this document. Based on the limited time for the demonstrations and the total number of script
items, vendors will have to manage their time carefully. The University’s expectation is that the
vendors will complete the demonstration scripts, in their entirety, during the four and ½ day
period allotted. The teams preparing these scripts have made a conscientious effort to provide a
set of demonstration scripts that can be accomplished in the allotted time.
This expectation by The University of Virginia means that a vendor should make reasonable
judgments about the level of detail to include, and by what process to proceed, while covering
each script. If the demonstration is not completed in a specific functional area (i.e. General
Ledger, Benefits, etc.) during the allotted time, the vendor will be asked to move on to the next
topic area. The evaluation is based upon your ability to demonstrate every item requested in the
script.
The University of Virginia is expecting each vendor to provide a demonstration of an integrated
solution. This means that if certain transactions affect information in another module or trigger
another transaction elsewhere in the system you should be sure to describe or show the impact or
effect these particular transactions have on any other component of your system. Many of these
transactions are noted within the script as “integration points.” In addition, if certain
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requirements described in these scripts are provided by third-party vendors that are not provided
as part of your solution (e.g. imaging, voice response, resume tracking, etc.), you are expected
demonstrate the third party product or to bring the third-party vendor(s) to the demonstration to
help demonstrate the integrated solution.
1.3
"Test Drive" Guidelines
In addition to attending formal vendor presentations of the demonstration scripts, we wish to
have the opportunity to "test drive" each vendor's product in a controlled environment. To that
end, each vendor will be expected to allow University of Virginia personnel to interact with a
copy of the proposed software in order to test its ability to conduct certain transactions and to
create and view standard and ad hoc reports. The evaluation team has identified a small number
of processes to be tested in this fashion. The vendor will be expected to provide written
step-by-step instructions for each process that can be easily followed by an evaluator. The
requirements for this portion of the demonstrations are discussed in more detail in Section 0 of
this document.
1.4
Demonstration and "Test Drive" Scoring
A selected group of individuals will score the vendor’s demonstrations. As the demonstrations
progress, the functional scoring team will be evaluating the demonstrations based upon the
following types of criteria:

Functionality

Robustness of the application

Degree of congruence with the Strategic Direction Statements

Degree of integration of data and process flow

Architecture and user interface

Ease of volume data entry

Guidance provided for unsophisticated users

Intuitiveness / easy to use features

Easy movement within the package

Context and field sensitive help text

Aesthetics

Screen defaults

Use of color

Presentation of information
2.
7
The Virtual University
2.1
Introduction
In order to provide a common foundation for the demonstration script evaluation process, the
University of Virginia is requesting that software vendors establish a “Virtual University” within
their software database. The characteristics of the Virtual University, described in detail below,
will serve as the basis for evaluating the functionality of the vendors’ software packages and for
providing a consistent starting point for those evaluations. The University of Virginia has
developed its demonstration scripts using the Virtual University as a template. This approach
provides many advantages for both the University of Virginia and the software vendor. It will
allow both parties to use a common language during the demonstration process, and to have
specific examples to reference when differences in terminology and understanding arise. It will
also allow vendors to better demonstrate the extent to which their software is integrated between
the finance, human resources, and student services modules.
Each software vendor will be expected to initialize their software packages to reflect the Virtual
University, to the degree they are able, and to demonstrate all software features using the Virtual
University data and nomenclature. A key objective of this project is to implement a highly
integrated set of systems. Therefore, it is important for the vendor to show, in real time, the level
of integration of their software. While it is our clear preference to see all scenarios demonstrated
on a single, integrated installation of the modules available, we understand that this may impose
a severe burden on some vendors, because they use different and unconnected servers to
demonstrate each software module. In the event that a fully integrated presentation is not
possible for all demonstration points, the evaluation team has identified certain processes where
a clear point of integration exists between modules. At a minimum, for these demonstration
items, the team will expect the vendor to demonstrate the degree of integration among modules
by showing how (and when) the results of the demonstrated transaction are reflected in the other
affected modules. For example, if a student is hired as a wage employee in the Human Resources
module, the vendor should be prepared to show how the financial aid office (Faid) can see the
student's employment in the Student module, and how the payroll expense will show on the
accounting reports provided to the funding department in the Finance module.
The tradition and culture of Virtual University (VU) mirrors that of the University of Virginia
and is one that is highly decentralized. Institutional policies and reporting emanate from a
central source but, within the broad guidelines established by VU’s management, operating units
are given wide latitude to establish and operate their own programs, and to conduct their business
affairs (subject to institutional guidelines) in ways that suit their particular needs and traditions.
VU recognizes that the implementation of a modern integrated system will likely necessitate an
evaluation of the number of options currently employed by the operating units to conduct their
business affairs. However, VU would like to retain as many of the strengths as possible that this
decentralized environment provides. Many of VU's faculty and staff believe that their current
decentralized environment has served to strengthen the programs in instruction and research that
have led to VU's high national ranking.
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2.2
Finance
The following is general information relating to the Business and Finance areas of VU. These
general assumptions should be used when placing the individual demonstration scripts into a
context, unless otherwise specifically noted in the script. Words printed in boldface are terms
peculiar to VU and are defined in the Glossary in Section 8 of this document.

VU's fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30.

VU's funding sources are what one would expect at a public research university. Fund
sources derive from tuition, state tax revenue, gifts, endowments, research grants and
contracts. Some of VU's revenue (e.g. tuition, sponsored research grants, and tax dollars)
is deposited in the State Treasury and then disbursed to VU through the appropriation
process. Other revenue (e.g. gifts, auxiliary service revenue, and endowment income) is
maintained by VU as locally deposited funds. Since VU is a state institution, there are
many detailed reporting requirements imposed by the state government. VU would like
to simplify many of its business processes but realizes that changing some of the state
requirements will not be possible.

Historically, VU has used a general ledger system that, while inadequate in its ability
to generate management information but cumbersome to use when generating input
transactions, has provided a great deal of flexibility in terms of assigning attributes to
transactions and in accommodating organizational changes within the chart of accounts.
While VU is not wedded to the current structure of the chart of accounts, VU wishes to
maintain as much of the current flexibility as possible. For example, reassigning an
account from one organizational unit to another now requires only modifying the value of
an alphanumeric attribute, since the account identifier has no inherent organizational
relationships embedded in it.

VU is a public university and, as such, is considered a State agency. All funds are
classified as either “State” or “Local”. State funds are appropriated annually by the State,
but are held by the State Treasurer in a state bank account until requested by VU. Local
funds are collected and held in a local VU bank account. All state and local revenue and
expenditure activity (transactions) is recorded in the VU Financial Accounting System
(FAS). All employees at VU (central, departmental, etc.) use this one accounting system
to do their work.
The major sources of State Funds are:



State appropriated tax revenues
Student tuition
Grants and contracts of all types (research, training, service, etc.)
Local Funds are limited by current state law to:



Funds held in VU’s endowment pool, including any earned income
Gift funds, including any earned income
Funds for which VU is acting as custodian for other State agencies (“Agency Funds”).
With the exception of the State appropriated tax revenues, VU collects all revenues and initially
deposits the cash into a local University bank account. The state share of collected revenues is
then transferred to the State Treasurer daily.
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All payments (payroll, supplies, equipment, etc.) regardless of fund source, are initially paid
from a University bank account. The State then reimburses VU for those expenditures that were
charged to accounts considered to be “State’ accounts. Reimbursement is made to VU
according to a varying schedule, which is based on the type of payment that was made. For
example, payroll payments are reimbursed to VU on payday, while accounts payable check
payments are reimbursed seven days after the check is issued.
2.3
Human Resources
The following is general information relating to the Human Resources and Payroll areas of VU.
These general assumptions should be used when placing the individual demonstration scripts into
a context, unless otherwise specifically noted in the script. Words printed in boldface are terms
peculiar to VU and are defined in the Glossary in Section 9 of this document.
VU supports a wide range of students, faculty, and staff. Most are U.S. citizens, but some are
not; some are full-time; some are part-time. Some work full time for 12 months every year and
some work full time for only a portion of the year (9 months, for example).
VU seeks to maintain its position as the country's leading public university and attract and retain
top quality faculty, staff and students. VU will continue to value people and strive to create a
work environment where their skills, abilities and sense of self can be fully utilized and
enhanced.
There are a variety of unique units that comprise VU: academic, research, medical education
and a medical center. There is one Human Resources department for the entire VU while there
are two separate and distinct payroll departments. One payroll department is for the Medical
Center only and the other payroll department is for the academic, research and medical education
units. The Medical Center has also recently purchased and installed separate financials and
purchasing systems from the rest of VU. This separation of VU’s units will require interfaces of
Human Resource data.
Changes in the workforce occurring at the State and national level will require VU to implement
innovative human resource management ideas in order to recruit, develop and retain a quality
faculty and staff. VU will need to offer attractive benefits, work scheduling options, career
paths and training in order to compete for these skilled workers. An infrastructure must support
human resource practices as they evolve along the strategic continuum from a hierarchical
structure to a flatter organizational structure that emphasizes teams and individuals, customized
service to employees and a relationship of trust.
Changes in the type of work to include more project-oriented, team-based or cross-functional
work will necessitate different types of skills, a commitment to continuous individual skill
development and newly defined career paths.
VU has evolved over time into a highly decentralized operating environment. Some business
units continue to demand greater decentralization of responsibility and accountability while
others prefer central service. Thus, VU will need to support and enhance capabilities for
decentralized human resource management while maintaining flexible central service
approaches.
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VU requires a comprehensive, integrated human resources system that supports distributed
processing. The system must be flexible, open and adaptable to changing human resource
needs. Key requirements are:

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





A single data repository that collects and provides information to all appropriate users.
The collection, verification and validation of human resources information must be
entered one time at the source.
An automatic notification of activities to users based on rules and events.
The ability to maintain information for multiple years and business units.
The ability to maintain all information for an employee with multiple school, campus
and unit assignments, and who may have multiple employment classifications and/or
status.
Information flow should have the same "look and feel" within each application, to
allow ease of use of the system.
The systems must address the unique requirements of a higher education research
institution.
Position and budgetary control must be possible, but not required, at the most detailed
level (e.g. unit level).
VU employs a wide variety of faculty, unclassified staff, classified staff, research staff, and
students. Individuals may be appointed for one-time contracts of various lengths of time and
multi-year appointments for portions of a year (e.g. one, 9, 10, 11, 12 months), hold multiple
classification of jobs (e.g. researchers, graduate students, etc.), receive pay over periods not
always consistent with appointment dates (e.g. work nine months but receive pay over twelve
months) and be covered by benefits (including leave accruals). VU also offers non-salaried
appointments to individuals, (e.g. visiting faculty, post doctoral, etc.).
It is common practice for VU employees to hold multiple positions in different classifications,
each of which may be subject to different salary structures, job administration polices, leave
programs, benefit eligibility, time reporting, leave accruals, tax withholding and reporting, etc.
Although these entities may be independent operating units, they are consolidated for payroll
processing and tax treatment.
Through the course of a VU employee's career, he/she experiences changes in job
responsibilities, job titles, salary and percentage of time worked. In addition, managers VU will
be required to create and fill positions, identify funding sources for positions, and provide
performance reviews for their staff. The system must have the ability to manage the data
associated with these occurrences, and link the modifications made in these areas to related
system modules, including benefits administration, tenure tracking and departmental budget
management. The system must be able to guide managers through the processes without the
need for extensive training.
Lastly, employees frequently leave VU only to return at a later date. This means VU is
maintaining multiple "hire dates" on employees and it often impacts the calculation of years of
service, benefits, leave accruals, etc.
Statistical Background
VU is a large and complex employer:
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
18,590 active employees (average over one year)

3,400 faculty only

5,590 graded (classified) staff

2,210 un-graded Health Care Providers (HCPs)
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1,157 unclassified staff (wage)
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440 temporary staff

5,793 students
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1,200 non-paid employees

21,500 applications / resumes received (classified staff only)

1,900 retirees

W-2 s

University
19,198

Medical Center
6,006

684 Form 1042-S s
Payroll
The University has two campuses with the following employee counts:


Charlottesville
Clinch Valley
18,060
530
Benefits
The University offers a wide variety of benefits programs:
University Health Plans
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
One HMO plan
Two Point of Service, Self-Insured Plans
Life Insurance Plans
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Three basic employer paid plans, one salary based, one flat dollar, one age-graded
Four optional plans, one salary based, three flat dollar age-graded
One dependent optional plan
Other Plans
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




Long-Term Disability - Two employer paid plans, one employee paid plan
Short-Term Disability - Two employee paid plans
Two Flexible Spending Accounts - Reimbursement Only
Premium Conversion Plan
Deferred Compensation (457) Plan
Workers Compensation
Unemployment Compensation
Savings Bond
Retirement Plans - Defined Contribution

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
One Employer only - Defined Benefit Plan
Two Employer only - Defined Contribution Plans
Tax Deferred Savings Plan
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Tuition Plans
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2.4
One Tuition Waiver Program for employees
One Tuition Assistance Program for employees
One Tuition Reimbursement Program for employees
Student Services
The following is general information relating to the Student Services and Student Accounts
Receivable areas of VU. These general assumptions should be used when placing the individual
demonstration scripts into a context, unless otherwise specifically noted in the script. Words
printed in boldface are terms peculiar to VU and are defined in the Glossary in Section 8 of this
document.

VU is a public research university that has a broad spectrum of offerings including
undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs, and non-degree, life learning
educational opportunities. Some programs are offered away from the main campus
(through regional continuing education centers and satellite campuses), and some of the
research and service programs are also conducted away from the main campus at various
research facilities.

VU's regular academic year consists of two semesters, and begins on September 1 and
ends on May 30. VU also has a summer session that has short courses that begin and end
on different dates. In addition, courses offered through VU’s regional continuing
education centers are offered throughout the calendar year with varying start and end dates
and durations.
VU defines student services as encompassing all of the services and activities from recruitment
through transition out of VU. It has grouped services together as follows:

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


Recruit and select applicant/student for admission
Manage student finances, including provision of financial support and assessment,
billing and collection of tuition and fees
Advise, register and track performance of students
Provide student life services
Transition students through career placement and post-graduation support
Manage information throughout the student lifecycle
VU also broadly defines the term student to include all types of students (undergraduates,
graduates, professional and continuing education students) in all academic programs of VU.
VU faces an increasingly competitive market for students and has recognized the need to conduct
proactive and competitive recruiting at the national and international level for undergraduate,
graduate and professional students of the highest quality and diversity. VU will continue to strive
to maintain a diverse student population in terms of geography, race and outlook. To meet these
diversity goals, VU will need to be more proactive, targeted and personal in its recruiting efforts.
Another challenge is the need to integrate and provide quality services to the non-traditional
student. VU must consider how to change services and use technology to meet the needs of the
non-traditional, summer session and continuing education students.
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3.
14
VU Organization Chart
When establishing the Virtual University (VU), each software vendor should establish the tables,
records, or data entries needed to reflect the following organizational structure:
Executive Vice
President
(EVP)
Provost
Hum an
Re sources
(HR)
Dean
Acade m ic
De partm e nt
(De pt1)
Acade m ic
De partm e nt
(De pt2)
Faculty M e m be r
(Faculty1)
Faculty M e m be r
Se cre tary
(Faculty3)
Faculty M e m be r
(Faculty2)
Se cre tary
Fis cal
Adm inis trator
(Fis adm in)
Graduate Student
(Grad2)
Adm is s ions /
Re gis trar
(OREG)
Vice President
Student Affairs
(VPSA)
Financial Aid
(FAID)
Busine ss &
Finance
(Busine ss )
Auxiliary
Ente rpris e
(Auxiliary)
Graduate Student
(Grad1)
Unde rgraduate
Stude nt
(Ugrad)
* The structure depicted here does not imply either a current or future organization plan for the
University of Virginia.
3.1
15
Definitions
Provost: The chief academic officer at VU. The Provost will act as an approval point for faculty
hiring and academic budget related transactions.
Dean: The academic leader of a college or school at VU. The Dean will act as an approval
point for budget and expenditure related transactions. All departments and operating units have a
reporting relationship to one or more approval points.
Academic Department (Dept1): A department whose primary functions are the pursuit of
scholarly research, and the delivery of educational services to students.
Academic Department (Dept2): This department is similar in function to Dept1 and will be
created as a part of the demonstration scripts.
Secretary: This person is responsible for purchasing office supplies for Dept 2.
Faculty Member 1 (Faculty1): A faculty member at the rank of assistant professor. This
individual is on a 9-month continuing contract. This individual also has a research grant.
Faculty Member 2 (Faculty2): A faculty member at the rank of professor. This individual is
full-time and is paid 12 months per year. This individual also receives supplementary
compensation from an endowed chair.
Fiscal Administrator (Fisadmin): A fiscal technician responsible for reconciling the
department's accounts. This individual also has authority to distribute overhead funds allocated
to the department.
Graduate Student (Grad): A student pursuing a doctoral degree where tuition is based on credit
hours. This individual is receiving a fellowship, is a teaching assistant, and is a non-resident
alien.
Undergraduate Student (Ugrad): A student pursuing an undergraduate degree where tuition is
a flat rate. This individual is receiving financial aid that includes a federal student loan and
work/study employment.
Admissions/Registrar (Oreg): This office is responsible for student admissions, enrollment, and
permanent academic records administration. This office has both state and local funds accounts.
Executive Vice President (EVP): The chief financial officer at VU. The EVP will act as the
final approval point for the annual institutional budget. Units under the EVP are responsible for
all institutional policies, oversight of adherence to proper procedures, transaction processing
review, and institutional reporting.
Human Resources Department (HR): The unit responsible for hiring, benefits administration,
and maintaining employee personnel records.
Business and Finance Department (Business): The unit responsible for managing purchasing,
accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, graduate financial aid administration, grants
16
administration, fixed asset administration, cash management, endowment and gift accounting,
financial reporting, budget administration, and other financial management activities.
Auxiliary Enterprise (Auxiliary): A unit that sells services to other University departments.
Examples might be printing services, parking and transportation, physical plant, or voice
communications. This unit will generate charges to other units. These charges do not
necessarily need to be approved before they are posted.
Vice President Student Affairs (VPSA): The chief student services officer at VU. The VPSA
will act as an approval point for student services activities and related budget transactions.
Financial Aid (Faid): The unit responsible for packaging and administering undergraduate
financial aid awards.
4.
17
Software Demonstration Scripts
The following sections contain the detailed demonstration scripts that software vendors are
expected to use as the basis for structuring their presentations to the evaluation team. Individual
demonstration or discussion points may be treated separately, or in combination, as long as the
major points are covered in a way that allows the evaluation team to adequately score the
individual items.
As mentioned in Section 2.1, some processes have an impact in other modules (i.e. a financial
process that has an impact in the student services module). Processes where the evaluation team
wishes to see the cross module impact have been marked as points of integration. The
assumptions outlined in Section 2 apply to all of the detailed scripts, unless otherwise noted.
4.1
Cross Module Topics
4.1.1 Security
The University requires a system that provides maximum access to information while
minimizing the risk of inappropriate inquiry or entry of data. It is anticipated that security will
be integrated across all modules of the proposed solution, eliminating the need for multiple
log-ins and passwords. Security management is anticipated at various levels, such as position
number, job classification, work unit, account number and individual.
As a buyer, Secretary does not make vendor payment decisions. Her profile should be set up
with a buyer group profile that has no access to payment processing capabilities. In addition,
Secretary is only a buyer for specific products in one of the Schools and should only have access
to information related to her school and the products she is responsible for buying.
4.1.1.1 Demonstrate the ability to access all system modules through a single sign-on.
4.1.1.2 Demonstrate the ability to restrict access based on user-defined security: i.e., the position
of the user, by organization structure, by cost center/responsibility center, at the field,
screen and menu level, and to restrict access based on time of year. Show how security
can be set-up to provide a user with read-only access to a specific field on the screen.
Show how security can limit or deny a user with view and update access to a record.
Secretary is going on vacation for a week.
4.1.1.3 Show how a user can delegate security privileges to another employee for a specified
time period.
4.1.1.4 Demonstrate how the system maintains an audit trail for transactions initiated by the
employee with delegated authority.
VU needs to create and maintain personal identification numbers.
18
4.1.1.5 Demonstrate how to create and assign unique Personal Information Numbers (PIN) to
employees for use with Integrated Voice Response (IVR), Web, or terminal update
facilities and show how an employee can change their PIN.
4.1.2 Workflow
VU has already developed web-based electronic forms that provide workflow for several key
transactions. VU is seeking to expand this capability for the routing and approval of documents
and transactions throughout all transaction processes. Current electronic forms processing
provides initiation, conditional routing, tracking, review and approvals as dictated by the
workflow design and we anticipate this capability will be included in any future electronic forms
processing.
The Central IT Department is asked to create the workflow for a form. The form is to be initiated
by the unit supervisor, forwarded to an office for informational purposes (“FYI copy”), and
forwarded to either the Provost or EVP for approval based on originating department, with
notification of the completion of this process back to the originator following approval.
4.1.2.1 Demonstrate how to set up the workflow to electronically route a form to appropriate
personnel (unit supervisor, reviewing office, approving office, “FYI copy” office).
Include the conditional routing based upon originating department.
4.1.2.2 Show how the originator can add an additional approving office when they initiate the
form.
4.1.2.3 Show how a reviewer is notified that a form is available to be reviewed.
The Provost receives the form and determines there is not enough information to approve the
transaction.
4.1.2.4 Show how an approver can reject a transaction and send the form back to the originator
requesting additional information items.
4.1.2.5 Demonstrate how the originator can update the form with the requested information and
resubmit.
4.1.2.6 Show how the originator can track the status and progress of the transaction and receives
notification upon completion of the transaction.
4.1.3 Imaging
VU currently uses production-level imaging to capture paper-based information collected during
the applicant selection process in Human Resources. A separate imaging system is also in place
in Graduate Arts and Sciences Admissions. Both of these applications use IBM imaging
products. VU is seeking to potentially improve on its existing imaging applications and expand
the use of imaging into other areas of the institution that have requirements to track and store
paper-based information.
19
VU is not interested, during the demonstration, in a vendor’s ability to imbed images into
application screens through simple Windows technology. VU is seeking to understand and see
which vendors have embedded / integrated imaging applications into their administrative
systems in areas such as invoices, personnel, receipts, technical specifications, etc. The imaging
capabilities would include, but not be limited to automatic scanning, indexing and linking to a
specific application screen, panel or document.
INTEGRATION POINT:
4.1.3.1 Please demonstrate this integration and provide several client references where this
integration with the specific imaging products has been completed and is in production.
4.1.4 Ad Hoc Reporting
University staff desires the ability to generate reports on an “as-needed” basis representing a
query not part of the regular, “routine” reporting specifications. The University seeks solutions
that allow the same query tools and reporting software to be used across all modules of the
system.
Dean wants to produce a report comparing budgeted dollars and actual expenditures from all
sources for all departments in the school. The report should contain the actual budget expenses
from the beginning of the fiscal year for each department showing expense code items and dollar
amounts sorted by expense code.
4.1.4.1 Demonstrate the ability to enter necessary selection criteria to create the report. Show
how to view the report, save the report for future reference, and save the inquiry for
future re run.
4.1.4.2 Demonstrate formatting options for printing the resulting report.
4.1.4.3 Demonstrate how the report can be stored electronically and retrieved at a later date.
The department decides this report is required on a regular basis and should be routed to a
number of different individuals.
4.1.4.4 Demonstrate the ability to send the report to a group of individuals over email to review.
4.1.4.5 Show how to run the report in real-time or on a defined schedule (e.g. every two weeks)
and be able to stop or cancel the creation of the report if it becomes a runaway report
consuming the processing capabilities of the system and tying up all other processing.
4.1.4.6 Demonstrate how to define user security for each set of reports.
4.1.4.7 Create a bar chart showing total budget and actual expenditures for each department.
Show the ability to drill down from summary information to the detail.
4.1.4.8 Add a ‘sticky note’ to a set of reports.
4.1.4.9 Modify the report distribution list to add a new recipient.
20
Dean wants the system to automatically send an e-mail notification that the reports have been
sent to each department for verification based upon parameters that have been previously
defined.
4.1.4.10
Demonstrate how to set up rules for automatic notification for report distribution.
VU is conducting a survey of its employees who are parents of VU students.
4.1.4.11 Show how the system can create a report showing all students and their parents or
guardians who are University employees living in Greene county. Merge this report
with a document for distribution to the employees via electronic mail and/or letter based
upon predetermined employee preferences for receiving University correspondence.
4.1.5 Import / Export Data
The University is committed to decreasing the cost and effort of acquiring, managing,
maintaining, and presenting administrative data while improving the timeliness of information it
provides. A key strategy for accomplishing these objectives is to replace its enterprise-wide
applications with an integrated set of applications that allow transactions to be entered once and
be reflected in all appropriate modules in the system. While this strategy should reduce the need
for shadow applications in departments, some of these individually maintained applications will
likely be needed to supplement capabilities of the enterprise-wide applications. The University,
therefore, needs the ability to interface the new central applications with these
department-maintained, supplemental applications
4.1.5.1 Given the fact that VU will need to interface the new systems with existing systems and
will want to use office products to enter some data, demonstrate or explain your product's
ability to provide pre-designed application programming interfaces (API's) that allow for
bi-directional data links so that existing systems can utilize the new systems information
for validation and integrity. Examples would include the need to check for a valid fund
or account code and the need to validate a vendor, student or employee. Possible API's
might provide the ability to call a program that performs the validation and returns a
response code. This facility should accept both interactive and batch feeds of data that
can be validated concurrent to the upload process.
4.1.5.2 Demonstrate the ability to produce a report that combines data from the enterprise-wide
application with data from a department's supplemental application.
4.1.5.3 Demonstrate how data from the enterprise-wide application can be downloaded to office
automation products for modification and analysis. How can this information then be
uploaded to system files? What security exists for this process?
4.1.5.4 Demonstrate the capability to import/export and cut/paste a journal entry to and from a
spreadsheet application.
4.1.6 Web-based Transactions
Due to the growth of the Internet, including the Web, VU is interested in understanding what
capabilities the software has for processing transactions over the Internet. In addition, VU is
21
interested in using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) to
eliminate paper-based transactions with key suppliers (banks, benefits plans), customers (parents
and students) and governmental agencies. These applications could include remote data entry by
university employees, customer access to VU data and functions, and supplier integration with
purchasing.
Current Support Plans
4.1.6.1 Demonstrate your current capabilities and describe your plans for supporting Internet and
Web applications. Please include your plans and capabilities to provide secure
Web-based transactions including authentication and electronic signatures.
4.1.6.2 Show how data transfers (i.e., benefits plan enrollment changes, etc.) are currently
supported via electronic commerce, including the initiation of the transaction by the
employee via the web through to updating the plan provider.
Student Access
The University plans to offer students greater flexibility to receive services by providing access
to frequently accessed transactions and inquiries via the web.
4.1.6.3 Demonstrate the ability for students to inquire against their account balances via the web.
4.1.6.4 Demonstrate the ability for students to update their billing addresses via the web.
INTEGRATION POINT:
4.1.6.5 To illustrate the flexibility/functionality of exporting from the Web to another
sub-system, demonstrate how an employee can register for a parking permit via a
Web-based application, that in turn produces deduction records for HRS, and exports data
for a separate departmental parking system.
4.1.7 Help Features
The University would like to put its policies in the “help section” of the system. Additionally, it
needs to provide users with online access to context sensitive help information to facilitate
system use. Policies and help information should be accessible in the same manner across all
modules of the system.
4.1.7.1 Demonstrate the ability to set up policy help and information. Show how personnel can
easily access these policies across VU. Show how the responsible units can maintain the
documentation.
4.1.7.2 Demonstrate how personnel can use the help feature to access information such as
allowable values for a given field. Show the error message and help information
provided when a person enters incorrect data.
4.1.7.3 Show the commonality of help information access across all the modules of the system.
22
4.1.8 System Tools
The University should be able to easily modify business rules, screens and other data items to
meet its business needs without compromising system maintainability.
4.1.8.1 Demonstrate the ability to modify screens, menus, and data value tables, etc.
4.1.8.2 Demonstrate the ability to add new data fields to a screen.
4.1.8.3 Demonstrate the ability to change business rules that apply across VU. Show how
department-specific rules that override default rules can be added. Show how
department-specific rules that supplement central rules can be added.
4.1.8.4 Briefly demonstrate any other tools and technologies provided that would VU to tailor
the system to its environment.
4.1.9 Software Management Philosophy
4.1.9.1 Discuss the application’s primary software management philosophy. Specifically,
provide information regarding making software changes, the support for decentralized
transaction processing and the variety of required levels of skills to make system changes.
4.1.10 Financial Reporting
One common characteristic of the current administrative systems at VU is that it is impossible to
mark transactions and other data with local, departmental indicators. Thus, the results of the
transactions can not be transformed into meaningful management reports at the department or
operating unit level. In addition, regardless of the ability to mark transactions, most data
entered into the current administrative systems is difficult to retrieve for any departmental
purpose. The consequence of these deficiencies is that all departments and operating units have
created a variety of shadow systems in order to provide information for local management
purposes. VU does support a university-developed departmental accounting system, but it is
recognized as a crude system that does not adequately meet the needs of the university
community. It is recognized that the Information Warehouse at VU has provided the capability
to extract some important management information. However, the inability of the departments
to mark transactions inhibits the ability of the Information Warehouse to replace departmental
shadow systems.
Similarly, at the central level, it is not possible for EVP or Provost to access sufficient
enterprise-wide management information for the same reasons listed above.
The university is interested in acquiring an integrated software package that includes a modern
departmental reporting system as well as an executive information system (EIS).
23
Departmental Management Information
4.1.10.1 One of the financial best practices is to utilize the General Ledger for summary
information required to support external compliance reporting to the financial
community. This best practice also means that transaction characteristics important for
internal reporting and for research administration ideally would not reside in the General
Ledger, but would be part of the detailed transactions located in sub-ledgers (e.g.
purchasing, accounts payable, fixed assets, accounts receivable, etc.). Please explain
your systems ability to attach attribute information to transactions at different locations
and levels (summary versus detail) in the system. Also explain the following:




How many separate transaction attributes are available?
When may they be assigned to revenue and expense transactions?
How and when may they be changed?
How many of them are mandatory minimum requirements to operate the system and
how many can be allocated to schools and departments? What is the process by which this
attribute allocation takes place?
Executive Management Information
The executives at VU want ready access to enterprise-wide information, with the ability to drill
down to individual transactions
4.1.10.2 Demonstrate an executive information system or data warehouse that is tailored to
higher education needs and that provides a "dashboard" of enterprise-wide (defined as a
summarization of all university divisions, schools, and campuses) indicators such as the
following:







Academic Productivity
Program Profitability
Research Profitability
Research Achievements
Administrative Effectiveness
Institutional Development
Space Utilization
Please demonstrate the ability to drill down from these general indicators into these areas of
interest:








Change in net assets
Value of VU’s endowment
Value of all real property (land, buildings, and equipment)
Cash invested
Cash not invested (idle cash)
Sponsored programs awards by sponsor and by school and/or department
Gift funds including raised, received and deposited and pledged funds
Human resources information, separately and totaled, for faculty, classified, and wage
employees, as follows:

Headcount

FTE

Dollars expended (last year, budget for this year, year to date, and
projected for this year)
24




Number of enrolled students
Tuition charged, collected, due, and past due; by school (in state/out of state), by
graduate, by professional, and by undergraduate, and actual compared to budget
Number of buildings and square feet (net and gross) owned by VU
Accounts Receivables, Inventories, and other accruals
5.
25
Finance Demonstration Script
The following scripts describe the elements of functionality that are desired for financial
systems. Please refer to Section 0 2.2
Finance for more information regarding VU’s
financial processes.
5.1
General Ledger (Financial Reporting)
The General Ledger (GL) application will record the results of accounting transactions and
accurately report the fiscal status of the colleges/schools, divisions/centers, units/departments,
and VU as a whole. The GL is composed of expenditure, revenue and balance sheet account
records and is intended to accurately record all fiscal activity for each account with
summarization at multiple organization levels of the chart of accounts. These may be program
codes, subprogram codes, names of faculty, building codes, etc. GL information will be fully
integrated with VU's budget process. This allows the system to accept the final adopted budget
amounts to be used for monitoring and reviewing financial activity.
VU is currently using a heavily customized version of Information Associates FAS. In this
system the Account Number is eleven characters long, and divided into three segments. The
first two pieces, the 1-character Ledger and the 5-character account number, provide little
information about the account other than its fund group and its source of funding (State or
Local). Otherwise, the account number itself is a somewhat random number. Its descriptive
data is contained in Attribute Records, which are attached to the 3-segment account number.
5.1.1 General Features
As stated in the Strategic Direction Statements, the complexity of the accounting system and the
Chart of Accounts should be hidden from end users. The interface and screens presented to users
should be simple and intuitive. On-line help screens should be provided. Account creation,
consolidation, and close out should all occur quickly and easily for all types of accounts
(including grants and contracts). For example, account creation and close out for certain accounts
should be automated at the department level. Users should have the ability to selectively
"freeze" all accounts once current obligations have been transferred to other accounts.
The Chart of Accounts design and system should support the ability to assign unique
user-created and defined attributes to account codes, orders, and revenue and expense
transactions in order to support departmental accounting and management information needs.
5.1.1.1 Demonstrate the structure of your system's GL and it's Chart of Accounts, to include:



The number of separate attributes or segments (e.g., Vice-Presidential / Provost unit,
department, fiscal administrator, purchasing location code, program code, etc.) that are
possible and any limitations, to include the maximum and minimum size of each.
The number of alphanumeric characters available within each attribute, regardless of
the number of attributes used.
Demonstrate the process used to establish the core institutional attribute structure
within your software and how this is performed for multiple business units.

Show how to create a new department, Dept2.
26



Show how Dept2 will be added to the organizational structure
reporting to Dean.
Demonstrate the mass maintenance feature that supports expanding an attribute within
the account code structure by adding additional characters to the length of the segment.
The GL software should be able to accommodate future expansion without significant
data reconstruction, while maintaining relationships between past structures and the
current structure.
Show how the system tracks changes to the Chart of Accounts over time (e.g.,
reorganizations, reclassifications, restrictions, etc.) and restates the financial reports.
5.1.1.2 Show how Fisadmin can alter attributes (such as department, project, after an account has
been in use for some time.
5.1.2 Create a New Object Code
A new Governor has been elected and would like to track expenses, statewide, for supplies
purchased from a certain vendor. This vendor only sells one product so the creation of a unique
object code would help VU track the expense.
5.1.2.1 Show how the person in Business who is responsible for creating all object codes can
create this new object code in the integrated system.
5.1.3 Maintain Account Attributes
VU has allocated all departments three "free-form" attribute columns for their use in tracking
expenses. The department has created a list of values for these three attributes.
5.1.3.1 Show how Fisadmin adds a new entry to the list with its value and description.
5.1.3.2 Show how to change the description of an existing entry in the list. Is this change
automatically and immediately reflected in all tables, screens, reports, etc., across all
systems? If not, what are the limitations? How long does it take to show up in the
system? On the periodic reports?
5.1.4 Close and/or Freeze an Account
Due to a decrease in enrollment in Dept1, one of its operating accounts is to be closed at the end
of the fiscal year (assume June 30, 1997). The budget and any remaining account balance will be
moved into another account within Dept2.
INTEGRATION POINT WITH HR, PAYROLL AND STUDENT SYSTEMS:
5.1.4.1 Demonstrate the process for closing Dept1's account and moving any residual budget and
cash/fund balances into Dept2's account (an existing account of the same type). Further
show how the transfer of all balances and information to Dept2 also transfers the proper
HR and Payroll data to Dept2 and the proper academic information to Dept2.
Faculty2 has over-committed funds from his account. Dept1 has the authority to freeze any or all
of it's accounts once all payroll and payables have been moved to other accounts.
27
5.1.4.2 Show how Fisadmin moves all encumbrances from Faculty2's account to another account
in the department.
5.1.4.3 Show how Fisadmin freezes Faculty2's account such that it will be impossible for any
expenses to be obligated from or charged to Faculty2's account.
5.1.5 Journal Entry Processing
Journal entry processing is an important business function at VU and is the means by which:


Departments and other units can move cash from one account to another.
Transactions made against one account can be moved to another account.
Internal vendors, such as the telephone billing system, Facilities Management, and Printing
Services currently bill their internal (VU) customers for goods and services. When used for
internal billing purposes, journal entries are currently called IDTs (interdepartmental transfers).
Auxiliary serves as a retailer for many communication services at VU, as follows:






Local telephone service
Long distance service
Maintenance charges
Credit card charges
System features
Data lines
The monthly phone charges, excluding long distance, are assessed to each department based
upon the number of phones in a given department. Those monthly phone charges which are
assessed to Auxiliary from outside phone companies are charged to two separate Auxiliary
accounts (residential and administrative) in order to enable Auxiliary to more effectively track
and allocate phone charges.
5.1.5.1 Demonstrate the journal entry to allocate the charges from these two accounts to Dept 1
and 2. There are a total of 5 lines and the total cost is $1,000 per month. Show how your
system uses statistical accounts to maintain telephone statistics for each department and
uses this information in the calculation of the allocation.
5.1.5.2 For the example above, demonstrate the entire on-line, real-time journal entry process
whereby:







Editing, validation and balancing are performed by the system's edit process;
Invalid or erroneous journal entries are revised;
The receiver side is notified and prompted for approval when a journal entry has been
created;
The receiver approves the bill prior to the final approval process;
The initiator of the transaction posts receiver's entry if the receiver does not respond
within an allowed amount of time;
Transactions are approved by reference number and moved automatically to an
approved status or file;
Journal entries are finally approved and posted on-line.
28
5.1.5.3 For the example above, discuss what happens when, during the account validation
process, the available balance in Dept 1's overhead account is discovered to be only $100.
What happens to Auxiliary's monthly billing to Dept 1? Since there are insufficient funds,
does the bill go to a "suspense" file? Or, does Dept 1 get billed irrespective of the
availability of money in their overhead account?
5.1.5.4 Show how the administration in Dept 1 can assign (and subsequently change) the
following attributes to each of these services provided by Auxiliary to Faculty 1 and 2:





Name of faculty member
Room #
Primary phone # to which all other charges are linked
Account code
Program code
5.1.5.5 Demonstrate how the system supports table-driven, user-defined validation rules for
journal entries including:








Cash and Fund Balance effects on individual accounts
Valid account numbers
Valid transaction type
Effective date
Approval levels
Status (hold, pending, approved, etc.)
Valid combinations of account code structure
Process edits during entry or after entering whole journal entry.
Auxiliary's and Dept 1's local accounts always maintain positive cash balances. At the end of
each quarter, based on the average daily cash balance in each account, distribute 2.5% as an
investment earnings distribution to each of the two entities. These amounts are $100 for
Auxiliary and $200 for Dept1.
5.1.5.6 Demonstrate how Business can create a journal entry template for their quarterly
distributions so that the account number, the name of the unit receiving the interest, the
description of the transaction, etc. does not have to be manually entered each quarter
(assume the journal entry is keyed in manually).
5.1.5.7 Demonstrate how your system would handle a recurring journal entry that is stopped for a
user defined period and then restarted.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter Business noticed that they had made a mistake during each
of the prior 3 quarters' distributions.
5.1.5.8 Demonstrate the capability of reversing the prior three quarters' transactions of
investment earnings as a mass correction journal entry and recording the updated
information.
Mechanical Entry: Dept 1 has a sponsored grant account (fund). This account automatically
incurs indirect costs at 50% of actual expenses. Each time a direct expenditure occurs against
the account, a related indirect cost expenditure journal entry must be generated as a percentage of
29
actual, i.e., 50%. This indirect cost JE should debit the account for indirect cost expense, and
credit multiple accounts to record the overhead revenue for VU based upon a user defined
distribution schedule.
5.1.5.9 Demonstrate how this indirect cost entry would occur in the system and reduce the cash
balance of the account.
Adjusting/Reversing Entries: The VU pay cycle runs from the 25th of one month to the 24th of
the next month. However, for internal reporting purposes, it would like to accrue monthly
salaries through the end of each payroll period, and then reverse the accrual during the following
month.
5.1.5.10
Demonstrate how the above would be done.
Cash and Fund Balance Effects on Individual Accounts: VU is a public institution of higher
education. As such, it operates under fund accounting principles for public higher education.
Each "fund" in the system should be self-balancing, meaning that the system could produce a
Balance Sheet and P&L statement. Given this, assume that a journal entry is submitted to the
system. The debit side of the transaction records a $1,000 expenditure against the debit account.
The resulting balance sheet effects would decrease both the account's cash and fund balance by
$1,000.
5.1.5.11 Demonstrate how the balance sheet effects would enter the system. In general,
explain how the system would stay in balance, in terms of the Balance Sheet.
5.1.6 University-Wide Financial Inquiry and Analysis
5.1.6.1 Demonstrate the ability for Business to query journal entry information by journal entry
number, account number, a range of dates and accounts, and by the name of the receiver
in order to identify the accounts affected by the error.
5.1.6.2 Demonstrate how Fisadmin can drill down from a journal entry to the detail in the
Purchasing and A/P systems.
5.1.7 Fiscal Year-end or Period-end Processing
5.1.7.1 Simultaneous/Multi-year Processing for Account Adjustments: VU must produce
accrual basis financial statements in support of FASB17 as well as GASB regulations for
June 30, its fiscal year-end, by October 15 (3 1/2 months later). Various adjusting and
accrual entries are made to the system during the period July 1 to October 15 in order to
transform the balances into statements acceptable to the audit staff. At the same time,
regular processing for the new fiscal year (beginning July 1) must commence in early
July.
5.1.7.2 Demonstrate how processing for the two fiscal years can occur simultaneously, such that
balances in year 1 have been changed for accruals and other adjustments, while the
processing of revenues and expenditures can occur for year 2.
30
Effective Dating: VU frequently has the need to make retroactive transactions within a fiscal year
and, at times, into a prior/"closed" fiscal year. These transactions would effect both the cash
and fund balances of an account. Assume that a prior year error of $500 has been discovered in
the current year.
5.1.7.3 Demonstrate the $500 error being corrected as a prior period adjustment of the beginning
balances.
5.2
31
Budgeting
A large number of stakeholders, as detailed below, are involved at various levels in the
budgeting process. Thus, the budget process must have flexibility in the span of authority
allowed to create, review and monitor budgets. Also, all of these stakeholders should be
provided with tools and information to perform their respective functions in the budgeting
process. Stakeholders include:









Fiscal technicians & clerks
Fiscal administrators
Department & division managers
Principal investigators & Research Administrators
General accounting department
Major budget units (MBU) – (i.e., Schools, auxiliary areas, etc.)
Vice Presidents & Provosts
Central Budget office
Board of Visitors & Senior Cabinet
Preparation and Submission
Budgets need to be created at different levels (possibly as low as the faculty member level), and
individual budgets need to be aggregated at different levels (i.e., roll up data to see a bigger
picture). Regardless of which stakeholder prepares the initial budget, they should have the ability
to:






Use smart templates as an aid in creating the budget; for example, automatically
calculate indirect costs and fringe benefits
Create budget models and what-if scenarios
Budget by person, unit, or project, as applicable
Budget down to different levels of detail for different accounts
Maintain different fiscal year budgets concurrently, and process transactions against
either
Monitor sources and uses of dollars
In addition, the budget process/system needs to accommodate various budget cycles and shared
budgets across different MBU’s.
Review and Approval
The budget review process needs to be flexible in order to allow varying review and approval
paths by MBU, type of budget and budget attributes. Depending on how many of the business
rules are built into the system, training will be required to handle the flexibility in policies. The
status of the budget review should be tracked.
Those reviewing the budget should have the ability to:



Review on-line, whether the reviewer is internal or external to institution
Review and approve a budget at different levels of detail, or in aggregate
Easily identify deviations to non-standard budgeting or violations of business rules
32
Implementation
Budget activation should require a minimal amount of intervention, assuming all appropriate
reviews and approvals have occurred. Features include the ability to:




Activate a new budget while the current budget is active
Activate a new budget at whatever level of detail the department creates it
Activate a budget based on user selected attributes, i.e., event driven
Automatically feed budget data to other systems, such as Payroll and the General
Ledger
Amendments
As in the current process, stakeholders should have the ability to amend budgets for accounts
within their purview in whatever way is necessary, so long as the overall budget is not impacted.
This will include the ability to:




Enter amendment information on-line for a business unit’s own accounts
Process temporary and permanent amendments
Process amendments that impact different fiscal years (i.e., future dated budgets)
Access detail to assist business units in generating custom reports for Monitoring
Budget amendments will continue to require approvals as determined by the Major
Business Unit. In certain circumstances, amendments will be automatically generated
based on expenditures (budget bump).
5.2.1 Budget Planning/Assumptions
The Trustees for VU have decided that resident tuition rates should not increase more than the
rate of inflation over the next five years. Based on previously defined rates of inflation, salary
increases and limits on state appropriations, it is important to be able to define the impact of
tuition increases on the budget.
5.2.1.1 Show how all budgets controlled by Dean can be copied from the current fiscal year to
the next fiscal year.
5.2.1.2 Demonstrate the ability for Business to store and incorporate assumption information into
the budget and forecast planning process.
5.2.1.3 Demonstrate the ability to communicate assumptions and distribute allocations top down
or bottom up using electronic means.
5.2.1.4 Demonstrate capability to maintain various budget versions to demonstrate changes that
have been made as the budget moves through multiple approval steps to final adoption.
5.2.1.5 Demonstrate ability to support budgeting under varying budget models (e.g. incremental,
zero-base, responsibility center, etc.) and multi-year budgets.
33
5.2.2 Budget Preparation
All operating units of VU must have the ability to prepare budgets flexibly to meet both the
needs of the central university and the particular managerial requirements of the operating unit.
The budget represents the critical yardstick against which operational effectiveness is measured.
Dean undertakes an annual budgeting process that includes state funds, funds from sponsored
research grants, local funds from endowment income accounts, and non-university funds derived
from a separate (university-related) foundation that supports Dean's School. Dept1 and Dept2
have budgets that they "own" and budgets that they share. Faculty2 receives some funding from
both Dept1 and Dept 2.
In addition, Dean also has a modest amount of discretionary funds that she uses to support
academic programs. These funds derive from local funds, state funds, endowments and gifts, and
indirect cost recoveries. Allotments for program support vary widely in terms of the duration of
the allotment, the type of expenditures that will be made, the sharing of the commitment with
other schools and departments, and the revenue sources. Dean currently has to track, separately,
600 individual allotments that have been made since she became dean 12 years ago. The original
amount of each allocation, the expenditures to date, expenditures this month, and the unexpired
balance of the allocation must all be tracked on at least a monthly, if not weekly, basis. The
information on the status of these 600 allotments forms the basis for Dean’s monthly financial
report. Since many of the allotments are shared with other schools and departments, this same
information is required for the financial reporting systems in those units as well.
INTEGRATION POINT WITH GENERAL LEDGER:
A critical feature of the system is its ability to create and maintain project or program budgets in
parallel with the general ledger reporting and reconciliation functions.
Dept1 and Dept2 decide to fund a start-up package for Faculty3. The total is $300,000 and the
“project” year runs from January 1 through December 31 of each year. The project will be
funded at $100,000 per year for each of the three years. The budget will contain $100,000 for
technician salaries, $25,000 for their fringe benefits, $50,000 for stipends for graduate students,
$80,000 for equipment, and the remainder of $45,000 for supplies, reagents, copying, phones,
etc. No travel will be allowed from any of these funds. Dept 1 will pay 60% and Dept 2 will pay
40%. In addition, Dept 2 agrees to pay for all of the equipment from its 40% share.
Dept1 will use their overhead account and a gift account to fund their share of the expenses.
Each of these accounts will provide $90,000 but Dept1 would like the first $90,000 to come from
the overhead account since the gift account is allowed to earn interest.
Dept2 will fund the equipment from restricted equipment funds (there is a separate account code
available for this program). The remainder of their share ($40,000) will be paid from a grant that
is available only in year 2 of the project.
5.2.2.1 Show how the budget is established for this project.
5.2.2.2 Show how both Dept1 and Dept2 can approve the budget before it is sent to Dean for
final approval.
34
INTEGRATION POINT WITH GENERAL LEDGER:
5.2.2.3 Show how Depts. 1 and 2 can determine the status of their remaining commitments to
this project and how the expenses charged to the project are reported on each
department’s reports for the accounts (fund sources) used to support the start-up package.
5.2.2.4 Faculty3 tries to pay for an airplane ticket from the project funds. What happens when he
tries to do this?
5.2.2.5 Dept1 wants to see a report on the graduate student expenses only. These expenses have
their own object code. Show how your system would be able to produce this on-line
report for Dept1.
5.2.2.6 Faculty3 lobbies Dept1 for more money and an additional year in which to spend the
funds. Show how $50,000 is added to the package for supplies and how a 4th year can be
added to the project.
Dean must be able to budget compensation for each faculty member by fund source (ledger and
account). Dean must be able to record, at a minimum:




The per cent of time the faculty member will work during the budget year (full time or
part time; if part time, the percent, 50%, 75%, etc.)
the number of months during the fiscal year that the faculty member will be employed
the pay cycle (9-month, 12-month, etc.) used for the faculty member, and
the FTE represented by each fund source that provides compensation to the faculty
member
The prototype faculty compensation table (below) is a report that department and school
administrators would receive on each faculty member. It contains complete budgeted as well as
actual compensation information and a comparison is made between the two. It is not intended to
be an input form. Those forms would be much simpler in format and would allow departmental
and other authorized personnel to input status changes (pay-cycle, leave status, etc.) and payroll
changes (account and amount changes) into the HR system.
PROTOTYPE FACULTY COMPENSATION TABLE
1. SALARY PROFILE:
NAME
EFFECTIVE
DATE
SMITH, D
10/25/98
PAY CYCLE
FULL OR
(9,12,ETC.) PART-TIME %
12
100
(CHANGE 1)
(CHANGE 2)
35
# OF MONTHS
EMPLOYED
THIS F.Y.
FTE
8
0.67
ANNUAL
RATE
OF PAY
$
100,000
ACTUAL
PAY
$
66,667
2. SOURCES OF SALARY
DOLLARS
LEDGER 1
BUDGET
$
20,000
FTE
0.20
ACTUAL
ACCOUNT
26020
START
DATE
10/25/98
STOP
DATE
7/24/99
RATE
$
50,000
(CHANGE 1)
(CHANGE 2)
TOTAL THIS LEDGER
VARIANCE
LEDGER 4
BUDGET
AMOUNT
$
33,333
$
33,333
$
13,333
0.33
$
10,000
0.10
0.13
ACTUAL
ACCOUNT
47665
START
DATE
10/25/98
STOP
DATE
7/24/99
RATE
$
25,000
(CHANGE 1)
(CHANGE 2)
TOTAL THIS LEDGER
VARIANCE
LEDGER 5
BUDGET
AMOUNT
$
16,667
$
16,667
$
6,667
0.17
$
36,667
0.37
0.07
ACTUAL
ACCOUNT
32000
START
DATE
10/25/98
STOP
DATE
7/24/99
RATE
$
25,000
(CHANGE 1)
(CHANGE 2)
TOTAL THIS LEDGER
$
0.17
16,667
$ (0.20)
(20,000)
VARIANCE
TOTAL FROM VU
FROM OTHER ENTITY
AMOUNT
$
16,667
$
66,667
BUDGET
$
-
ACTUAL
START
ACCOUNT
DATE
(CHANGE 1)
(CHANGE 2)
TOTAL OTHER ENTITY
STOP
DATE
RATE
AMOUNT
$
$
-
VARIANCE
36
0.67
TOTAL SALARY SOURCES
$
66,667
3. OTHER COMPENSATION:
BUDGET
$
6,000
ACTUAL
TYPE
WAGES
PROVIDER
FBI
ACCOUNT
6-41000
NOTES
TEACHING
(CHANGE 1)
(CHANGE 2)
TOTAL OTHER COMPENSATION
AMOUNT
$
5,000
$
5,000
VARIANCE
$
(1,000)
5.2.2.7 Demonstrate how Dean may create a compensation budget for individual faculty
members containing, at a minimum, all of the required information cited above
5.2.2.8 Demonstrate how financial information in the preceding demonstration point can be
converted into FTE information for the faculty member as well as for each fund source.
5.2.2.9 Demonstrate how the input of FTE information for the faculty member and each fund
source can be converted into financial information for the faculty member and each fund
source.
INTEGRATION PONIT WITH PAYROLL:
5.2.2.10 Demonstrate how the system will produce periodic variance reports that will also
project the year-end status of the compensation plan for the faculty member based on all
available “to date” information.
INTEGRATION POINT:
5.2.2.11 Demonstrate how budgets for Dean's non-university (i.e., foundation-held monies)
accounts can be incorporated into VU's budgeting system for operating unit managerial
purposes, while not being counted as university budgeted funds.
INTEGRATION POINT:
5.2.2.12 Demonstrate how Dept1 and Dept2 can jointly budget for the compensation of a
shared faculty member when the two departments are in different major budget units or
schools. Each department should be able to view their cash requirements to support the
faculty member’s compensation plan as well as view the faculty member’s:




full compensation
full or part time status (if part time, the percentage)
number of months worked in the fiscal year
pay cycle (9-month, 12-month, etc.)
37
INTEGRATION POINT:
5.2.2.13 Demonstrate how a 5-year budget prepared for an external sponsor (e.g., NIH, NSF)
on a required template can be carried forwarded into the comprehensive university
system at the level of Dept1. Also demonstrate how these budgets (e.g., a research grant
that is not yet active) can be prepared outside the normal budget preparation cycle and
then be rolled into comprehensive budgets when activated.
INTEGRATION POINT WITH PAYROLL
5.2.2.14 Demonstrate how preliminary salary and fringe benefit information, including all of
the information in the Faculty Compensation Table can automatically be transferred from
the payroll system into a budget template in Dept1.
5.2.2.15 Demonstrate how text, spreadsheets and other supporting documentation can be
footnoted to budget figures using “sticky notes” and how these can be printed with the
budget.
5.2.3 Budget Review and Approval
The budget review and approval process needs to be flexible in order to allow varying review
and approval paths by Major Business Unit, type of budget and budget attributes.
5.2.3.1 Demonstrate the ability for management to review, change, request revisions and approve
the budget on-line.
5.2.3.2 Demonstrate the “roll-up” of multiple budgets to a consolidated budget both before and
after approval.
5.2.4 Budget Implementation
After budgets have been reviewed and approved, they are "activated". That is, they are made
available to have expenditure and revenue transactions posted against the available funds.
Budget activation should require minimum intervention once approval has been received.
INTEGRATION POINT:
5.2.4.1 Demonstrate how budget data is used to update and activate other systems, such as
Payroll and the general ledger, without having to re-enter the data (e.g., compensation,
funding sources, pay cycle, full time vs. part time, etc.). Specifically, show how effective
dates (start/stop dates) are used as well as how events (e.g. receiving grant approval from
a sponsor) could trigger the activation of a budget.
5.2.4.2 Demonstrate how FAID can view next year's aid budget and the impact of financial aid
packaging activity against that budget, even though the budget does not become available
for expenditures until the beginning of the next fiscal year.
5.2.4.3 Demonstrate the ability to load a budget by summary expenditure category and have the
system “draw down” as expenditures are made in detailed expense categories.
38
5.2.4.4 Demonstrate the ability to have certain budgets track across fiscal years, e.g. project
budgets. Please note that these budgets may not start or stop concurrent with a fiscal
year.
5.2.4.5 Demonstrate the ability to track the differences between original and revised budgets.
5.2.4.6 Demonstrate the budget amendment process for both temporary and permanent
amendments. For example, Dean1 allocates, for this year only, an additional $10,000 to
Dept1. Show how this is recorded as temporary in the current fiscal year and then show
how it is displayed when preparing next year’s budget.
5.2.5 Budget Monitoring and Reporting
Sponsored Program Budgets
Most internal and external grants at VU start on the first day of any month and have at least a
12-month project period. The project period usually ranges from one to five years and prior to
the start of each new grant year a Notice of Award (NOA) is sent from the sponsor detailing the
approved budget for the next 12 months. Some grants require 100% expenditure of annual
funds within the budget period, but many allow a carryover of unexpended funds as long as the
carryover does not exceed 25% of the entire annual budget. It is critical that Principle
Investigators (P.I.s) and departmental administrators can easily access and track grant
expenditures and encumbrances against the sponsor-approved budget.
Faculty2 has just received a two-year grant for $100,000, to be awarded at $50,000 per year
starting in the third month of VU’s fiscal year. The sponsor provides quarterly payments each
year and expects a Financial Status Report (FSR) at the end of the first year summarizing
expenditures. The grant is assigned a project number for tracking purposes.
5.2.5.1 Demonstrate how this award’s budget can be managed and reported based upon VU’s
fiscal year, sponsor’s year or total project period.
5.2.5.2 Demonstrate how Fisadmin also produces a "project-to-date" budget to actual report at
any point in the life of the project.
5.2.5.3 Demonstrate how the budget and actuals could be used in forecasting expenditures
through the end of a user defined period end-point.
5.2.6 Encumbrances
VU needs flexibility in determining the level of encumbrance (e.g. “hard” encumbering, “soft”
encumbering, or no encumbering).
5.2.6.1 Demonstrate the ability to encumber (“soft” or “hard”) or not encumber at the level of
fund, project, summary object code, sub-object code or any combination thereof.
5.2.6.2 Faculty2 has overestimated the amount of money in his account. It is, at the moment,
overdrawn but there is an additional check on the way from the sponsor. Show how the
system will prompt Faculty2 that this is the case. Show how Faculty2 can override this
warning and proceed with the purchase.
39
5.2.6.3 When a buyer places an order with a vendor, how does the encumbrance change into a
firm commitment? Show what happens when the requisition is made into a firm purchase
order with the vendor. How does the nature of the encumbrance change?
5.2.6.4 Show what happens to an encumbrance when a partial payment is made.
5.2.6.5 Show how subsequent purchases are recorded against a standing purchase order (SPO).
Show what the encumbrance on the on-line accounting statement for the account code
will look before and after a $1,000 purchase is made against the SPO.
5.2.7 Restrictions
Many of VU’s funding sources have restrictions placed upon them. For example, sponsored
research funds are frequently restricted for travel and equipment purchases.
5.2.7.1 Demonstrate the ability to restrict at the level of fund, project, summary object code,
sub-object code or any combination thereof. Also demonstrate the ability to restrict one
object in relation to the balance of another object (e.g., if you have less than $1500 in the
travel budget, then you may not spend the balance on airfare.)
5.2.8 Budget Close Out/Year End
VU has many fund sources, and is accountable to many of these resource providers. They
include the central State government, federal/state/private entities that sponsor research and
related activities, and donors of gift monies. The funds given by the central State government
are given a year at a time, and must be expended before the fiscal year ends on June 30. The
funds given by sponsoring agencies are given for work to be done over a period of multiple fiscal
years. The funds given by donors have, for the most part, no time period in which they must be
spent. The system must be able to accommodate all three types of accounts mentioned above.
5.2.8.1 Demonstrate how the different year-end budget balance treatments of “zeroing out”
and/or “rollover” occur in the system for the three types of accounts below:
1. Account 1, which is funded from state appropriations. The unexpended balance of a
$5000 initial budget must be returned at year-end, and its year-end budget balance of
$300 must be “zeroed out.”
2. Account 2, which is a sponsored program account with a $50,000 project budget. It
has $30,000 of unspent budget balance at year-end that should carry forward
(“rollover”) into the new fiscal year.
3. Account 3, which is a gift account with an original gift of $10,000. The unexpended
balance of $6000 should carry forward ("rollover") into the new fiscal year.
Rollover of Cash and Budget Balances: As a public research university, VU has many sources
of funding, including state appropriations and private donations, etc. Any state appropriations not
spent by year-end revert to the state, thus requiring balances (cash and budget balances) in these
types of accounts to be "zeroed out" at year-end. Accounts funded by private donations do not
revert, and their balances roll forward "as is" at the beginning of the new fiscal year.
40
5.2.8.2 Demonstrate how both of these requirements can be accommodated.
5.2.8.3 Demonstrate the ability to book an expense in April but process it in May.
5.2.8.4 Show how to process an expense in the current fiscal year but book it in the previous
fiscal year.
5.2.9 Integration with Cash Management
The examples above refer to BUDGET balances, which represent the authority to spend an
account’s balance. But closing out an account’s budget balance has cash balance implications
as well.
5.2.9.1 Show the effect on the cash balance of "zeroing out" Account 1's budget balance.
41
5.3
Procurement
Overview of the Procurement Process
Per the Finance Task Force Strategic Direction Statements, the future procurement process at VU
should provide a user-friendly shopping, ordering, receiving and payment process. This process
should enable any end user to make an informed buying decision, efficiently place an order,
record necessary information accurately in the system, acknowledge receipt of goods and
services, and authorize payment. The Central Office, however defined, should provide more
consultative services, develop better information and tools, and support a variety of methods for
acquisition and payment. Purchasing, receiving and payment processes should leverage
available technology and advances in electronic commerce. There should be little distinction in
the system between external vendors and internal vendors. All internal services (e.g., facilities
services, printing services, parking and transportation services, telephone and
telecommunications services, etc.) should all be accessed and paid for through the same
procurement system through which users procure goods and services from external sources.
For the purposes of this demonstration script, there will be three different types of purchases,
which are defined below:



Internal - those purchases of goods or services which one university department
makes directly from another university department. Examples include purchases from
Printing Services, University Bookstore, and Facilities Management.
Independent - those purchases which a department makes by directly contacting the
vendor and placing the order. These purchases will be less than a specific dollar limit
identified in University policies and procedures (currently $5,000). Departments are
prohibited from buying certain restricted commodities, such as guns and alcohol,
regardless of the dollar amount of the order.
Assisted - those purchases that the end user records on a purchase requisition and
sends to Purchasing, in cases where the amount of the purchase exceeds the specific dollar
limit for independent purchases or for any restricted commodities. Purchasing seeks
competitive quotes, issues formal invitation for bids or requests for proposals, or
negotiates sole sources and contracts. Purchasing issues the purchase order to the vendor.
The procurement process should be one module, not several, within the integrated system.
Whenever non-personnel expenses are to be incurred, all departmental employees should go to
one place in the system. From this one place, they should then be able to engage in internal,
independent, and assisted shopping, ordering, receiving, and payment activities. The integrated
system should guide them into and through the correct avenues for all of their procurement work.
Shopping:
End users should have easy access to on-line shopping services in a real-time environment.
Helpful navigation tools and easy to use screens should facilitate shopping. Systems features
should include:

Up-to-date electronic catalogues.
42






Information on merchandise, including current prices, should also include enhanced
product descriptions and information on lead times for ordering, availability, and delivery
options.
Listings of available surplus property owned either by VU (or other state agencies)
should be available.
There should be listings of “pre-shopped” or recommended items with negotiated
prices, terms and conditions. This should include base as well as enhanced or deluxe
models. This merchandise should have been tested and graded by the Central Office or
others.
End users should have maximal access to and control over the purchasing process in
the area of “independent” procurement. This access and control will be governed by
published institutional guidelines. There may be a certification process that is required
before university personnel become “independent” procurers, if special training is
required.
“Smart” questions or ticklers may be generated by the system. For example, “when
purchasing this type of item, it is a good idea to think about…”
End users should have the ability to bypass the “shopping” phase and go straight to the
ordering phase.
Ordering:
Selection of an item by an end user during the shopping phase should initiate the order and
payment process. Features of the ordering process should include:







Assistance with object code selection by providing "English" descriptions for the
various expenditure codes.
System warnings for errors such as invalid account number or object code.
Ability to route orders to appropriate approval authorities. This routing must be
flexible and not “hard-coded”.
Ability for departments to check budgets and to encumber purchases as an option, not
a requirement.
Ability to distribute costs (i.e., split-fund) to correct accounts for all purchases,
including those made using procurement cards. Ability to correct the distribution of costs
between the time an order is placed and the payment is made to the vendor.
Availability of information on the status of an order and information on when order is
complete.
Automatic liquidation and update of encumbrance amounts with actual amounts.
Delivery, Receipt, and Payment:
During the Delivery, Receipt, and Payment phases, the following capabilities are desirable:


For standard items, delivery should be made to a departmental default address. For
unique delivery needs, vendors should follow delivery addresses specified by the end user.
Payment of all invoices below a certain dollar threshold should be made through
“negative confirmation,” in which receiving documentation is not required. Above a
certain dollar threshold, positive confirmation, or actual receiving documents, will be
required. In either case, end users should be provided with easy access to electronic
invoice information. Also, end users should have the ability to record and pay for partial
shipments.
43

The university will leverage advances in technology and electronic commerce to
facilitate timely and easy payment. Specific features should include:

Centralized payment process.

Payment through Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or Electronic
Funds Transfer (EFT), where possible.

Electronic invoices from vendors, where possible.

Ability to scan or image paper documents for payment purposes and
departmental access.

Electronic mechanism to distribute procurement card charges to proper
account before posting to the general ledger.

Ability to support demand payments.
Central Office Services:
Services provided by the Central Office will include:










Advice and professional consultation to all authorized university purchasers.
Vendor information and analysis.
Pre-shopping and negotiation of contracts.
Identification of contract vendors based on cost, quality, and service.
Information to support local vendors, identification and tracking of purchases made
from disadvantaged vendors.
Testing and rating of products.
In conjunction with vendors, maintenance of the shopping areas of the system.
Support for innovations that leverage trends in the banking industry, such as debit
cards.
Formal Invitation for Bid (IFB) and Request for Proposal (RFP) services.
Resolution of problems with vendors.
5.3.1 Vendor Relations
Vendor Master File
5.3.1.1 Demonstrate the set up of a vendor in the system and show the information being entered
and tracked for a vendor, such as:
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
minority status,
federal identification number
remit-to addresses
vendor-specific payment terms
vendor performance data
5.3.1.2 Demonstrate how Business puts a vendor on hold and notifies individuals who have
purchased from the vendor in the past.
5.3.1.3 Demonstrate how frequent purchasers are listed in the vendor history and how Business is
informed of this action, automatically.
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Vendor reporting and performance
A review of vendor activity discloses that a vendor is now receiving $2 million in business each
semester. This has increased from only $2,000 one year ago. A closer analysis of the vendor’s
activity is desired.
5.3.1.4 Demonstrate the ability to drill down through the vendor history to specific invoices or
line items.
5.3.1.5 Demonstrate flexible search capabilities by vendor name and number, purchase order
number, project, object codes (natural accounts), check number, department, account
number and invoice number.
Product catalog set-up and maintenance
VU manages an in-house catalog of laboratory supplies and chemicals frequently purchased by
department users. We would like to make this catalog available to users in an on-line format.
5.3.1.6 Demonstrate an on-line catalog, including the ability to load scanned images of products.
5.3.1.7 Demonstrate the ability to automatically go the Internet to retrieve a vendor catalog and
update VU’s procurement database with new prices, and also notify the buyers that prices
have been updated.
Vendor Maintenance of Catalogs
5.3.1.8 Demonstrate the ability to allow vendors to add/change their catalog prices, if approved
in advance by VU, but restrict the vendors from seeing other vendor’s prices.
5.3.1.9 Demonstrate how a vendor’s catalog is accessed by VU departments and integrated with
the VU’s purchasing system.
Independent Procurement Demonstrations
This is defined as procurement that occurs directly from an end user to a vendor, with limited
assistance from Business. End users may shop, order, receive, and authorize payment without
assistance from Business. Examples are:
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Certain purchases under a dollar threshold (currently $5,000).
Purchases made using petty cash as the payment mechanism.
All internal procurements.
Payments made “on demand”.
Purchases made through use of a procurement card, or equivalent.
Reimbursements for expenses incurred by employees, such as travel, dues, the
purchase of books and other materials, telephone bills, etc.
5.3.2 Internal Purchasing:
VU has an Auxiliary department that provides a wide variety of services to the university
community. Most facilities services must be purchased from this department, by VU policy.
Faculty1 in Dept1 would like to have someone install built-in shelving in her office. She
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instructs Fisadmin to begin the procurement process by shopping for this shelving service in the
procurement section of the new integrated system.
5.3.2.1 Show how Fisadmin shops for this service and how an order would be placed, including
information on the shelving specifications, the quality of the shelving (3 grades are
offered), the room # and building # for Faculty1, the name of the contact person, their
e-mail address, their phone #, a written description of what is desired by the purchaser,
and the two fund codes that are to be charged for this work.
5.3.2.2 After going to the room to install the shelves, Auxiliary, after talking with Faculty1,
determines that a change must be made to the order. Show how Auxiliary notifies Dept1
of this change. Show how Dept1 approves the change.
A graduate assistant (Grad1) is performing experiments in Dept1. She was given a modest
budget for this and she has the authority to charge to a common overhead account in the
department. Grad1 is allowed to order, but all her orders must first be approved by Fisadmin
before they are submitted as firm orders. Grad1 needs a chemical that is stocked in
ChemStores, the central chemical inventory at VU.
INTEGRATION POINT WITH INVENTORY MANAGEMENT:
5.3.2.3 There are many items in the on-line inventory in ChemStores. Demonstrate how Grad1
can find the correct chemical and electronically submit her request to Fisadmin for
approval. Also show how Fisadmin electronically submits the request to ChemStores
for order fulfillment.
5.3.3 Using a Procurement Card:
Grad1 purchases nuts and bolts for Dept1 from an approved procurement card vendor using a
procurement card. The technician calls the vendor, gives the appropriate information, and the
material is shipped and received within 24 hours.
It is very important that Dept1 is able to track these charges by expenditure category, by faculty
member, by account code, by program code, and by subprogram code and be able to change
accounting codes before and after charges hit the accounting statement.
5.3.3.1 After the goods have been ordered, Grad1 wants to change the fund code to be charged.
Show how this is done.
5.3.3.2 After the goods have been received, but before the vendor is paid, show how the account
code and other transaction attributes can be changed.
5.3.3.3 Show how the account code and other attributes can be changed after the charge has
already appeared on Dept1’s accounting statement for the month.
5.3.3.4 Show how one purchasing card, assigned to one employee, may be used to charge
purchases to any active grant account within Dept1.
5.3.3.5 Demonstrate how a user can place an order on-line using the VU limited purchase
order, or a procurement card.
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5.3.3.6 Show if procurement card purchases can be integrated into the inventory management
function, i.e., ability to enter procurement card purchases to reflect “quantity on order”.
5.3.3.7 Demonstrate handling of partial receipts against an order made with a procurement card.
5.3.4 Making “On Demand” Payments:
Frequently, VU has to make “demand” payments. Good examples are bills received for dues
and subscriptions, or conference registration fees. In the future, most of these will be paid using
a procurement card or through a new petty cash mechanism (see below). However, there will
always be those vendors who do not participate in the procurement card process (e.g., small or
foreign companies, etc.) and there will continue to be departments at VU that are not allowed the
autonomy afforded by the new and expanded petty cash mechanism. Dept1 has received a bill
from Faculty2 for a subscription. The cost is $200.
5.3.4.1 Show how this transaction is entered, including the required tracking information (such
as name of faculty member, program and subprogram code, etc.), and then can be
split-funded between three account codes either on a dollar amount basis or a % of total
basis.
A speaker from another university presents a seminar at VU. A check for the $900 honorarium
is processed. The speaker is a U.S. citizen and a one-time vendor of VU. The seminar was
held on April 29th, but the voucher was not processed until May 1st.
5.3.4.2 Explain the processing of a Form 1099 at the close of the calendar year for the
honorarium, excluding the travel expenses. How does your system report this
information to the IRS, using what media and who is responsible?
5.3.4.3 Demonstrate how the speaker’s social security number can be updated when it is
discovered that it was incorrectly input when the payment was generated.
A foreign professor gave a lecture at the same seminar and received a $200 honorarium payment
by check. The professor is not a U.S. citizen, and is a one-time vendor of the institution, and
incurred $467 for travel expenses. The travel expenses are paid on the same check as the
honorarium.
5.3.4.4 Demonstrate how taxes can be withheld from a payment of this type to a non-resident
alien. Include how the payee is notified of this.
5.3.4.5 Explain the processing of a Form 1042S (Non-resident Alien reporting form) at the close
of the calendar year.
5.3.5 Processing Travel Reimbursements:
Faculty3 in Dept2 wishes to travel to Chicago to attend a week-long conference on the latest in
integrated software for higher education. The trip will be paid for from the departmental
operating account.
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5.3.5.1 Show how all estimated trip expenses can be encumbered to include the name of the
faculty member, the account code, the program code and the subprogram code, and sent
for approval to Dept2 Chair.
5.3.5.2 Show how Faculty3, in an automated and secure fashion, can request an advance of $500
of traveler’s checks, including how these are transmitted/delivered to Faculty3.
Upon returning from Chicago, Faculty3 wants Secretary to submit all of the trip expenses for
reimbursement. The expenses total $600.
5.3.5.3 Demonstrate how the Secretary enters all of the information into a travel reimbursement
module. She will be allowed to indicate the name of the faculty member, the program
code and the subprogram code. These will help her do her annual report of “all travel
from all sources for all faculty” for the chair of Dept2.
Since, for reimbursement purposes, travel is a complex event, the module must be able to help
Secretary by containing the latest per diem and mileage rates allowed not only by the State but,
also, by VU for instances in which non-state funds are used to support travel expenses.
Secretary will be able to indicate the fund source to be used but the module should then be able
to assist her in preparation of the reimbursement voucher.
5.3.5.4 Show how Faculty3’s travel advance is automatically deducted from the reimbursement
authorized without Faculty3 having to receive the money first.
5.3.5.5 Show how the remainder of the money, $100, is deposited to Faculty3’s bank account
and how Faculty3 is notified of this event.
Faculty3 has yet to submit a voucher for a prior trip to New York that occurred a month ago; the
travel advance for that trip is now past due.
5.3.5.6 Show how the amount can be deducted from Faculty3’s paycheck after he has not
responded to two separate messages on this subject
5.3.6 Manual Check Process:
Grad2 from Dept2 is hosting a lunch at a local restaurant. He is willing to pay for the meal but
really needs to be reimbursed immediately afterwards. He brings the receipt to Secretary.
5.3.6.1 Show how Secretary enters all of the required information to generate the payment,
including the accounts being charged, and have it printed on a networked printer in her
office.
5.3.7 Assisted Procurement Demonstrations:
This is defined as procurement that occurs with assistance from Business; either because the use
of central procurement services it is mandated by policy or because the end user, on a voluntary
basis, desires assistance from Business on a procurement matter that otherwise could be
completed independently. Examples are RFP’s, IFB’s, purchase orders, contracts above certain
dollar threshold, etc.
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Faculty2 in Dept1 decides to purchase 2 microscopes totaling $50,000 from his research account.
The new scopes will ultimately be purchased from a vendor who has never before done business
with VU. The procurement section of Business will assist with the purchase since the
marketplace for microscopes changes very rapidly and it is wise to always shop around for the
best quality and price. In addition, this is Faculty2’s first major purchase since he came to VU
and he wants to be sure that all the proper procedures are followed since he does not yet have
tenure.
5.3.7.1 Demonstrate how, with the least amount of effort, this item can be requisitioned and
approved, the purchase order prepared and sent to the vendor, and how the item will be
recorded as received.
5.3.7.2 Demonstrate how Faculty2 can enter a list of recommended suppliers onto the
requisition.
5.3.7.3 Show how Faculty2 can indicate an acceptable or suggested price range for the
microscopes on the electronic requisition.
5.3.7.4 Dept2 will be paying for 23% of the total purchase price. Show how they can be
informed that the requisition is being sent to procurement and how they can assign their
fund code and inform Dept1 of this designation.
INTEGRATION POINT:
5.3.7.5 Based upon the object code, dollar amount and/or commodity code, the integrated system
immediately recognizes that this equipment must be added to the fixed asset inventory of
VU. Show how it prompts the person completing the requisition screen in Dept1 to add
building number, room number, and two additional codes required by the State.
5.3.7.6 Show how the purchase requisition will be sent to the person in Business who is
responsible for assisting with the purchase of scientific equipment. Show how a
purchasing manager can assign commodity or buyer codes to the requisition, so that the
requisition is sent to the correct buyer.
5.3.7.7 Show how the system will provide the buyer with a list of vendors who sell microscopes.
VU uses two primary methods for procuring goods and services: Invitation for Bid (IFB) and
Request for Proposals (RFP). IFB’s are generally used to purchase those goods and services
that are well defined and where price is the determining factor. RFP’s are used when the goods
and services are less defined or where factors other than price, such as the quality of the goods
and services or contractual provisions, are the determining factors and must be negotiated.
5.3.7.8 Show how the buyer will survey the marketplace and create, send and evaluate bids from
three separate vendors. Show how conditions, such as payment terms, contractual
obligations, and hold harmless clauses, are incorporated into the bid process and its
documents.
5.3.7.9 Show how to collect and enter information received from either an IFB or RFP sent
electronically or by mail from multiple vendors.
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5.3.7.10 When the successful vendor is identified, show how the requisition is converted into a
purchase order which includes all funding, delivery and other user-defined attribute
information.
5.3.7.11 Show how the purchase order could be sent via EDI, fax, electronic mail or other
electronic transmission to a vendor.
Faculty2 has submitted a relatively simple requisition. In other cases, it will be desired that the
requisition be funded by many accounts and it will be desired that each line of a purchase
requisition can be funded separately from all other lines, on either a dollar amount or % of total
basis.
5.3.7.12 Demonstrate how the system would take the requisition for the 2 microscopes and use
it as the basis to prepare a new requisition two months after payment has been made for
the initial order of 2 microscopes.
5.3.7.13 Demonstrate various “word processing” capabilities available for creating the
purchase requisitions, such as:
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
Macros for standard text
Use of pre-established, boilerplate templates. Include templates of documents that
could be incorporated as attachments to the requisition or prepared as separate documents
(i.e. personal service contracts, license agreements, etc…). Show any capability to assign
unique document numbers to these file documents.
Automated scrolling of screens
5.3.7.14 It is likely that other VU departments will want to purchase microscopes from the
same vendor at the same time. Demonstrate how the requisitions from various
schools/departments can be consolidated or “stacked” on one purchase order per vendor
and how this would be handled at a university-wide level without losing any of the
detailed information that is important to each school.
5.3.8 Delivery Instructions:
5.3.8.1 Demonstrate the ability to accommodate detailed delivery instructions, including internal
delivery information and multiple delivery points either on or off campus.
5.3.8.2 Show how the vendor who received the order can communicate delivery dates and other
important information to the ordering department in an electronic fashion.
5.3.9 Miscellaneous Features of the Assisted Buying Procurement System:
5.3.9.1 Demonstrate the ability of a buyer to specify acceptable ranges for price and quantity.
5.3.9.2 Show how the system will calculate a discount for a line item. Show gross prices,
discount percent or dollar, net unit price, extension of net unit price.
5.3.9.3 Demonstrate the ability of a buyer to override certain fields in the bid/purchase order
document.
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5.3.9.4 Show what tolerances may be set to allow small discrepancies in purchase order amount
and invoice amount to be paid, without correcting the purchase order.
5.3.10 Change Orders:
The purchase order for the microscopes is sent to the appropriate vendor. Suddenly, the
Faculty2 decides that 3, instead of 2, microscopes are needed. He has the funds available for
this.
INTEGRATION POINT:
5.3.10.1 Show how the change order process works. Start with Faculty2’s decision to buy an
extra microscope, show how he gets approval for the additional purchase, show how all
this information is transmitted to the buyer, show how the buyer expands the original
order to the vendor to accommodate the new need, show the impact on the encumbrance
field in the accounting system.
5.3.11 Standing Order Processing:
The Dept2 must frequently order gas cylinders from the same vendor. As a result, Business
suggests that a standing purchase order (SPO) be established with a vendor.
5.3.11.1 Demonstrate the set-up of a standing purchase order with a maximum transaction
limit of $1,000. Show how your system will differentiate between an SPO that
represents a firm commitment to buy a specified amount over a period of time versus an
SPO that represents a target amount (that may or may not be reached) to be purchased
over time.
5.3.11.2
Show how the SPO can be renewed.
5.3.12 Voucher Processing
5.3.12.1 Demonstrate the ability to spread discounts across multiple account codes used on
one invoice.
5.3.12.2 Demonstrate the ability to change the terms on one invoice to 2%-10 days if these
better than the original terms offered on the invoice.
5.3.12.3 Demonstrate ability to generate payment immediately instead of waiting until 30 days
have passed.
After they have approved payment, the Athletics department finds that the bottom drawers of 10
of the 20 desks they ordered stick and are difficult to open.
5.3.12.4 Demonstrate the ability for the payment to be held. Who would be able to do this?
How would they do it?
5.3.12.5 Demonstrate the ability to split the invoice to allow payment only of the portion of
the invoice not in dispute.
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5.3.12.6 Demonstrate ability to capture and monitor retainage from invoices if the bid allows
it, and ability to monitor and release the retainage upon completion of the contract terms.
5.3.13 Receipt matching
5.3.13.1 Demonstrate a two-way and three way matching: 1) receipt acknowledgment and
Purchase Order and 2) receipt acknowledgment, Purchase Order, and invoice. Show
how, in one case, Dept1 has not received all of its desks ($10,000 of the total invoice).
5.3.13.2 Demonstrate how an invoice amount that is different from the purchase order amount
is handled by the system and the capability to have a user-defined tolerance level for the
difference.
5.3.14 Payment Processing
5.3.14.1 Demonstrate the ability to close a purchase order upon payment of the final invoice
(order complete, detail complete) with the ability to reopen.
5.3.14.2
Demonstrate the ability to void and reissue checks. Include any reversing entries.
5.3.14.3 Demonstrate the ability to void a check and reissue it to a different vendor. Include
any reversing entries.
5.4
Asset Management
This discussion is about equipment purchases. Other assets would include land and building
acquisitions, and building constructions. These other fixed assets are not included in this script
as they follow very different processes from equipment purchases. Our focus in reviewing the
asset management module is to determine how well the software facilitates tracking the location
and responsible owner of moveable assets within VU’s systems. What we are less concerned
with is how the software will handle depreciation.
5.4.1 Trigger events
The asset management trigger event is somewhat dependent on how purchasing and accounts
payable process transactions. In the current system, our trigger is a payment action in Accounts
Payable, which causes an equipment disbursement transaction to be recorded in the general
ledger. It is this transaction that we key on to identify equipment purchases that become fixed
assets. But in a future system, it is possible that the procurement action would be the trigger for
a fixed asset. In fact, in the ideal system, we would probably prefer that it be triggered by a
purchasing transaction (the beginning of the process) rather than a payable transaction (the
middle of the process). A "Purchasing trigger" was assumed when developing the following
demonstration script.
5.4.1.1 If the final acquisition cost of a capitalizable piece of equipment differs from its
originally estimated price, demonstrate how the correct price gets reflected in the fixed
assets system.
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5.4.1.2 Keeping track of multiple funding sources for equipment purchases is very important to
VU. A single piece of equipment is frequently funded from more than one type of
account. Because of State and Federal reporting requirements, it is sometimes necessary
for VU to break down the amounts spent on a single piece of equipment by funding
source. Demonstrate that the system can record multiple sources of funding and
amounts for a single fixed asset.
5.4.2 Information Collection
INTEGRATION POINT:
5.4.2.1 Show how the data elements needed for the fixed assets records are captured during the
Purchasing/AP process, and are later accessible in the fixed assets system. This
information should include, but not be limited to, location (building and room number),
department, school, responsible employee, funding sources, and useful life.
5.4.2.2 Show how the data elements required for the fixed asset inventory are collected,
especially those items not required for the purchase of the equipment.
5.4.3 Bar Coding/Tagging
5.4.3.1 Does your system have bar code capability? If so, demonstrate its usefulness.
5.4.3.2 The University is required to take a fixed assets inventory at least every two years.
Knowing that we have approximately 35,000 pieces of equipment, explain how the fixed
assets inventory process would work in your system.
5.5
Sponsored Programs Administration (pre-award)
The following section describes the functions that VU desires in Sponsored Programs
Administration both pre and post award. Using these points as a framework, please describe or
demonstrate current or planned modules that would support these processes. The portion of
time that is allotted to this section of the demonstration is insufficient to show all of the functions
described, and it is not expected that every function will be shown or even available at this time.
Rather, this information is provided so that our desires in this area are very clear and we leave it
up to your discretion to show the most pertinent aspects of your current or planned modules.
Background: The Sponsored Programs application must support the administrative functions of
monitoring, reviewing, and reporting all activity and expenses for special projects, contracts,
gifts, and grants awarded to VU. The broad category "project" is intended to accommodate
special accounting and record keeping that may be outside the generic chart of accounts and is
likely to span fiscal years.
The integration with other financial management information should provide automatic control
and updating of revenues, expenses, encumbrances, assets, and personnel funded by grant, gift,
or project monies.
The Sponsored Programs application should be able to report project revenues and expenses in
both summary and detail form for each specific grant, contract, gift, or project. Project
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information is used internally to control restricted budgets, assist with the preparation of
applications, and accurately report to the revenue sources according to the rules defined by the
award.
Grants and Contracts Pre-award
VU’s faculty is extensively involved in sponsored program activities. A large amount of faculty
and staff time goes into identifying sources of funding, developing proposals, securing
departmental and institutional approval, and the eventual submission of proposals to sponsors.

Faculty2 has developed a draft of a research project but needs assistance in identifying
potential sources of funding. Describe how the P.I. can search the web for research funding
opportunities. (e.g., Community of Science, Spon, etc.).

Describe how notifications of RFP opportunities can be identified and distributed
electronically to faculty based on a set of faculty discipline attributes.

Describe how proposed budget figures can be accessed and developed into projections of
future funding and indirect cost recoveries.

Describe how project abstracts can be queried in order to sort or locate all proposals dealing
with a particular research subject.
Faculty2 in Dept1 is preparing a proposal to submit to the National Science Foundation.

Describe how the system will provide on-line templates for the proposal in formats specified
by the funding agency for grant proposals. The demonstration should include the use of
“Smart Budget Templates” that integrate with other information or systems to supply needed
personnel/payroll, effort reporting, fringe benefits, tuition remission, indirect cost rates, etc.

Discuss the inclusion of VU specific boilerplate language required in all proposals, including
institutional certifications.

Describe how necessary faculty and staff information from other systems (i.e. Human
Resources) can be integrated into the proposal, including C.V., a listing of all current funding
for each PI, etc.

Discuss how attachments can be integrated into the proposal so that the quality and integrity
of texts, diagrams, charts, and scientific notations will be maintained through transmission to
the sponsor(s)?

Faculty from several departments are working on preparation of the proposal. Describe how
workflow technology will allow multiple users to work on various sections of the proposal at
the same time.

Discuss how the system will allow the proposal to be cloned for submission to multiple
sponsors, meeting individual sponsor format requirements.

Describe any differences in how the system handles contracts as opposed to grants.

Describe how VU will be able to accommodate multi-institution proposals with varying
salary, fringe benefit, and indirect cost schedules.

Explain how the proposal will be flagged for the required approval of protocols affecting
human subjects or animals, and how the electronic routing of the necessary protocols to the
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appropriate Institutional Review Board for approval and back to the Principal Investigator for
inclusion in the proposal would take place.

Describe electronic routing of the proposal for approvals to Dept1 and Dean prior to
submission to Business.

Explain the return of the electronically approved proposal to Business. How will an
identification number be automatically assigned to the proposal for tracking?

Discuss the capability of the system to route draft and final proposals to other identified
University offices (i.e., Development Office, CFO, etc.) for FYI purposes).

Describe the submission of the proposal electronically to the proposed sponsoring agency.

Explain the system’s full proposal tracking system including proposals submitted, proposals
rejected, proposals still pending with sponsors, awarded proposals, etc. This information
should be available by school, by PI, by discipline, etc.

Describe how PI's, department chairs, and/or deans can query the system to determine the
number of proposals and funded grants in which individual faculty members/staff members
are involved in order to determine the time frames of their involvement, and effort
commitments.
Award Processing
 Business has received notification that a proposal has been funded. Discuss the ability to
convey the proposal information electronically to the Business accounting office to use in
setting up the account.

Describe the ability of Business to electronically receive and forward the award notice to
designated areas (Sponsored Programs Accounting Office, PI or PI's, departments, areas such
as the EVP or Provost, various oversight committees, etc.).

Explain how the system handles receipt of award notice regardless of where it comes into the
system. It is possible that in the future, award notifications may not always come to a
central office or the same central office.

Explain the ability to upload proposal information to flexible templates for comparison to the
award information.

Discuss the ability to modify proposal information including the proposal budget to actual
award information.

Describe the ability to use award information to create account attributes to be entered into
the system, which are used for various reporting requirements. These include the following:

University account number

Agency/Donor

Principal Investigator

Account title

Nature of Award

Project Dates (from/to)

Award dates (from - to)

School/Department

Proposal Number
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Purpose (research, training)
Overhead Rate
Donor ID #
Source (gov't, coml, fdn)
Overhead Formula
Document Number
Distribution codes
Billing Cycle
Award Number
Security codes for on-line access
Previous account number
Award Amount
Report Code
Type of Regulation
Report Due Date
Name, Title, etc., of sponsor
recipient of report
Grant Specific
Validation Rules
Account Manager

Describe the ability to extract budget data from award data for automatic conversion from
agency format to VU format and upload to the G/L (real time/on-line) along with defined
restrictions.

Explain the ability to scan in special Terms and Conditions of award documents for on-line
viewing.

Describe the ability of the system to electronically create form information entered at the
account create stage and forward an account opening letter to designated VU personnel. For
major sponsors, the opening letter should be tailored to include information on the agency's
guidelines and spending restrictions.

Describe the ability to route, electronically, a signature authorization form to designated
individuals for each account set-up.

Describe the ability to map sponsor cost categories to VU cost categories (1 to 1, 1 to many,
many to 1).
Tracking and Data Management
 Explain how the use of workflow technology allows multiple users to work on and query the
same proposal, award or account at the same time with varying security levels.

Provide on-line and create additional screens or fields, when appropriate, to provide the
following information:

Names of PI and Co-PI's

Name of Sponsor

Type of Award (contract/grant)

Reporting Periods

Account Manager
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General and Special Terms and Conditions of Award(e.g., report requirements,
carryover)
Optional User-Defined Areas

Describe the ability to query all grants from a sponsor, for a PI, department, institute, etc.

Describe the ability to provide reports (including ad hoc reports) based on various time
periods which include: Fiscal Year to Date, Project to Date, Quarterly and User-Specified
Period.
An award has been received from the Department of Defense (DOD) to build a large piece of
equipment. The award will be divided into two phases, fabrication and testing. The agency
requires that expenditures claimed in monthly billings be reported by these categories.

Describe the ability to add user-defined categories and to provide reports based on functional
categories for budget and expenditure items.

Explain the ability to provide user-defined reports at the transaction level for the specified
time periods and for the duration of the project.
A sponsored program has been awarded in three budget increments, the original award and two
amendments as follows:
Dates
IDC Rate*
Salaries
Fringe
Benefits
Supplies
Equipment
Indirect
Costs
TOTAL
ORIGINAL
AMEND 1
AMEND 2
TOTAL
7/1/95 to 6/30/96
7/1/96 to 12/31/96
1/1/97 to 12/31/97
40.50%
41.00%
40.50%
$100,000
$60,000
$120,000
$280,000
$18,000
$10,800
$21,600
$50,400
$15,000
$0
$53,865
$8,000
$9,000
$32,308
$16,000
$0
$63,828
$39,000
$9,000
$150,001
$186,865
$120,108
$221,428
$528,401
*Based on direct costs less equipment

Discuss the ability to enter the original budget and each amendment into the system on-line
real-time.

Discuss the ability to track each budget document to the award document and the proposal
document.

Discuss the ability to notify the PI, any Co-PI's and the appropriate department or school of
the budget changes.

Explain the ability to track the indirect cost rate over the life of the project matching the rate,
base and type with the appropriate dates.

Describe the ability to forecast spending from the current period though the grant close out
based on historical spending patterns in prior months for an individual account.

Describe the ability to include user-established encumbrances in the forecasting process.
57

Explain the ability to provide short-term forecasts such as the cash needed for letter of credit
draws.
Post-Award Grants Management
Sponsored Programs Accounting Office needs to establish validation rules for an account and
apply them to the fund approval process.
A professor has received an award from a private sponsor. The sponsor does not allow
expenditures for clerical salaries or office supplies. The PI may spend 10% in excess of any
individual budget category without the sponsor's approval, but may not exceed the budget in
total.

Explain how to establish validation rules based on the funding agency (e.g. ability to group
object codes which tie to sponsors categories; allow certain percent over budget line not to
exceed total budget dollars - bottom line, exclude office supplies).

Discuss an override capability at the Sponsored Programs Accounting Office level with
appropriate authorization. Other areas such as a school or department with the appropriate
authorization may also use override capability.

Explain the ability for the system to check requested charges against grant specific Terms
and Conditions established during the account set-up (e.g. grant for salaries only).

Explain how charges are flagged when an account or object code is overspent or expired and
notify appropriate personnel.

Discuss the availability of on-line help when an expenditure is flagged. This should include
links to the budget policies for various agencies and a point of contact for questions and
assistance.
Principal Investigator is incurring monthly charges on his research account. The charges
include monthly charges of $2,000 for salaries and related fringe benefits of $585. The PI is
also incurring various monthly charges for lab supplies and travel. The award for this grant
applied indirect costs using a rate of 26% of direct costs for the first six months of the project
and a rate of 42.5% of salaries and wages for the next six months.

Describe the ability of the system to calculate indirect costs.

Explain how the system will automatically update the indirect cost rate for the latter six
months and apply the new rate to the project at the appropriate time.

Discuss the ability to calculate indirect costs using various rates and bases with flexibility in
choice of object codes used in the indirect cost calculation.

Discuss the ability to automatically reduce the related indirect cost commitment when
expenses are actualized.

Describe the ability to track the on-line daily overhead calculation and reduction of the
overhead encumbrance.
The various campuses at VU may return a portion of the indirect costs recovered to the
Department, School or Institute, which brought in awards to generate the indirect cost. Assume
that each area recovers indirect cost based on 12% of the total indirect cost recovered by the
Department, School or Institute.
58

Allocate the indirect cost recovery to the appropriate School, Department or Institute.
Describe how the system will handle the indirect cost recovery for awards with Co-PI's from
different departments.

Discuss the ability to project the indirect cost recovery by School, Department or Institute
monthly and on demand.
An award is received in the Office of Sponsored Programs, which extends the award end date
and changes the indirect cost rate from 40.5% of direct cost to 42.5% of direct costs. The
effective date of the change is January 1, 1998 and the award was received on April 3, 1998.

Describe the ability to calculate the retroactive change to the indirect costs for the above
award for the expenditures incurred between January 1,1998 and April 3, 1998.
The indirect cost for an award is calculated as 41.5% of direct cost excluding the first $25,000 of
expenditures for each subcontract. The award is for a project that has 3 subcontracts that will all
exceed $25,000.

Explain the calculation of the indirect costs for the above project.

Discuss how the system will identify each subcontract and track the indirect cost charges that
should be applied.
The Chemistry department needs to purchase a piece of equipment on a grant for which it has no
equipment budget. The awarding agency on this grant has given VU prior approval authority
to re-budget funds for this type of activity. Demonstrate the ability of the system to handle this
re-budget request. The Office of Sponsored Programs must approve the re-budget request.

Explain how the system will provide a standard re-budgeting request form on-line for
departments to enter re-budget requests for both federal and non-federal accounts. The
ability to enter justification for the budget adjustment must be included.

Describe the workflow ability to designated departments for electronic approval depending
on the budget modification requested (Prior Approval System (PAS) or non-PAS).

Describe the ability to up load the approved budget modification into the accounting system
on-line, real time.

Describe the ability to track cumulative changes to the original budget or the most recent
agency approved re-budget. Also discuss the capability of the system to restrict cumulative
changes by a percentage of total budget.
Compliance and Reporting
Sponsored Programs needs to establish a tickler file for external and internal reports that are
required during the life of a particular award.

Explain the ability to produce an automatic and on demand listing of reports due each month
by proposal number for non-financial reports (e.g., progress reports, technical reports,
narrative reports, patent and property reports) for the Office of Sponsored Programs and the
various departments and institutes.

Describe an automatic monthly and on demand listing of fiscal reports due to the sponsor,
based on account's expiration date and annual due dates.
59

Describe a report for grants that require a cost sharing contribution. Explain the system's
ability to log the completion of required cost sharing.

Discuss the ability to generate warning reports 90 days prior to expiration date of an account
and electronically notify designated individuals that the grant will be expiring in 90 days.

Explain the ability of the system to establish internal reporting requirements.
A department wants information on faculty awards. The department chair is interested in the
total proposals submitted and the status of the proposals (i.e. denied, awarded, pending). Since
several faculty members of the department are Co-PI's on awards in the Institute for
Environmental Science, the chair wants to be sure these proposals are included in the report.

Discuss the ability to perform ad hoc reporting on user defined fields. Include a report that
shows the system's ability to provide information across fiscal, calendar and project years.

Describe the ability to provide on-line a set of standard queries on sponsored activity.
Two Departments submitted a joint proposal, which has been funded by NSF. NSF has
assigned the Department a campus Letter of Credit entity number to the award for drawing
funds.

Describe the ability to track project expenditures which cross campuses as well departments
or institutes.

Describe how the cash balance is tracked and funds are allocated from the Letter of Credit.
The continuation award document on an existing project is late. The document will provide for
additional funding and an extended end date. The University has agreed to allow the Principal
Investigator to continue spending until the award is received. The original award is for
$100,000. It is estimated that the PI will exceed this amount by$20,000 at the time the award is
received. Since the award is funded by letter of credit, VU cannot draw funds from the agency
until the award is received.

Explain the ability to handle the $20,000 of expenditures without the need for temporary
accounts or cost transfers when the continuation award is received.
 Describe the letter of credit transactions to fund the $20,000 once the award is received.
Principal Investigator has incurred the following expenditures on her research grant in the
current month. Salary of $3,000, related fringe benefits of $880, supplies of $500, travel of
$1,500 and related indirect cost of $3,263. Describe the ability to automatically produce an
invoice from this information.
 Discuss the ability to create invoices automatically for designated cost reimbursable grants
and contracts from information already provided from the accounting system.

Describe the ability to support more than one type of billing format.

Discuss the ability to support varying billing periods (e.g. current month, quarterly,
user-defined).

Describe the ability to convert information from the accounting system to sponsor-defined
expenditure categories.
60

Describe the ability to modify data that is retrieved from the system (e.g. indirect cost
adjustment, additional expense).

Explain the ability to set up an account receivable automatically in the system once the
billing has been approved.

Explain the ability to combine charges on several accounts for the same agency or
organization so that a single invoice can be automatically prepared.
The University has awards from several sponsors which allows VU to request reimbursement on
an aggregate basis. An attribute entered during the account create function identifies the
sponsor.

Describe the ability to automatically accumulate the expenditures by sponsor for these
grants or contracts.

Discuss the ability to support the use of actual expenditures and automatic processing to
identify the Letter of Credit draw down amount for designated agencies.

Discuss the ability to facilitate drawdowns via electronic means for select funding sources.

Describe the ability to automatically distribute the funds received via Fed wire or ACH to the
proper account.

Produce a report by agency, sorted by agency award number to be used in preparing the
federal agency's monthly/quarterly reports.
Five invoices have been submitted and have automatically been set-up as a receivable in the
accounting system. They were for five consecutive months with amounts of $100, $200, $300,
$400 and $500 and were invoiced number 1 - 5. Only invoice number 1 in the amount of $100
has been paid to date. Discuss the account receivable functionality of the system.

Discuss the ability to produce an on demand accounts receivable aging report by account
and/or agency before and after payment of invoice number 1.

Discuss how receivable tracking can be supported by receivable exception reporting which
would automatically flag all invoices over a certain age (e.g. 90 days) and produce an
automatic dunning letters of increasing intensity.

Describe the ability to match receipts through EFT, Lockbox and transmittal of deposits with
related receivable within the system.

Describe the ability to produce a report that flags all invoice payments that do not agree with
the amount invoiced and set-up by the system (e.g. $50 was received against an invoice
which was billed at $200); "net" receivable should be displayed.
The University has received a research grant that requires VU to cost share the amount of 10%
on the awarded amount of $100,000.

Discuss the ability of the system to track and monitor cost sharing.

Describe the ability to track cost sharing expenditures specific to an individual grant or
contract.

Describe the ability to produce a cost sharing report on demand for a specific grant or
contract that details the expenditures and their related detail.
61

Describe the ability to provide support for the certification of effort reports.

Describe the ability to forward reports and receive electronic approvals from the PI.

Discuss the effect of payroll changes on the Effort Reports.
A grant has expired and Sponsored Research needs to begin the account close-out process.
Demonstrate the ability of the system to assist in the close-out process.

Describe how to generate a close-out worksheet with current budget and expense data
down-loaded to a file for individual and consolidated accounts.

Describe how to produce a report of expenditures which lists all activity to the account
processed after the account expiration date with allowable activity automatically updated to
worksheet.

Describe how to print a report for analysis of open commitments with allowable activity
automatically updated to worksheet.

Discuss how to create a report which can detail all equipment purchased on the grant /
contract.

Describe the ability to produce sponsor reports based on information from finalized
worksheet.
Grants and Contracts Billing
Faculty2 has incurred the following expenditures on a research grant in the current month: Salary
of $3,000, related fringe benefits of $880, supplies of $500, travel of $1,500 and related indirect
costs of $3,263.

Describe the ability to automatically produce an invoice from this information.

Describe the capability to create invoices automatically for designated cost reimbursable
grants and contracts from information provided from the accounting system. Demonstrate
how to create the same bill within a variety of billing formats/ templates.

Describe support of varying billing periods (e.g. current month, quarterly, user-defined).

Describe how to combine charges on several accounts for the same sponsor so that a single
invoice can be automatically prepared, and so that the sponsor only has to remit one
payment.
Dept1 and Dept2 submitted a joint proposal that was ultimately approved and funded by the
National Science Foundation. NSF has assigned one Letter of Credit entity number to the award
for drawing funds.

Describe the ability to track project expenditures which cross campuses as well as
departments or institutes.

Describe how the cash balance is tracked and funds are allocated from the Letter of Credit.

Describe how the system supports billing and collect under the Federal Draw-Down payment
process. Show how your system will:

Use actual expenditures paid to automatically process the Letter of Credit draw down
amount for designated agencies.
62



Facilitate draw downs via electronic means for select funding sources.
Automatically distribute the funds received via Fed wire or ACH to the proper
accounts.
Produce a report by agency, sorted by agency award number, to be used in preparing
the federal agency’s monthly/quarterly reports.
Faculty2 is going to conduct a Phase 1 clinical trial for a pharmaceutical company. There are to
be 20 patients enrolled. The fee charged is $5,000 per completed patient report plus 25% for
indirect costs. In addition, the company will make an advance payment of $25,000 to be credited
against the total amount due from the company.

Explain how the accountant in Business establishes the customer account template, in order
to appropriately bill for this study.

Explain how the billing is performed in order to collect the initial $25,000.

Describe what happens to the receivables' module and Dept1’s study account when the check
is received, to include distributing the funds between the direct and indirect cost portions of
the budget.
Faculty2 informs Business that six completed patient reports have been submitted to the
company.

Explain how Business bills, collects and records the payment.

Describe what the account for the study looks like after the payment is recorded.
The company rejects one of the patient reports. Faculty2 indicates concurrence. The company
wants appropriate credit on their account for the overpayment; they do not want a check.

Describe how Business processes the credit and the effect on the Dept1 study account and the
company’s account with VU.
General Conditions
 Discuss how this system may be audited. Are there any automated audit features?

Describe how Fisadmin can access the billing and collection information for Dept1, but be
restricted from viewing information for Dept2.
Project Costing
The Institution needs to standardize the project costing process. The process will be maintained
in a centralized project database that tracks various projects for research grants and construction
contracts, under one system. It will reduce the cost and effort of project data collection and
transaction processing, while improving the timeliness of information provided through
automated processes and integrated systems.
Set up Projects
 Describe the ability to set up three types of projects. One is a capital project with
non-capital expenses, another is an expense project, the third is a project where all or a
portion of costs are billed to other departments or schools. Describe the ability to use
standardized project templates and customize them according to specific project
requirements.
63

Discuss how to enter and update data: project description, project budget and code, Milestone
dates, authorized amounts, commitments, estimated time to complete, project status etc.

Discuss the ability to enter one or more fixed asset identification (asset number(s), locations
etc.) at each sub-level at the time the project is set up.

Discuss the ability for the system owner to control which fields are mandatory vs. optional.

Discuss the ability to support various types of projects and project structures up to five levels
of detail (e.g., the status of research and construction).

Describe the use of estimates in a recurring job.
Maintenance of Project Costing Records
Transactions and corrections entered into other modules, e.g., Fixed Assets, Labor Distribution,
Purchasing, etc., should automatically interface into the Project Costing module.

Describe the ability to interface data that can be traced to projects (data with project number
and tasks) from various transactional systems.

Purchase - commitments

Accounts Payable - charges, time and expenses

Payroll - project related labor usage / Effort Reporting System

Accounts Receivable

Other Systems

Explain the ability to carry forward project details from current year actual, budget, and
committed costs for multi-year projects (capital and expense projects).

Describe the ability to track different user-defined categories of projects (construction, fixed
assets and acquisition of assets).

Discuss the ability to segregate projects and jobs of different schools and departments.

Discuss the ability to collect/accumulate capital and expense costs for an individual project.
System must provide the ability to track each separately.

Describe how project costs of a non-capital nature (as defined by the user) can be charged off
to expense, while the project remains open.

Explain the ability to allocate overhead to projects including the use of multiple overhead
rates with their own rates and application bases.

Discuss the ability to include and exclude costs from the application base.

Discuss the ability to allocate overheads by organization level.
A Principal Investigator is incurring monthly charges on a research account. The charges
include monthly charges of $2,000 for salaries and related fringe benefits of $585. The PI is
also incurring various monthly charges for lab supplies and travel. The award for this grant
applied indirect costs using a rate of 26% of direct costs for the first six months of the project
and a rate of 42.5% of salaries and wages for the next six months.

Discuss the ability of the system to calculate indirect costs.
64

Explain how the system will automatically update the indirect cost rate for the latter six
months and apply the new rate to the project at the appropriate time.

Discuss the ability to calculate indirect costs using various rates and bases with flexibility in
choice of object codes (natural accounts) used in the indirect cost calculation.

Discuss the ability to automatically reduce the related indirect cost commitment when
expenses are actualized.

Explain the ability to track the on-line daily overhead calculation and reduction of the
overhead encumbrance.

Discuss the system's capability to stop indirect cost recovery when the recovery exceeds the
budgeted indirect cost in a project. Also demonstrate the ability to end the overhead
allocation to a project if the project budget is at zero (i.e. show ability to create an upper limit
to the allocation).
The Institution may return a portion of the indirect costs recovered to the Department, School or
Institute that brought in awards to generate the indirect cost. Assume that each area recovers
indirect cost based on 12% of the total indirect cost recovered by the Department, School or
Institute.

Explain the allocation of the indirect cost recovery to the appropriate School, Department or
Institute. Describe how the system will handle the indirect cost recovery for awards with
Co-PI's from different departments.

Discuss the ability to project the indirect cost recovery by School, center, unit, or department
monthly, on a fiscal year basis and on demand.
An award is received in the Office of Sponsored Programs which extends the award end date and
changes the indirect cost rate from 40.5% of direct cost to 42.5% of direct costs. The effective
date of the change is January 1, 1997 and the award was received on April 3, 1997.

Explain how to calculate the retroactive change to the indirect costs for the above award for
the expenditures incurred between January 1,1997 and April 3, 1997.
The indirect cost for an award is calculated as 41.5% of direct cost excluding the first $25,000 of
expenditures for each subcontract. The award is for a project that has 3 subcontracts that will all
exceed $25,000.

Discuss the calculation of the indirect costs for the above project.

Explain how the system will identify each subcontract and track the indirect cost charges that
should be applied.
A department needs to purchase a piece of equipment on a grant for which it has no equipment
budget. The awarding agency on this grant has given prior approval authority to re-budget
funds for this type of activity. Demonstrate the ability of the system to handle this re-budget
request. The Office of Sponsored Programs must approve the re-budget request.

Describe the ability to provide a standard re-budgeting request form on-line for departments
to enter re-budget requests for both federal and non-federal accounts. The ability to enter
justification for the budget adjustment must be included.
65

Describe the workflow ability to designated departments for electronic approval depending
on the budget modification requested (Prior Approval System (PAS) or non-PAS).

Explain the ability to up load the approved budget modification into the accounting system
on-line, real time.

Discuss the ability to track cumulative changes to the original budget or the most recent
agency approved re-budget. Also describe the capability of the system to restrict cumulative
changes by a percentage of total budget.
Project Close-out
Project management personnel enter closing notifications. Fixed asset information should be
transferred to Fixed Assets system via notification that the assets are productive. Projects that
meet all requirements or are inactive and remain open for a certain length of time should
generate a notification to the appropriate person requesting closure.

Explain the ability to close a project on-line after the standard closing procedures are
completed.

Describe how data is transferred from the Project Costing system to the Fixed Assets system.

Describe the ability to cancel capital projects and generate automatic journal entries to
transfer costs to expense.
Project Management Reporting
 Describe the ability to capture and report budget information for use with projects.

Describe the ability to access the detailed commitments and detailed spending information
for each project.

Describe the ability to capture historical detail cost information for prior years.

Discuss standard reporting and display menu options. Discuss the ability to integrate with
budgeting and project management systems to generate project status reports; show this same
data for different schools/units.
5.6
Accounts Receivable (Non-Student) and Collections
An Accounts Receivable (A/R) application is required to collect for amounts owed to VU by all
outside parties. These parties may owe monies include students and sponsors of grant and
contract activities, employees, vendors internal departments and alumni.
5.6.1 Creating an Account
5.6.1.1 Demonstrate how to attach a receivable to an employee, student, internal department,
vendor, alumni, or any other person or entity with a relationship with VU.
5.6.1.2 Demonstrate how you can net account receivable balances for internal departments,
students, and employees against payables and compensation.
5.6.1.3 Demonstrate how to set up a customer account and describe the set up options, such as:

customer type (e.g., employees, students, vendors, and other customers)
66






billing preferences
invoice formats
addressing and “guarantor” features
invoice delivery attributes (e.g., e-mail or e-forms for internal customers; and U.S.
mail for external customers
credit status
revenue account
5.6.2 Posting Charges
Auxiliary has sent a bill to an employee. The employee has not paid so Auxiliary wishes to
submit this accounts receivable to AR for collection.
5.6.2.1 Show how Auxiliary posts this charge to the employee’s account.
5.6.3 Sending Statements
5.6.3.1 Demonstrate the ability to generate multiple formats of invoices on a schedule and on
demand, with tear-off remittance advice, OCR coding for scanning and lock-box
activities also show how each department can modify the invoice format and the billing
cycle to meet their individual needs
5.6.3.2 Demonstrate the ability to maintain memo data and to print user-defined messages on
statements.
5.6.3.3 Demonstrate capability to perform partial billing, installment billing, or to override
printing of statements based on user defined criteria and to add user defined service/late
charges to customer’s accounts. Demonstrate flexibility in sending credit, debit, and zero
balance statements.
5.6.4 Process Customer Information and Inquiry
5.6.4.1 Demonstrate the ability to display, on-line, a customer’s account name and address,
collections status, overall payment history, credit rating, and units doing business with
said customer including contact name and phone number, as well as other user defined
information. In addition, demonstrate the ability to drill down from summary
information into transaction details.
5.6.5 Receive and Post Payments
5.6.5.1 Show how partial payments are posted. What methodology is employed by your system
to develop a hierarchy of creditors? That is, who gets paid first, second, and so on, if
partial payments are made against the account? What are all of the options for
programming and re-programming of this hierarchy?
5.6.5.2 Show how your system handles unidentified payments. What happens to them while
account research is being conducted? How can Fisadmin or Business determine what is
being held in the suspense account?
67
A customer processes a payment to Business for the first month as stated in the contract, makes a
partial payment for the second month, makes no payments for the third or fourth month, and
resumes payments as contracted for the fifth and sixth month.
5.6.5.3 Demonstrate the posting of the payment from the customer to the customer’s open
account via cash, bank lock-box, credit card and EFT, respectively, for payments made in
the first, second, fifth and sixth months.
5.6.5.4 Demonstrate the ability to manually apply a payment to multiple open invoices or
automatically apply via LIFO or FIFO order or by matching the invoice number or dollar
amount.
At VU, several auxiliary services (e.g., dining) post charges through accounts receivable. VU
then records revenue to Auxiliary in advance of actually collecting cash from the customer.
5.6.5.5 Demonstrate the ability of the system to support this.
Auxiliary bills a customer for $12,000 and collects all of it in month 1. However, Auxiliary only
wants to distribute $1,000 per month to Dept1.
5.6.5.6 Demonstrate how this is done.
5.6.6 Account Adjustments and Refunds
5.6.6.1 Demonstrate the system’s ability to use pre-defined reason codes for making adjustments
(i.e. debit/credit memos, contract adjustment, returns, etc.) to the original invoice
amounts.
5.6.6.2 Show how cash refunds can automatically be generated to the Accounts Payable system
for payment in instances where duplicate payments or overpayments are received.
5.6.6.3 Show how refunds and credit balances can be applied to other charges for the same
customer.
5.6.7 Credit and Collections
5.6.7.1 Demonstrate the ability of each operating unit using the billing and collection system to
separately establish delinquency guidelines that will be maintained and managed in an
automated fashion by the billing and collections system.
5.6.7.2 Show how VU can establish separate delinquency guidelines to the same account for
different purposes. Show how this can be done prospectively and retroactively.
5.6.7.3 Show how identified delinquent accounts may be efficiently transferred to an extrenal
collection agency including State Agencies to comply with the Set-off Debt Collection
(SODC) or the Controller's Debt Setoff (CDS) programs.
5.6.7.4 Demonstrate the ability to export the debt to the appropriate agency and import the
payment from the agency.
68
5.6.7.5 Demonstrate the capability to put a customer in a “hold” status due to credit/collection
issues and, following payment of said amounts, how the customer’s history is footnoted
for past credit/collection issues.
5.6.7.6 Demonstrate how the system can automatically or manually assess interest charges,
receivable management charges and other late payment fees, either on a fixed fee or
percentage basis, based upon age, revenue type, submitting unit, dollar amount, etc.
Show how these charges may be overridden on a charge by charge basis.
5.6.8 Reporting and Aging
VU’s EVP requires monthly-generated reports to maintain the integrity of A/R balances and to
report to the governing body of VU.
5.6.8.1 Demonstrate the ability of the system to allow user-defined aging categories based upon
revenue type.
5.6.8.2 Demonstrate the ability to maintain memo data at an invoice or customer level and be
able to import a group of student names into one memo or create an attachment with the
list of names.
5.7
Cash Management
State and Local Cash
The ability to distinguish between state and local cash is critical to VU, both for cash
management and reconciliation purposes. Under the current system, this separation is
accomplished by both the account range and by a state account attribute that appears on every
state account. Every state account in VU's accounting system corresponds to an account on the
State’s accounting system, and all of the transactions posted to State accounts in VU’s
accounting system (FAS) must eventually be recorded in CARS (the State's accounting system).
The majority of VU’s cash, except for the appropriated general fund cash and federal funds, is
received and deposited locally. Based upon the account number assigned to the transaction, a
nightly process separates those funds into state versus local cash. The sum total of all state cash
deposited in our local bank account the previous day is then transferred to the Treasurer of
Virginia’s bank account the next morning. The system then prepares an entry that is
electronically transmitted to the state to record the deposit of funds in CARS.
Funds received from federal grantors are usually wire transferred directly to the State Treasurer’s
bank account, and an entry is posted to VU’s accounting system to record receipt of those funds.
This entry then runs through a nightly interface that generates an entry that is electronically
transmitted to the state to record the deposit of funds in CARS.
For the state general funds appropriated to VU, the state credits VU in CARS, and a
corresponding entry is posted in VU’s accounting system. However, the cash remains in the
State Treasurer’s bank account.
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The net result of these processes is that entries related to state accounts are recorded on VU’s
accounting system, but the cash physically resides in the State Treasurer’s bank account.
The University also uses Inter-Departmental Transfers (IDT) which are journal entries between
state and local accounts. These entries are used to move funds between state and local accounts.
Each night, the system calculates the net increase or decrease to state cash based upon the
accounts involved. The next day, money is either sent to or retrieved from the state based upon
whether there was a net increase or decrease in the state’s cash.
In addition, the state handles disbursements to any vendors that are paid via Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI) or that are subject to the Comptroller’s Debt Set-off Program (CDS).
Therefore, if a local account is charged for a payment to an EDI or CDS vendor, the information
for the disbursement is transmitted to the state, and funds are sent to the state to cover the local
portion of the payments to these vendors.
Under decentralization, all daily activity for state accounts is posted to a clearing account on
CARS. All activity for the month, related to state account numbers on VU’s accounting system,
is summarized and forwarded to CARS to offset the entries to the clearing account. The net
result is that the state activity is recorded to the appropriate CARS accounts.
Also on a monthly basis, VU must reconcile its accounting transactions recorded in local
accounts to VU’s bank account. In addition, revenues, expenditures, cash balances and
appropriations/allotments recorded in CARS must be reconciled to the activity recorded in the
state accounts on VU’s accounting system.
5.7.1 Daily Cash Management
In order for VU to effectively manage its Local cash balances, and to maximize the return on
invested balances by ensuring that they do not remain idle, Business must be able to determine
with a high degree of accuracy the extent to which cash is available for investment on a daily
basis. In order to do this the system will not only need a high level of integration and
communication among the banking, cash receipts, cash disbursements and cash flow forecasting
modules, it will need to provide easy access to data on daily balances in all fund types.
Business would like to review the cash balances available upon arriving at work in the morning.
There are some unique short term money market investments available today only and VU would
like to maximize the amount placed in these vehicles.
5.7.1.1 Demonstrate how the system determines the amount of cash available by account, fund
type and department.
5.7.1.2 Demonstrate the capability to provide average daily available cash balances (cash inflows
net of cash outflows) over user defined time periods. Various statistical data should be
provided such as frequency distributions and standard deviation of balances.
5.7.1.3 Utilizing this information, further demonstrate the earnings calculations at three or more
rates against various accounts and groupings of accounts.
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Business is concerned that the bank says that there is more cash available than the VU's general
ledger would indicate
5.7.1.4 Demonstrate the reconciliation capabilities by the system using on-line processing with
multiple bank accounts against General Ledger, Accounts Receivable and Accounts
Payable activities.
5.7.1.5 Demonstrate cash budgeting capabilities. The treasury application should allow VU to
forecast receivable amounts from outside entities, such as state government, and to
incorporate the amounts into VU or campus budget. In addition, planned disbursements
should be reflected in the cash budgeting process, i.e. debt service payments.
5.7.1.6 Demonstrate how the system will facilitate federal cash drawdowns and how it will
forecast cash receipts in order to maximize investment return.
5.7.2 Cash Flow Forecasting
Cash flow forecasting is needed for both investment and State policy purposes. The University
needs to optimize its return on investment of Local cash. In addition, VU must be careful to
adhere to the State’s requirements on cash flows/balances.
5.7.2.1 Demonstrate the ability to provide historical cash receipts and disbursements by category
(tuition, grants, payroll, benefits, etc.) over user-defined time periods and project the
future (30, 60, 90 days) based upon history, AR receipt projections and AP commitments.
5.7.2.2 Demonstrate the ability to provide actual forecasting tools for all disbursements and
receipts over user-defined horizons, to include the ability to forecast receivable and
payable amounts by category and incorporate planned disbursements such as debt
service.
5.7.3 Cash Receipt Processing
Dept1 holds various conferences during the academic year. Currently, they are hosting two
different conferences. Dept1 is receiving payments from attendees to these conferences by three
means: checks coming through federal mail, wire transfer payments (primarily from overseas
locations), and credit card payments (taken over the phone and on forms received via federal
mail). When physical checks are received, Fisadmin prepares a bank deposit slip and carries the
deposit to the local branch bank.
5.7.3.1 Show how Fisadmin records the accounting distribution for the payments received.
5.7.3.2 Show how Fisadmin records these payments in the system in sufficient detail to be able
to track the individual payments for participants in each conference.
6.
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Human Resources and Payroll Demonstration Script
6.1
Human Resource Processes
6.1.1 Classification and Posting
A department has a vacancy in a position where job responsibilities have changed. They need to
determine whether to update the current position's job description or to create a new position.
The administrator requires the ability to access information on different job descriptions by
entering key descriptive words to the system, which would then link to job descriptions to select
applicable job classes. Once the appropriate job class is selected the administrator needs the
ability to prepare a job description on-line. The administrator would log into the system to
process a position posting form which identifies the type of position, position number, start and
end dates, job requirements and skills, account(s) from which the employee will be paid and
other relevant information. The system would automatically route the posting / job description
for approval based on information entered on the posting/job description.
After the manager completes all required fields, he/she requires the option to automatically
reflect (encumber) the anticipated cost of salary and benefits for this position in his/her
department's budget through an interface with the financial accounting system.
6.1.1.1 Demonstrate how software allows a manager to update the job description on-line
including how the software allows the manager to access both internal databases and
external systems to identify appropriate job classifications and descriptions. For
example, a user should be able to enter attributes such as a position type, job description
keywords, salary range, and classified positions. Once entered, the system generates a
potential list of titles and job descriptions and routes as appropriate for approval.
6.1.1.2 Demonstrate the on-line posting process for a new position and how the system
recognizes what type of position (e.g. faculty, staff will be filled) and the benefits
associated with it. Show how the system automatically completes relevant data fields
based on user input of department number. Also show how the organizational structure is
modified to accept the new position and provides for the new reporting structure.
INTEGRATION POINT:
6.1.1.3 Demonstrate how the system:
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Optionally verifies the funding availability (i.e. using data from the financial
accounting system.)
Allows user, if desired, to automatically encumber salary and benefits for a specified
period in the financial accounting system, etc.
Deactivates an open but unfilled posting, including the impact on all affected
databases such as the encumbrance of funds in the General Ledger.
6.1.1.4 Show how a user would specify a group or range of postings to review or print.
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6.1.1.5 Demonstrate your software's ability to automatically post approved openings via several
methods to several locations including campus electronic bulletin boards, University's
Internet home page, and state job service centers.
6.1.1.6 Demonstrate ability to post and hire multiple employees from a single posting.
6.1.2 Position Control
A position control function will include the following tracking and other features:
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Status of employee positions (recruitment, hire, status changes, attrition, reduction in
force)
Authorization, budget availability, commitment
Budget generation, projection, reporting.
6.1.2.1 Demonstrate how positions are created, maintained and changes tracked over time at
various organizational levels, including incumbent and funding information.
6.1.2.2 Show how position control features may be partially implemented (in one department,
not in another).
INTEGRATION POINT WITH BUDGET:
6.1.2.3 Demonstrate how position control encumbers wage and salary funds, reallocates
budgets, lapses salary dollars to a reserve account and transfers back when an open
position is filled for defined accounts, warns of over-commitment, and allows for
projection of salary activity towards the end of the year and interacts with the new fiscal
year roll over.
6.1.2.4 Show how multiple funding sources, expiration dates, and percentages are handled within
all position control features.
6.1.2.5 Describe how position control system supports multiple temporary assignments. .
6.1.2.6 Demonstrate how to establish and maintain an unlimited number of job classes that will
include the following attributes:
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Unlimited rates/steps within each class
Rate ranges by job class
6.1.2.7 Demonstrate ability to override a class exemption on a position basis.
6.1.3 Applicant Processing
Applicant enters resume/professional information into a central database via Interactive Voice
Response, Internet, Kiosk or by providing a hard copy which is automatically scanned by a
central processing office. The system will provide help to users to accomplish this process,
including informing the applicant of required qualifications/skills based on positions applied for.
The applicant could: 1) apply for a specific position(s) or request resume to be kept on file for
appropriate vacancies; 2) search the system for open job positions; 3) present appropriate
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application online, which includes Affirmative Action/Diversity information; and 4) applicant's
preference for campus location. The system will inform the applicant of testing/search process
involved for positions based on their indicated interests. In the case where there are state
required examination processes, system will schedule, administer tests where possible, score
exams, and notify applicants of their exam scores electronically and by generating a standard
notification letter.
If applicant is a current employee, their information will be obtained from existing databases.
The employee also has the option of providing resume/professional information for processing.
The system would match the open postings with qualified applicants in the database and route
this list of candidates automatically along with the applicants’ resumes and other appropriate
documentation to the administrator and/or other interested parties indicated on the posting. The
system notifies applicants once they are selected for consideration for a position. The system will
have the capability to generate standard reference, including educational and diploma, check
letters, phone, fax, email and general contact lists. After selection is made, the administrator
enters the selection which triggers a routing of the appointment to the user defined list for
electronic approval. Administrators must enter information on candidates not selected and can
enter general comments on any or all applicants. System would generate standard rejection
letters to candidates not selected.
After the applicant is selected, the system would provide a letter of offer template for
modification and routing for approval based on position and the user defined requirements.
The system will know by position when to create the letter, prior to acceptance for faculty and
post acceptance for staff. System will generate notification to applicant if a pre placement
physical/drug test is required and automatically notify relevant departments of this requirement.
In addition, if appropriate, the system will transmit the applicant's data to appropriate agency for
criminal checks.
Also, managers would have the ability to perform ad-hoc searches on the applicant database.
The system will also provide data on underutilized categories both at department and position
level.
Applicant Inquiry and Information Entry
6.1.3.1 Demonstrate the process for entering, storing and retrieving applicant data, including
digitally imaged documents and or Optical Character Recognition (OCR), in your system.
Describe the structure of your database in relation to this information, and any
relationships with other database tables.
6.1.3.2 Demonstrate the applicant’s ability to identify units of the institution to which the
application must not be distributed.
6.1.3.3 Show how your software supports applicant on-line inquiries for status of their
application.
6.1.3.4 Demonstrate the ability to inquire about all open positions and positions closed in the last
3 months.
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Referral and Screening
6.1.3.5 Show the process for matching applicant skills to position requirements/skills. Also
show your software's ability to screen applications to determine that selection
requirements are met. This may include eliminating applicants who do not meet
education, license requirements or training criteria, current employees on probation or
former employees terminated for cause.
6.1.3.6 Demonstrate how your software rank orders applicants on specific user defined criteria
(e.g., years of experience, examination scores, etc.).
6.1.3.7 Demonstrate ability for hiring officials to access the entire database of active applicants
at any time and run a "trial pool" of applicants using potential screening criteria.
6.1.3.8 Demonstrate capability to generate standard letters and email centrally, at the department
level, or both, at various points during the application process that may include request
for letters of reference, notification of test schedule and letters of offer and
acknowledgment.
Hiring
6.1.3.9 Demonstrate ability to permit electronic capturing of ad hoc comments (including reasons
for selection and non-selection) and an on-line transaction history to track who did what
and when.
6.1.3.10 Demonstrate ability to identify hired and canceled applicants to all units with active
referrals.
Special Requirements
6.1.3.11 Demonstrate how an employee can be direct-hired without a posting and show the
minimum data required to do so.
6.1.4 Maintenance of Employee Data
After an applicant is hired and final approval occurs, the system automatically changes status of
applicant to employee, which automatically transfers all applicant data to employee database.
Once the employee is hired the system automatically assigns an employee PIN number which the
employee uses to access the system. The employee accesses the system to enter their personal
data including address(es), marital status, taxes, I-9, ADA information, and bank deposit
authorization. The system will automatically provide benefits eligibility information based on
the employee's position. Where required, this information will be routed to appropriate insurance
and benefit carriers and financial institutions.
Whenever an employee's personal data is modified, the employee and department is to receive a
confirmation of the changes showing the effective date. Also, if any documents require the
employee's signature, the system generates hard-copies for employee signature.
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6.1.4.1 Show how your system automatically transfers all applicant data to employee database
after hiring as well as prompts for the addition of information not captured at the
application stage (salary rate, account codes, etc.). In addition, show how the system
permits updates to information that has changed since the application was first entered.
6.1.4.2 Show how your system can extract and update employee information from existing
internal employee history databases for an applicant that is hired, but who was a former
employee.
6.1.4.3 Demonstrate how your system allows employees to update address, benefits, and other
required personnel forms applicable to the employee. This should include providing
descriptions of benefit plans and ability to print or email required forms based on user
definitions.
6.1.4.4 Demonstrate how employee history is established, changed and maintained for paid and
unpaid appointments, including:
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tenure review dates,
full-time salary rate, as well as actual FTE and dollar cost,
tenure status,
years in rank,
years of employment on calendar, fiscal and grant year bases,
employment start date,
service time in current position,
merit ratings,
positions held and dates,
leave/sabbaticals,
probation,
classification status,
length of service,
medical leave,
funding,
separation,
etc.
6.1.4.5 Demonstrate the ability to handle future-dated transactions and the process that will flag
the transactions as active after the effective date has passed.
6.1.4.6 Show the ability to maintain multiple:
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values in data fields, including multiple appointments, with different end dates,
with multiple payment distributions;
date fields to administer benefit plans and legal requirements;
addresses including full international addresses;
effective dates for all types of employee actions, milestones, and eligibility
attainments for all types and categories of employees, and logic including sabbatical,
performance evaluations, and leaves, and
end dates for various fund sources
Discuss the limitations of each of the above points.
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6.1.4.7 Demonstrate the ability to reverse incorrect entries before and after they are applied (e.g.,
terminated employee in error, cancellation of hire, perform reversal on a specific date,
entry suspend and resume capabilities, and approved status) and retroactively,
automatically adjust any compensation and deduction for the period in error.
6.1.4.8 Demonstrate multiple position titles per employee, including but not limited to
classification titles, working titles and administrative titles and functions (e.g.
Vice-President, Dean, Chair, Fiscal Administrator, Manager, etc.) and discuss any
system limitations.
6.1.4.9 Demonstrate how automated salary increases are accomplished based on anniversary
dates or other user defined criteria and how details of various plans are created and
stored.
6.1.4.10 Demonstrate ability to restrict number of hours worked in an employee calendar year
and how easily it is over-ridden and show how to pay and track an employee who is paid
with multiple pay records, generate automatic letters email to departments, and notify
employees through earnings statements, with alert warnings for:
 students working more than 20 hours per week in the academic year;
 wage employees approaching 1500 hours or greater in the prior rolling year; and
 students and non-exempts working more than 40 hours of straight time in a week.
6.1.5 Compensation Management
The University uses a common annual review date for classified staff with merit ratings and an
increase matrix that provides an acceptable range of salary increase percents.
INTEGRATION POINT:
6.1.5.1 Demonstrate how salary increases generated in budget work sheets feed the new fiscal
year budgets, HR records, and payroll.
6.1.5.2 Demonstrate on-line how the system enables administrators from different business units
access to the records of a single employee across units, make changes to the record
(including changes of FTE, dollars paid, etc.), and seek appropriate approvals for the
changes.
6.1.6 Non-Resident Alien Tax Processing
VU employs a variety of non-resident aliens including faculty, staff, students, NAFTA trainees,
and fellowship/traineeship candidates (both degree and non-degree). Non-resident aliens are
subject to special taxation and reporting rules and may be subject to provisions of a tax treaty.
Payments issued by VU including tuition and fee waivers, fellowships and scholarships, paid
through Financial Aid or Accounts Payable are also subject to special taxation and reporting
rules. The same applies to Independent Contractor payments.
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Regardless of the office issuing a payment to a non-resident, the Human Resources system must
track the individuals and incorporate any payment information into the monthly and year-end
non-resident alien tax reporting and determination of residency status for tax purposes.
Currently VU is meeting these needs with an in-house system developed in 1994. We are in the
process of migrating to an outside vendor product, WindStar, that is expected to be operational
by July 1st, 1998. This system provides the subsequent features:
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Programmatically determines resident alien/non-resident alien tax status
Maintains a visa history
Analyzes tax treaties for applicable benefits and limitations
Determine withholding requirements
Produces and completes IRS withholding forms
Creates audit reports
Creates tax status report of tax residency status history
Defines payroll requirements
Additionally the WindStar product will create the following forms and supply the related
information when available:
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#1004 Exemption Certificate
#1078 Certificate of U.S. Residence
# 8233 Exemption from Withholding and Supporting Statement
#8843 Statement for Exempt Individuals
#W-4 Employee’s withholding certificate
#W-7 Application for IRS I.T.I.N.
#W-9 Taxpayers Identification Number Request
6.1.6.1 Describe how your system would handle the collection and monitoring of data for all
students, employees and vendors including the ability to maintain tax treaty tables, with
effective dates for all tax code changes:
 Student Status
 Foreign Nationals
6.1.7
Benefits Administration
The University offers health/dental, basic life, optional life, supplemental health, accidental
death, retirement, tax deferred annuities (TDAs), flexible spending accounts, other optional
insurance (e.g. Short term disability, Long term disability, long term care, COBRA) to active and
retired employees at VU and other affiliate agencies. The primary health plan is self insured.
The State also offers health, dental and life for which some employees at VU are eligible.
Eligibility for VU and State is based on several factors such as job class, percent of time
employed, type of leave, salaried vs. wage, appointment period, decreased hours with full
benefits, and other insurance plan criteria.
Every eligible employee has the option of selecting premium-only plans and spending accounts.
Retirement plans are determined by the employee eligibility. Plans are administered by different
agencies in and outside VU.
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Benefits Administrators perform market and trend analysis, data modeling for benefits and
retirement plans, and cost planning. These Administrators will use employee information in a
shared data base and import other market information outside VU to produce various analysis
reports and/or queries to better assist in the design, implementation and administration of
benefits plans.
Establishing and Maintaining Benefits Information
Once every year VU changes some or all of the benefits plans. This change is done for the next
year, while processing for this year continues.
6.1.7.1 Demonstrate how the following benefit plan information is established and maintained:
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Plan date and year per benefit
Plan Eligibility requirements
Plan Carrier
Plan Cost per employee / employer
Plan Cost per dependent
Plan Employee / Employer contribution
Plan Hours worked
Plan Coverage level and type
How third-party administrator supplied information is incorporated
The premiums for benefits can be paid in several ways. The employee or the employer may pay
the entire amount or the costs may be shared by both. The premium may be a flat amount based
on a rate table, % of certain components of pay, or it may vary by employee based on an annual
goal amount. The employee paid premiums may be pre or post tax deductions.
6.1.7.2 Demonstrate establishing the premium structure for a benefit that is pretax with the
employee and employer each paying a share based on the level of coverage selected (i.e.
health insurance).
6.1.7.3 Demonstrate the ability to make a mass change to the benefits.
6.1.7.4 Demonstrate how the following employee information is established and maintained:
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Employee birth date
Employee age
Employee salary
Employee sex
Employee months worked (i.e. 9, 10, 11, month employee)
Benefits salary to include base and supplemental salary
Employee plan eligibility date
Employee initial set enrollment date
Employee rolling enrollment date
Employee declined date
Employee prior notification date
Spouse name
Spouse gender
Spouse SSN
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Spouse birth date
Spouse benefit plan
Spouse Primary Care Provider (PCP)
Coverage start and end dates
Premium start and end dates
Benefits historical data
Identification of department-paid employee benefits
Provider PCP & OB/GYN PCP
Date retired
Health Care Credits for retirees
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12 or more iterations of the following:
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Child(ren) name
Child(ren) PCP
Child(ren) birth date
3 or more iterations of the following:
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Beneficiary name for life insurance (multiple plans)
Beneficiary name for 403(b), 457, 401(a) plans
Beneficiary detailed information (e.g. address, phone).
6.1.7.5 An employee's eligibility for benefits may change as the employee changes positions
and/or status. Demonstrate what would happen if an employee changes positions that
makes them eligible for a different benefit plan (i.e. retirement, life insurance, etc.).
6.1.7.6 If both spouses are state employees, they are eligible for reduced health insurance
premiums. Demonstrate how the separation of one spouse employee will automatically
trigger the change in eligibility for the other employee.
6.1.7.7 Demonstrate how types of leave affect benefit continuation or redistribution of
employee/employer costs.
6.1.7.8 Demonstrate the ability to escrow premiums for (summer) months for employees
(faculty) who are paid over nine months.
6.1.7.9 Demonstrate the automatic feed to payroll for benefit deductions (both employee and
employer).
Employees have 60 days after a qualifying event to change retirement plans or health insurance
coverage.
6.1.7.10 Demonstrate how the selection of a change in health coverage, which is 60 days
retroactive, is reflected in the benefits system.
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6.1.7.11 Show the ability to support COBRA benefits, including the tracking of dates and
generation of initial letter. Indicate how the data from COBRA will be automatically
transferred to third party health administrator.
6.1.7.12 Demonstrate how the retroactive change in health coverage premiums is passed to
payroll for a retroactive change in health care plans.
6.1.8 Benefits Interactive Voice System with Web Accessibility
6.1.8.1 Demonstrate how employees access the Interactive Voice Response system IVR and Web
to enroll during open enrollment, make a change and/or view benefits at any time during
the year.
During open enrollment for coverage to begin January 1 of the next year, an employee adds a
new dependent that is also eligible to be covered for this year.
6.1.8.2 Demonstrate how next year and this year changes are processed so they apply to the
correct year.
6.1.8.3 Show how the IVR can be used by employees to change personal information and show
how confirmation of these changes can be delivered via Messenger Mail, email, or
automated fax.
6.1.9 Tax -deferred Annuities
VU offers 403(b) annuities, commonly referred to as TDAs, to its employees.
6.1.9.1 Demonstrate the calculation of the maximum exclusion allowance (MEA) for optional
TDAs, including the maximums for optional special elections and the 15 year special
alternative.
6.1.9.2 Show how the following are established and maintained:
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Multiple dates of hire plans
Multiple eligibility and vesting for different retirement plans
Separate compensation accumulators for each retirement plan
Hours of service and service amounts for each retirement plan for each employee
Summary accumulators for retirement plans and TDAs by employee and by category
(e.g. one retirement plan in one pay cycle).
Summary accumulators of all TDAs for each employee.
Separate accumulators of each flex item for each employee
Summary of all flexed items for each employee
TDA option
TDA type
MEA amount
SRA date
15-year date
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6.1.10 Deductions
Deductions to an employee's pay can be established by fringe benefit activity, by another entity
(i.e. parking fees, intramural fees) and by the employee (i.e. charitable contributions such as the
United Giving, credit unions).
6.1.10.1 Discuss any differences in the creation, input, and maintenance of these different
types of deductions.
6.1.10.2 Demonstrate and set up and maintain deductions, including the following range of
functionality:
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Unique taxation definitions (e.g. 403(b), flex spending accounts, health insurance)
Flat-dollar amounts, including simultaneous multiple checks (e.g. parking &
transportation)
Capability to establish a declining balance deduction and a specific amount each
month that automatically stops when the balance is zero (e.g. tuition payment plan,
intramural fees, United Giving).
Calculate deductions based on specific earnings types
Limit deductions to segregated groups of employees (e.g. educational leave, faculty
house staff, classified staff)
One-time deductions or one-time overrides to deductions
Status-code related deductions and stoppages
Ability to switch annualized deductions from a 9 to a 12 month pay period with
adjustments for prepayments
Ability to define a provider to a specific deduction type
6.1.10.3 Demonstrate capabilities to establish start/stop dates for deductions (e.g. United Way,
Flex), to establish ceilings for deductions and have the system automatically stop the
deduction when it is reached (e.g. garnishments), and to set up a deduction with
appropriate future effective dating (e.g. new health insurance plan year).
Employees have 60 days after a qualifying event retroactive to the start date of that qualifying
event to decide on a health insurance plan, and 90 days to decide on a retirement plan.
6.1.10.4 Show how retroactive deductions to salary are handled including both additional
deduction amounts and refunds and show how employee balances and ledger are
automatically adjusted
6.1.10.5 Schedule deductions by frequency & pay cycle (i.e. every second bi-weekly). Show
how to split deductions unequally between pay periods (e.g. if employee's pay is less than
the total deductions or to process insurance deductions in advance of a leave without pay
and issue billing when deduction cannot be processed). Override the frequency on an
employee basis.
An employee is on Leave Without Pay, but has elected to continue their health insurance
coverage.
6.1.10.6 Demonstrate the system's flexibility for placing deductions in arrears or recycling,
including:
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6.1.10.7
"Automatic" arrears for insufficient pay (reduced hours) or no pay
Take arrears amounts in next pay cycle, and the cancellation of arrears upon
"catch-up"
Ability to select which deductions are put into arrears and how those are handled for
full, partial or no arrears applicability.
Show how the system handles deductions that are prepaid.
VU has been notified a few days before pay day that a garnishment is to be withheld from an
employee's pay check and that a new net pay amount needs to be established and disbursed.
6.1.10.8 Show how to handle garnishments, wage assignments, tax levies, or child support and
be able to re-prioritize the pre-determined deduction priorities:
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Prioritization of deductions
Calculation of correct amount to "back into" required net pay
Enter limit or ceiling amounts
Simultaneous multiple garnishments
Effective date functionality
Percentage of disposable income or net pay needs to be definable
Retention of garnishment/wage assignment history
Handling of administrative fees
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6.2
Payroll Processes
A new payroll system would require the ability to enter and maintain payroll information
from many departments, and possibly two campuses. The system will be required to
provide concurrent use of multiple pay periods.
VU offers a wide and diverse choice of payroll deductions. Individuals may hold
multiple appointments concurrently: Faculty, Classified, or Student, or any combination
thereof, which may require different withholdings in the same or different pay cycles.
VU employs a wide variety of faculty, unclassified staff, classified staff, research staff,
and students. Individuals may be appointed for one-time contracts of various lengths of
time and multi-year appointments for portions of a year (e.g. one, 9, 10, 11, 12 months),
hold multiple classification of jobs (e.g. researchers, graduate students, etc.), receive pay
over periods not always consistent with appointment dates (e.g. work nine months but
receive pay over twelve months) and be covered by benefits (including leave accruals).
VU also offers non-salaried appointments to individuals, (e.g. visiting faculty, post
doctoral, etc.).
6.2.1 Payroll Processing Overview
6.2.1.1 Demonstrate multiple pay frequencies (e.g. monthly, semi-monthly, biweekly,
weekly and off-cycle) and perform all these cycles for one employee.
6.2.1.2 Faculty1 becomes Department Chair effective 8/25/98. Demonstrate a payroll
change that converts Faculty1 from a 9-month pay at $60,000 to 12-month pay at
$72,000.
6.2.1.3 Demonstrate simultaneous processing of multiple payroll groups with one Federal
ID (e.g. faculty, classified staff, students, and Health Care Providers (HCPs))
6.2.1.4 Show how to set-up selected on-call employees for positive pay and autopay
including exception pay with or without stop dates (e.g. overtime, shift, or on-call
reimbursements).
6.2.1.5 Establish and override labor distribution on a temporary or fixed basis for fixed
distribution employees.
6.2.1.6 Demonstrate how pay/benefits is calculated for an employee starting on date other
than first day of pay period.
6.2.2 Payroll Employee Information Maintenance
Occasionally a large number of employees will require a standard adjustment to their
data.
6.2.2.1 Demonstrate the ability of your software to link pay adjustments to a pay for
performance review process. This should include a standard formula for rating
employees and distributing salary increases with ability to manually override.
6.2.3 Earnings
VU employees often hold jobs in more than one department and/or on one or more
projects. Each job may be subject to different salary structures, job administration
policies, leave programs, benefits eligibility, time reporting, leave accruals, tax
withholding and reporting, etc. These units may be consolidated for payroll processing
and tax treatment.
6.2.3.1 Show how components of pay are separated (e.g. straight time, overtime,
vacation, and current pay).
Dept1 has agreed to pay an employee $300 per month as a Housing allowance.
6.2.3.2 Demonstrate how to establish start dates, stop dates, and ceiling amounts on
recurring payments ( e.g. severance pay, housing allowances, unit pays, stipends).
6.2.3.3 Display how to maintain and calculate user-defined shift codes with an associated
rate or premium. Also include the establishing of a shift premium that can be
designated by job class and / or position number. Establish a default shift code
for each employee and by job classification with the ability to override the default
code.
6.2.3.4 Show how earnings can be generated based upon classification codes or
licenses/training. An example would be doctors receiving physician's incentive
pay defined by an external physician's practice group. Show that the system will
accept electronic feeds of additional pay information from the outside
organization
6.2.3.5 Show how differential rates would be calculated based on geographical area.
Demonstrate how the rates of pay are associated with classification code, location,
and time spent in salary grade.
6.2.3.6 Show ability to calculate tax based on gross wages less pre-tax deductions (e.g.
health insurance, dependent child care, and student exemption from FICA
withholding).
6.2.3.7 Demonstrate how monetary and non-monetary earnings are grossed-up for taxes
in such situations as performance awards and suggestion awards. Include a
demonstration of gross-to-net check modeling.
6.2.3.8 Demonstrate ability to stop FICA WH (manual override) based on a calculated
ceiling derived from another system.
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An employee has now been offered a full time position and will be reimbursed for
moving expenses.
6.2.3.9 Create an earnings for moving expense and show how the earning is automatically
placed on the W-2.
6.2.3.10 An employee was paid the correct salary for the past three months, however,
the department discovered the costs were charged to the wrong account.
Demonstrate the process for retroactively correcting the account to which the
salary was charged so that the earnings records reflect the proper accounts.
6.2.4 Payroll Processing/Check Production
6.2.4.1 Illustrate a typical payroll processing cycle, including the steps initiated by users
and screens accessed by various users. Include an explanation of lockout
features, checkpoints in the process, etc. Describe, in a simplified way, how to
initiate the payroll gross-to-net process (e.g. one command, one menu option,
etc.). Describe payroll control reporting, including exception reports, range
checks, etc. Show how the system is available to users during the payroll
processing cycle.
6.2.4.2 Explain and demonstrate the payment generation process:
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Can payment amounts be at least 10-digits (9,999,999,999)?
Does the system permit customizable 8.5" x 11" earnings statements which
list detailed pay types, taxes, deductions, etc.?
Can earnings statement messages vary by employee type, campus location,
employee classification, tax status, etc.?
Are earnings statements printed for zero net payments?
Show ability to add any pay or benefit field to the earnings statements
Capture ability to process in one cycle all pay types, but not pay certain pay
types whose time has not yet been recorded.
Produce earnings advice via letter, e-mail or post to a web site.
Print one-time information messages on earnings advice that can vary by
employee type.
INTEGRATION POINT:
6.2.4.3 Demonstrate the interfacing with the General Ledger system to show:
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Ability to distribute an employee’s pay and benefits costs to multiple general
ledger accounts based on designated percentages or based on actual hours
worked.
Ability to charge the costs of an employee’s fringe benefit to different general
ledger accounts than the cost of an employee’s pay.
Ability to identify expense accounting (object) codes and distribution by
earnings type.
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Ability to report on vacation liability for journal entries to accounting system.
Capability for calculating period-end accruals and reversals for journal entries
to accounting system.
Capability to retain accounting data with payroll in order to prevent
discrepancies between payroll and accounting.
Support the encumbrance and accrual (9 paid over 12 months) processes
Show the use of effective dating in these processes.
INTEGRATION POINT:
6.2.4.4 Demonstrate capability to interface to Accounts Payable for creation of third party
checks or EFT transmissions.
6.2.5 Time Reporting
The current time entry and leave system is designed to process time worked and/or leaves
taken for wage, classified, and faculty research scientists and assistants.
All time worked for wage employees and overtime worked for classified employees is
reported on automated time sheets. Wage hours worked and classified overtime hours
are processed through payroll resulting in the production of pay checks for the
employees.
Leave taken by classified employees and faculty research scientists and assistants is
reported on monthly leave reports. The monthly leave reports are completed and
approved by the departments. Processing of the leave taken for classified employees and
faculty research scientists and assistants is processed through the leave system resulting
in the appropriation of leave accruals and leave balances. Currently, the leave system
handles in excess of 25 different types of leaves.
6.2.5.1 Enter an employee's work hours information on-line and real-time.
Demonstrate ability to generate time automatically based on a work schedule.
Include a review of the following functionality:
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Ability to handle varying schedules
On-line validation of pay accounting and time reporting information
Real-time updates to database
Segregate components of pay (e.g. straight time vs. overtime)
Multiple types of shift codes, each with an associated rate
Ability to override account (labor) distribution of any special pay
Multiple input sites (i.e., primary timekeeper location and alternative or
backup locations)
Automatically have default hours indicated (to reduce amount of input if no
deviation)
Ability to distribute time among as many jobs, projects and departments as
required
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Have the capacity to handle an Employee Work Record on-line and be routed
for appropriate approvals notify person when request is waiting for approval
Accept time through interfacing with Work Management Systems
Ability to electronically sign the time report
Ability to route the time report to a supervisor who will also electronically
approve the time report
Validate available amounts of sick and vacation time
Ability to revert to other types of leaves when balances are not sufficient to
cover time (i.e., if an employee does not have sufficient sick leave, then it is
automatically converted to comp then to annual).
6.2.5.2 Illustrate how leave balances are maintained based on time and/or status of the
employee for the following (e.g. leave and part-time):
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Ability to maintain records of vacation, personal time, sick leave, military
leave, educational leave, jury duty, funeral leave and other paid leave used in
accordance with state policies
Automatically accrue leave earned based on a calculation algorithm reflecting
the leave earning policies
Ability to transfer leave balances to following year based on carry over rules
Accruing future year vacation hours based on calendar year, not on hours
worked.
Reducing balances when maximums are exceeded.
Generating and sending notices to employee regarding changes or other
information.
Show number of allowed leaves.
Retroactive leave processing
Leave reversion based on defined leave substitutions (e.g. no sick leave
reverts to vacation).
Leave with time restriction for use.
Leave with set maximum hour restriction
6.2.5.3 Demonstrate how to access and track hours worked. Include the tracking of
temporary and part-time employees. Can employees be on fixed time
distribution or time cards? Can all the "rules" for time reporting be maintained in
a single place? Show how.
6.2.5.4 Show how the system would handle changes to time reporting data in a common
entry mechanism for both normal input and corrective entries. Include in this
demonstration the ability to define and handle multiple alternative work
schedules.
6.2.5.5 Show how Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) information is stored for
multiple occurrences in a year. Allow percentage use of sick leave for FMLA.
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6.2.6 Research Effort Processing
Research Effort Reporting is a requirement of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The purpose is to certify that employees working on grants actually put in the effort being
charged to the grant within a -4% error margin (i.e., an employee committed 20% to a
grant must charge at least 16% to the grant and can charge higher than 20%).
Currently, research effort reporting at VU is very different depending on whether the
employee being reported is wage auto-paid, classified or faculty.
Effort reporting for classified, salaried employees is simply a quarterly report to be
verified by a Principal Investigator (PI) that the classified staff effort charged to the grant
did work on the grant for the amount charged. Effort reporting for wage, auto-paid
employees is the same but with different reporting periods, more similar to faculty. For
employees that are wage, timecard-required, certification is done at the time the hours are
submitted; therefore, they are not a requirement of this process.
Effort reporting for faculty employees can be broken into three processes: pre-report
processing, report processing, and post-report processing. Effort reporting for the
non-medical faculty occurs three times during the year (September-December,
January-May and June-August). Effort reporting for the medical faculty occurs twice
(January-June and July-December) and it also includes compensation paid by VU’s
related Health Services Foundation.
Pre-report processing captures salary information from Fiscal file and non-UVa payroll
file and contributed effort information for medical or non-medical faculty
employees/accounts and posts it to the ‘Research Effort Reporting’ file. The Office of
Sponsored Programs has the ability to make on-line changes to this report file before
proceeding to the next phase. This phase also includes the calculation of payroll effort
percent.
The report processing phase produces the actual research effort report. The Individual
Effort Certification Report has different formats depending on whether the employee is
medical or non-medical.
Post-report processing allows for batch entry of data captured on the ‘turnaround’ effort
report.
It is expected that these processing cycles will overlap (i.e., the processing of the
‘turnaround’ reports will continue for the ‘old’ period while pre-report and report
processing are happening for the ‘new’ period).
6.2.6.1 Demonstrate the ability to generate effort reports based on actual payroll source
history for various reporting periods for selected groups of employees.
6.2.6.2 Demonstrate the ability to combine contributed effort and/or payments from
additional sources prior to calculating the payroll percentage of effort.
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6.2.6.3 Demonstrate how to update the effort reporting records with actual effort as
opposed to payroll effort.
6.2.6.4 Describe the impact of paying 9 months faculty over 12 months would have on
the effort reporting system.
6.2.7 Student Employment
The Student Employment Office operates on two periods: the academic school year
(September to May) and the summer (May to September).
Students can hold multiple positions on campus under different working programs
(Work-Study or non-Work-Study). A student receiving a Federal Work-Study award of
$2000, chooses to take a Work-Study position with VU in Dept1. The Federal
Work-Study Program is subsidized by the Federal Government. The student earns his
Work-Study goal of $2000 and the government subsidizes his earnings (the percentages
are set yearly in the payroll tables). Then, the same student takes another position for
additional spending and living expenses. The student may add a library position, which
is a non Work-Study position (100% of the department's funds).
Undergraduate need-based financial aid, which may include Federal Work-Study Grants,
is affected by non-work study employment and officials of VU must be notified when
such employment is undertaken. As a result of additional earnings, the student's award
package may need to be recalculated.
INTEGRATION POINT:
6.2.7.1 Demonstrate the system's ability to handle the situation outlined above.
Students may also work on or off campus under different work programs. A student
takes a position on campus, which does not require Work-Study so he/she decides not to
use the $2000 award. However, an opportunity to gain practical experience working
off-campus at a community service center appeals to the student. He/she may work
off-campus at certain pre-approved off-campus organizations, which qualify for Federal
Work-Study. This student is paid through VU’s payroll system because of Federal
Work-Study fund requirements. The community center is responsible for a percentage
of the gross earnings, which is set yearly in the payroll tables. The center must prepay the
VU or they are billed monthly (after the fact).
INTEGRATION POINT:
6.2.7.2 Demonstrate the system's ability to handle the student employment issues.
6.3
Training & Career Development
VU requires the capability to pre-define training requirements by position or
classification, identify and track employees who require specific training, maintain
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training histories for each employee, maintain training classes and opportunities, provide
easy registration and notification and track completed training.
Secretary is new to Dept1 and VU. She is responsible for financial reports, budget and
other support functions. Some training is required as a staff employee while other
training is required due to her position.
6.3.1 Training
6.3.1.1 Demonstrate how the system can establish required training profiles by job
classification, position number or other attribute, such as department or duration
in current position.
6.3.1.2 Show how an employee's manager can customize the training requirements of her
position based on unique department needs.
6.3.1.3 Given an employee has a targeted due date to have certain training programs
completed, show how the software notifies an employee and her supervisor that
she has not scheduled/completed required training.
6.3.1.4 Show how your software can link training goals to performance management
objectives.
6.3.2 Tracking
6.3.2.1 Show how an employee's training and class work is recorded and tracked for her,
for her supervisor and for department, organization, and University statistics.
6.3.2.2 Demonstrate ability to identify personnel skills for an employee, identify what
classes have been taken, and project further training requirements the employee
should acquire based on the employee's chosen career path.
INTEGRATION POINT:
6.3.2.3 Secretary is transferred to a new position in a Dept2, show how the training
records follow an employee and how the training plan is updated to include
courses required by this new position and this department that have not yet been
taken.
7.
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Student Services Demonstration Script
7.1
Recruit and Admit Processes
7.1.1 Prospect and Candidate Access
External stakeholders (such as applicants, parents, high schools, alumni, etc.) want to be
better informed. To meet these demands, VU plans to provide stakeholders with multiple
ways to access current and accurate information. They will have the ability to:
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Obtain on-line information about academic and non-academic programs,
distance-learning and continuing education programs
Complete application forms in multiple format
Rely on interactive capabilities to transmit transcripts, text, numerical data,
images, audio, video, etc. (This capability is especially important between VU and
high schools, as well as with other universities, to facilitate the evaluation of
candidates and transfer students for admission.)
Access application requirements, deadlines and on-line status check capability
throughout the admissions process. Access additional WWW links to locality
information and attractions (weather, cultural, geographical) to encourage
applicants to accept.
Receive CD-ROM or web-based information delivery (entering students) to
replace and consolidate multiple mailings from multiple sources
Demonstrate the ability of a prospect to access:
7.1.1.1 Programs of study and degree requirements for a College
7.1.1.2 Continuing education courses and certificate programs
7.1.1.3 Course catalog with course descriptions
7.1.1.4 Admissions requirements and deadlines
7.1.1.5 Statistical data such as apply/accept ratios, number of applications currently
received, etc.
7.1.1.6 Job Placement statistics
7.1.2 Application submission and maintenance
A prospect decides to submit an application electronically, utilizing electronic forms, and
to access on-line information about application deadlines and the status of the materials
required to complete the application.
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7.1.2.1 Demonstrate the on-line application process. Be sure to show how to enter basic
demographic data, extracurricular activities, employment and diversity
information.
7.1.2.2 Demonstrate how essays and other supporting information are requested and
received by the institution.
7.1.2.3 Demonstrate how the information required to initiate the requests for transcripts,
recommendations and SAT scores are entered into and processed by the system.
INTEGRATION POINT:
7.1.2.4 Demonstrate how an admissions deposit (received either by check or credit card)
would be received processed and posted to a valid student account. How would
this affect the Student Receivables portion of the system? What edits are in place
to ensure this?
A recently discharged army corporal stationed in Arizona (hometown is Alabama) has
applied for admission via the Internet. She uses her credit card number for payment of
the application fee.
Demonstrate the ability to:
7.1.2.5 Maintain multiple prospect addresses and telephone numbers
7.1.2.6 Download information from the World Wide Web application for admission
INTEGRATION POINT:
7.1.2.7 Process application fee from a credit card
7.1.2.8 Automatically generate follow-up mailings (e.g. request for a final transcript)
A student has applied for admission. Proactively, a member of the admissions staff, or a
telemarketer, is making an evening call to inform him of upcoming deadlines and to
remind him to submit additional credentials. The student has applied for one term, but is
considering enrolling for a different term.
Demonstrate the ability to:
7.1.2.9 Allow student to update his file with any new information (such as new address or
telephone number) through the World Wide Web
7.1.2.10 Update and track an applicant’s total contact history on-line, including
encounters with all university personnel (or faculty) identified by date and person
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7.1.3 Select, Offer and Notify Students
This process involves applying the selection guidelines to be used in reviewing
applications, making decisions, determining the financial aid award, and evaluating
previous course work. An integrated “admit packet” will be sent to students who are
accepted.
A student is currently a first-term senior in high school. He has completed nine credit
hours at a community college and is currently enrolled in six credit hours through VU’s
advance credit program. The student recently applied electronically through the World
Wide Web to VU as a first-time, full-time freshman for the fall semester. His enrollment
is contingent upon a satisfactory financial aid offer. The student has indicated that he
can be reached at his permanent address until 06/01/98. At that time, he will relocate to
another state where he will be employed as a camp counselor for two months.
Demonstrate:
7.1.3.1 How an admissions officer will review applicant credentials to come to a
decision. Evaluate credentials based upon objective selection criteria and generate
a recommended admission decision and communication.
7.1.3.2 How to generate automatic notifications regarding financial aid, housing,
orientation, final transcripts, and enrollment fee, including timed reminders to
complete the FAFSA, send final transcripts, pay enrollment fee, etc.
7.1.3.3 How to schedule the student for orientation prior to a specified date.
Discuss ability to:
7.1.3.4 Handle multiple decision dates and ‘early’ decisions
INTEGRATION POINT:
7.1.3.5 Waive application fee for specific applicants
7.2
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Student Records
To support the educational mission of VU’s academic departments, the administration
plans to build on its efforts to provide easy ways for students to register and enroll for
courses, receive advising assistance, and monitor academic performance and progress.
In the future, students will be better able to assess information and make informed
choices about academic opportunities through a user-friendly student system that
provides answers to commonly asked questions. High quality and timely services will
be provided to all students whether they are on or off-Grounds. Students will have
access to more on-line information to assist with course selection, registration and
tracking progress. This will allow advisors to focus on a higher level of advising.
All students, whether on-Grounds or off, will be able to register via telephone or WWW
and have the same privileges and access to service. While the priority system will most
likely continue, students will have the option to pre-enter their course selections at a time
that is convenient for them. Also, students will be notified automatically about deadlines
(i.e., add/drop).
The amount of paper processing in the various Registrars’ offices should be reduced
through WWW and telephone access by faculty, staff, and students; electronic
transmission and receipt of transcripts, grades, transfer credits and other information; the
use of electronic forms and signatures for grade and status changes and course scheduling
transactions; reports that are easy to access, read and use; and an improved capability to
manage course conversion from other institutions. Capabilities such as these, and others
to yet be included, should allow for a reduction in the amount of time devoted to clerical
activities. As such, staff will need to be retrained on new technologies and service
delivery approaches and redirected to higher value activities.
Advising for undergraduates and, to a lesser extent, graduates and professional students
will become more consultative, philosophical and exception based as students are able to
locate answers to routine questions themselves. Support for advisors should include the
capability to conduct on-going degree audits, the development of on-line reference to find
answers quickly, and the availability of contact list of experts as references for students.
Schools, departments, and faculty will have the ability to monitor course enrollment
real-time, and will be notified of course demand and waiting lists so that they can
consider new sections. Faculty should also have additional tools available to facilitate
the administrative aspects of teaching. For example, features will include: access to
no-line grade book and submission of grades; the capability to conduct item analysis for
on-line, multiple choice exams, an on-line class roll with bulletin board,
chat-room/WWW page, and e-mail Ids to automatically generate distribution lists; and
on-line course evaluations.
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7.2.1 Course Catalog
A professor has proposed a new course. Accessing the on-line catalog, the relevant
course data such as course description, course number, title, credit hours, etc. are entered
into the system. The proposed course is sent electronically to the department
chair/appropriate approval committee for consideration. The approval committee
activates the system to check for duplication and overlap with existing courses. The
system indicates that no overlap was found. The committee then considers the value that
the course will bring to the curriculum. Approval is granted and authorization is made in
the system.
Course catalogs are updated electronically to the new course. If a faculty member
chooses to review it an electronic notification of students eligible to take the course is
available.
Demonstrate the ability to:
7.2.1.1 Enter the course into the system. Include the following information: course
number, long course name, short course name, course description, credit hours,
instructor, anecdotal information about the creation of the course, prerequisite
courses, required texts, syllabus, and any other information the system maintains
about a course
7.2.1.2 Archive the Course. Indicate the period during which the course was active.
7.2.2 Course Schedule
The new course, as well as like-term courses, is electronically transmitted to the
department for review and update with specific room requests. Updated information is
electronically transmitted to the Registrar for room scheduling.
Room scheduling software is electronically applied to proposed offerings, and schedules
sections in appropriate rooms according to utilization, room characteristics, etc. A copy
of this schedule is electronically sent to the department chairs, through the dean if
necessary, who then electronically sends a schedule to the faculty.
The Registrar's Office downloads the course offering data to the publisher and web sites.
Demonstrate the ability to:
7.2.2.1 Create and maintain an unlimited number of terms, which have flexible start and
end dates.
7.2.2.2 Create a preliminary list of fall term courses by rolling forward the previous fall
term’s courses.
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7.2.2.3 Modify current term course records including title, instructor, credits, duration,
meeting schedule, location, etc.
7.2.2.4 Selectively choose the semester to which a class will be credited.
INTEGRATION POINT
7.2.2.5 Process payments to adjunct faculty according to the course schedule, rather than
by the semester in which the course is credited.
7.2.3 Course enrollment
Halfway through the fall semester a student is deciding, with the help of an advisor, the
best courses to take during the spring semester. They review a degree completion plan
that was generated when the student entered, based on an initial planned course of study.
In preparing for the course enrollment period, the Registrar’s Office establishes priority
for release to the system (based on decisions of Provost), runs batch jobs for assigning
advisor access codes for undergraduates and appointment times to every student.
Advising cards are printed and forwarded to advisors for pickup by students. This
insures that academic advising will occur for all undergraduates. Graduate and
professional students are alerted to time of access through printed copy and web
instructions.
7.2.3.1 Demonstrate ability to assign priority for course enrollment based on various data
fields such as academic level (academic hours earned), registration type for
student, and so forth. Provide random assignments within groups.
7.2.3.2 Demonstrate ability to assign advising access codes for undergraduate population
and ability to assign appointment times, in addition to making this available to
advisors, or ability to provide alternate methods to insure that advising occurs.
7.2.3.3 Provide capability for assigning special security or access code for enrollment in
individual courses that require permission of instructor.
7.2.3.4 Create and maintain eligibility criteria, i.e., holds, academic progress, etc.
7.2.3.5 Identify the student population to register, i.e. currently enrolled, admitted, etc.
During the course enrollment appointment, the student uses a PIN and advising access
code to access the system, if required by school of enrollment, and selects courses. One
of the courses the student wishes to take requires the completion of a prerequisite course.
The student is currently enrolled in the prerequisite course, so registers for the next level
course for the spring semester. The system notifies the student of any conflicts and
suggests alternatives.
7.2.3.6 Allow real-time enrollment for current and future terms.
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7.2.3.7 Disallow enrollment in a course if restriction criteria are not met and notify
students of unmet eligibility by preferred method, i.e., real-time, IVR, email, web,
and so forth.
7.2.3.8 Detect and notify student of scheduling conflicts (on-line, real-time).
7.2.3.9 Compile course data by student and produce student schedules for access on-line,
interactive voice response, web, and so forth.
The student makes the necessary adjustments to the schedule and is wait-listed for a
course. One of the courses selected requires instructor consent. The
instructor-provided consent number is entered in the system to allow enrollment. At the
end of the course enrollment session the schedule and fee statement are sent to the
student using the current student address. For enrollments for future terms, system
should provide capability for selecting addresses other than current.
7.2.3.10 Allow the student to be "wait-listed" for closed courses and provide on-line
reports to support departmental course management of wait lists. Functionality
should be available on a course-by-course basis.
7.2.3.11 Allow students to "add" and "drop" courses and switch course sections, based
on multiple begin-end dates approved by individual schools. Adjust tuition and
departmental awards accordingly.
During the course enrollment process, a new course is quickly filled. Due to the
demand, the department chair decides to add a section (with a minimum enrollment
limit). By the first day of classes, however, the minimum enrollment has not been met.
The extra section is canceled and all students who had enrolled in that course are notified
by their preferred method.
7.2.3.12 Cancel a course, notify enrolled students and delete canceled courses from a
student record.
Unfortunately the student fails the prerequisite course during the fall semester. The
system automatically notifies the student of ineligibility to enroll in the course with the
prerequisite, and drops the student from the class list. Additionally, the system suggests
alternatives, such as re-taking the failed course, and sends notification of enrollment for
the wait-listed course along with its accompanying lab, if appropriate. The department,
when notified of the demand by the registrar, opened an additional section of the course
to accommodate the wait-listed students.
7.2.3.13 Automatically withdraw a student from a pre-enrolled course, based on failure
of a prerequisite course.
7.2.3.14 Automatically enroll students into courses linked together, i.e. a lecture with
lab, and the ability to also drop students from linked courses.
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7.2.4 Final registration
Enrollment in courses does not constitute final registration for a particular term. Final
registration is based additionally on academic and disciplinary eligibility, and payment of
fees. Every student must verify, at the beginning of each term, his or her final
registration status. All student privileges (i.e., meal plans, access to athletic facilities
and events, and so forth) are accorded or revoked based on this action.
7.2.4.1 Demonstrate ability for student to complete final registration at the beginning of
each term.
7.2.4.2 Demonstrate capability for multiple academic and administrative offices to place
and remove registration blocks. Display to student a prescribed level of detail
about existing blocks.
7.2.4.3 Send confirmation of final registration to student by preferred method, i.e.,
interactive voice response, web, e-mail and so forth.
7.2.5 Grading and Grade Reporting
Faculty would like to use a variety of systems to report final student grades. Some
would like to utilize central support for entering grades; others would prefer to have
access that allows them to enter grades directly into the system. Grade sheets must use
student identification numbers, not social security numbers.
Demonstrate ability to:
7.2.5.1 Generate final grade sheets for faculty.
7.2.5.2 Provide for batch processing of final grade sheets submitted by faculty, in
addition to accepting electronic grade submission.
7.2.5.3 Allow different grading systems, and the ability for individual schools to
selectively choose acceptable grades and award different grade points for identical
letter grades.
7.2.6 Faculty Advising and Degree Audit
In advising students faculty must have access to a student’s current transcript, program of
study and degree audit information. Demonstrate the security that allows only the
current advisor access to an individual’s academic transcript.
7.2.6.1 Demonstrate an advisor appointment scheduling system.
7.2.6.2 Provide a student’s transcript on-line to an authorized faulty advisor.
Demonstrate authorization process.
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7.2.6.3 Provide a degree audit with capability of evaluating current program of student,
by matching a student’s transcript to a given program of study and evaluating
missing requirements, in addition to “what-if” scenarios and individual specific
programs. Make copies of evaluations available to advisor and student by web,
e-mail, hard-copy reports, and so forth.
7.2.7 Transcripts and Certifications
The most important document produced for a student is the academic transcript. The
registrar’s office must also verify registration for other purposes: scholarship awards,
good-student discounts for insurance, loan deferments, and credit-card issuance being the
most often requested.
7.2.7.1 Demonstrate on-line transcript production.
7.2.7.2 Provide a tracking system for transcripts requested and sent.
7.2.7.3 Provide on-line certification system for individual requests by student, and
tracking system for same.
7.2.7.4 Demonstrate production of complete transcripts (all work attempted at
institution), in addition to transcripts by degree earned, i.e., undergraduate,
graduate, and professional.
7.3
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Student Financials
7.3.1 Student Account Creation (Reg)
7.3.1.1 Describe how the student accounts are created:
1) through a school’s regular Admission process;
2) via the Admission process but independent of an academic term (as with the Law and
Medical Schools which are on a non-standard academic calendar); and
3) when there is no formal admissions process (as in the Division of Continuing
Education).
When are they created? What information is pulled forward from the Registrar
module?
7.3.2 Tuition and Fee Calculations
Demonstrate the ability to:
7.3.2.1 Calculate tuition based on residency, school of enrollment, number of credit
hours, and type of student.
7.3.2.2 Calculate tuition where overlapping semesters (overlapping semesters or sections
resulting in differential tuition for different semesters or sections) occur.
7.3.2.3 Calculate tuition:




in real time mode
in batch mode
Change # of credits/tuition flat rate/or fees on a course and automatically
update student accounts.
Calculate tuition for what VU terms non-residents and for those taking a
combination of regular credit and research only hours.
7.3.2.4 Assign tuition surcharge to students by academic level.
7.3.3 Accept Other Charges
Demonstrate the ability to:
7.3.3.1 Post dining and housing charges to student account.
7.3.3.2 Adjust dining and housing charges on-line, real-time.
7.3.3.3 Accommodate different housing plans and charge rates, including separate
surcharges for certain dormitories.
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7.3.3.4 Pull forward charges from the previous semester.
7.3.3.5 Post other charges such as parking tickets, library fines, telecommunication
charges, bookstore charges, etc. Provide both on-line and batch update
capability.
7.3.4 Billing
Faculty2 will soon deliver a continuing education course. The fee is $1,000 per registrant.
A local company will pay for 50% of the fee for its employees. The company and the
employees desire to be billed separately. The company wants its bill to be sent to its HR
office and wants the name of each registrant included on the bill. The bills for the
remaining 50% of the fee will be sent to the home addresses of the registrants.
7.3.4.1 Demonstrate how this billing arrangement is established in your system.
Faculty2 also will register “late” participants at the entrance door to the conference on the
day of the conference. Faculty2 will accept cash, credit cards, and checks.
7.3.4.2 Show how Faculty2 can, with a laptop computer without a modem connection,
accomplish this (establish an account, “bill” the account, receive payments, and
issue receipts) at the entrance to the conference.
7.3.4.3 After the conference, Faculty2 will want to upload all of the off-site transaction
activity into Dept1’s master AR system for the course. Show how this would be
done.
7.3.4.4 Demonstrate the ability to bill third parties for student charges:





In full
Partial by fixed amount per charge type
Partial by percentage of amount by charge type
Flat amount per student
Maximum amount
7.3.4.5 Show how different guarantors and “bill to” addresses may be created for separate
charges on one account. For example, many students want charges for books sent
to an address that is different from the address and guarantor for tuition charges.
Discuss if your system will require the creation of separate accounts each time a
different “bill to” address and/or guarantor is desired.
7.3.4.6 Demonstrate the ability to maintain memo data at an invoice or customer level
and be able to import a group of student names into one memo or create an
attachment with the list of names.
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7.3.5 Payment Processing and Cashiering
7.3.5.1 Demonstrate how each cash register works as both a cash register and as an
on-line payment client. For example, our current registers handle the cash
receipting function (validating payment, endorsing checks, printing receipts),
while at the same time conducting an on-line session with our student information
system and posting the payment to the student account real-time.
7.3.5.2 Process a variety of payments and identify them as such: cash, checks, credit
cards, debit cards, etc.
7.3.5.3 Produce the appropriate receipt with the detailed payment information.
7.3.5.4 Verify credit and debit cards on-line.
7.3.5.5 Accept electronic signatures and data entered PIN numbers.
7.3.5.6 Demonstrate how sponsor payments for the Division of Continuing Education are
applied to student accounts either partially or in-full.
7.3.5.7 Process cancellations and refunds of admissions deposits.
7.3.6 Refund Calculations and Processing
7.3.6.1 Demonstrate ability to re-apply credit balances to all charges before calculating
refunds. For example, if a new credit balance has occurred (due to a drop in
hours or a new partial payment), the system should check to see if there are any
other unpaid charges, like Bookstore charges. The system should avoid
refunding money to a student on the one hand, while sending a bill on the other
hand for other charges.
7.3.7 Student Account Adjustments
Demonstrate ability to:
7.3.7.1 Enter adjustments by student and by type of transaction.
Continuing Education enrolls students with a variety of needs. Due to family illness, a
University degree student must drop her course load to six hours for the spring semester.
She enrolls through Continuing Education and wishes to pay into her tuition payment
plan, just as she does as a full-time student at VU. Her current tuition payment plan
allows her to make five payments over the period November through March.
A secretary to a local company is thinking about going back to school. She enrolls in a
three-credit-hour class at VU as a way to determine whether or not this is an avenue she
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wants to pursue. Because of her limited income, she wants to pay one-third of her
tuition up-front, and spread the balance of her tuition over two equal payments.
7.3.7.2 Demonstrate how installment payment plans can be established, or how student
accounts can interface with third party vendors. Demonstrate ability to handle
multiple types of payment plans.
7.3.8 Delinquent Accounts
7.3.8.1 Demonstrate how student accounts are moved from current status to delinquent
status.
7.3.8.2 Demonstrate how multiple “holds” (also known as financial holds or registration
blocks or transcript holds) can be placed on student accounts in both real time and
batch modes. Show on-line a description of what caused the hold with reason
codes or comments
7.3.8.3 Demonstrate the ability to have more than one hold per student.
7.3.8.4 Demonstrate how written off accounts are incorporated or checked against all
current student accounts.
7.3.9
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Posting Financial Aid
7.3.9.1 Demonstrate what happens if financial aid is ready to post, but the student account
is not yet created.
7.3.9.2 Demonstrate how awards are posted to a student’s account…both batch and
on-line? Through a financial aid interface? Or directly on-line to a student
account? This relates back to the federal government’s regulation that whoever
calculates the aid has to be someone different than whoever posts the aid.
7.3.9.3 Demonstrate how the loan proceeds are used to pay off various charges.
Demonstrate how the system handles certain aid being used to pay off certain
charges, for example, direct loan proceeds cannot be used to pay off prior year
obligations. Show the history of what aid paid off which charges. Also
demonstrate how the criteria to track these items will be established.
7.3.9.4 Demonstrate how departmental awards (which are essentially grants or stipends)
are entered for postdoctoral research fellows. (Postdocs are non-students and
non-employees.) How is their account created?
7.3.9.5 Differentiate between regular credit balance refunds and credit balances resulting
from pending stipend payments.
7.4
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Financial Aid
Overview
In the future, UVa will continue to provide financial assistance to applicants in order to
support the enrollment and graduation of a diverse student body. Throughout the student
lifecycle, varying levels of financial assistance and fund management advice are required.
Both the applicant/student and administrative staff will have real-time access to accurate
information about each student's entire financial picture, including the award or loan
package and tuition and fee payments. Personal assistance on financial matters, either
over the telephone, via e-mail, or in-person, will also be available in a seamless fashion.
From the student perspective, the financial aid process in the future should include the
following services and features:
Ensure seamless integration and communication of admissions, financial aid,
bursar and registrar information and external scholarships into the student's
profile, loan/award package, and bills.
Improve communication with students by encouraging use of the WWW,
proactively providing information about eligibility, status and award notices
on-line, and providing 'tickler' notices when information is missing.
Provide entrance/exit information such as budget planning, repayment schedules
and basic financial skills in an initial training/orientation so they can help
themselves to use the system and understand their financial picture.
Enable access to comprehensive financial aid information, allowing the student to
search for and access information about scholarship and fellowship packages.
Enable access to tools and control to self-select jobs that are managed around
their course schedules and match their student profile/interests.
Provide timely and constructive counseling to applicants, students and families
(e.g., alternative loan and emergency fund options, and award payment options).
Develop and provide access to 'what-if' tools to analyze impact of changes in
financial and academic status. This should include on-line context-sensitive help
documentation and on-line tutorials as well as the option to meet face-to-face with
a financial aid specialist.
VU currently supports several separate financial aid offices serving unique populations of
students (Law, Medical, Undergrads, etc). All of these offices including any future
offices will work to:


Train staff to solve problems and answer fundamental questions about
financial assistance and bursar activities (the look and feel of a one-stop service
center).
Reduce the amount of paper processing by using on-line electronic forms,
electronic signatures (where possible), electronic verification of requirements,
exceptions processing and archiving capabilities.
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





Continue to determine and verify eligibility and calculate awards
electronically.
Improve accuracy and timeliness of processing student aid/loan applications
and the packaging and delivering of aid.
Facilitate and streamline the printing, sending, receiving and processing of
promissory notes for subsidized and unsubsidized (non-need based) loans.
Develop ability to follow current federal methodology and adapt quickly to
changes (e.g., NSLDS, SSCR, Pell Reporting, FISAP).
Provide a cohesive technological structure in the office with network access,
imaging capability and easy access to the WWW.
Other departments will need access to integrated information, including grades,
payroll and financial aid information. As appropriate, they should have on-line
access to information, including work study information, for management and
reporting purposes.
In this document, the following acronyms are utilized:

EFC – Expected Family Contribution

FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student Aid

FAO – Financial Aid Office

FAS – Financial Aid Statement (internal University of Virginia Document)

FAT – Financial Aid Transcript

FISOP – Fiscal Operations Report

ISIR – Institutional Student Information Report

NSLDS – National Student Loan Data System

SSCR – Student Status Confirmation Report
7.4.1
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Application / Document Tracking
An applicant to VU has also applied for financial aid. The applicant has filed the
FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and all documentation required by
VU including VU’s Financial Aid Statement (FAS), an internal document available
through the WWW or hard copy. The applicant is anxious and accesses VU on-line
system to make sure their application is being processed.
7.4.1.1 Demonstrate the ability and track required document by classification, e.g.
entering student, returning student, transfer, graduate and how comments can be
added and retrieved from a student’s record.
7.4.1.2 Demonstrate the ability to track summer session document requirements separate
from academic year document requirements
7.4.2 Packaging
All undergraduate applicants and returning student receive a preliminary financial aid
package. This preliminary financial aid package is based on year in school, EFC,
residency status and other variables. The student has received a Pell, SEOG,
institutional grant, maximum Perkins, and maximum subsidized direct loan.
7.4.2.1 Demonstrate how funding levels for individual federal, state and institutional
funds are entering into the system
The Admissions Office has decided to offer the Early Decision applicants an estimate of
their financial aid in order to help them make a decision about committing to VU. Each
student requesting an early estimate of financial aid must submit their parents’ tax return
for the previous year, and an FAS. The financial aid counselor reviews this information,
and determines their budget, need, and estimated package, produces a letter to the
student.
7.4.2.2 Demonstrate the ability to track applicants requiring early estimates separate from
the general applicant pool
7.4.2.3 Demonstrate the ability to utilize estimating tools to determine budget, need and
aid packages
7.4.3 Need Analysis
A returning student has filed all appropriate documents with the Financial Aid Office and
has filed her FAFSA. She is ready to be reviewed by the financial aid counselor. She
made several mistakes on her FAFS when reporting her (and her parents) income. The
financial aid counselor corrects these errors, recalculates the student’s need, and
recalculates the student’s aid.
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7.4.3.1 Demonstrate on-line repackaging
The information requested above, is returned by the family, and shows untaxed income
from family sources outside the United States. The FAO counselor enters the additional
income into the need analysis system, recalculates the need and award. The counselor
also wants to set an attribute for this students to assure that the student will be reviewed
in every future award year, regardless of whether or not he is chooses for verification.
7.4.3.2 Demonstrate the ability to assign institutional attributes to a student for need
analysis purposes that can be utilized between award years.
7.4.4 Awarding
The financial aid counselor has reviewed the applicant/student folder and made
corrections to the student data and recalculated the student EFC. The system utilizes the
budget and the EFC to recalculate the students need.
7.4.4.1 Demonstrate that preliminary awards do not affect the students account, i.e. these
preliminary awards will not be applied against any institutional charges
The applicant/student is an in-state student with a 3.4 GPA, of Armenian descent, in the
Commerce School. The counselor reviews the repackaged aid and decides to replace the
Federal Work Study award with a National Merit Award, and to replace a Perkins loan
with a state scholarship. She attempts to give a scholarship based on the Armenian
descent, but accidentally provides the award information (e.g. account number) for a
scholarship for students of French descent.
7.4.4.2 Demonstrate that awards will be edited on-line for individualized criteria
including but not limited to:








Loan limits by academic year
Maximum award amounts
Department awards
Maximum total award (not to exceed need)
NSLDS information
Characteristics of students
Characteristics of funds
Other institutionally identified attributes
The student receives a financial aid award letter along with all the appropriate enclosures.
The student decides to decline part of the aid awarded (work study).
The student
notifies the FAO of their decision, and the FAO counselor deletes the work study award
for the student and offers a Perkins loan in its place.
INTEGRATION POINT:
7.4.4.3 Perkins loan processing:
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




production of promissory notes
recording receipt of promissory notes
setting distribution requirements
disbursing the aid
tracking promissory note signatures
A student has applied for Summer School financial aid. The financial aid counselor,
having completed need analysis, determines the student’s financial aid, passes the
students information to Quality Control, who reviews, approves and changes the
preliminary award to actual. This same student is an applicant for financial aid for the
academic year following the summer session.
7.4.4.4 Summer Session – demonstrate that all awarding capabilities are available for
summer session.
INTEGRATION POINT:
7.4.5
External Scholarships
A student knows that she will be receiving a $2500 scholarship from the local Rotary
Club. This scholarship will be sent directly to VU, ½ each semester. The student has
followed instructions in her financial aid application and notifies the FAO.
7.4.5.1 Demonstrate how the preliminary outside scholarship is entered and tracked
The check for the student’s scholarship has arrived. It is for $5,000, to be applied to the
students account for tuition and fees ½ for each semester of the academic year. The
check is entered as having been received, is applied to the student’s account as requested,
and a letter is sent to the student notifying her of the receipt of the check and its amount.
The student, having become anxious about her scholarship has been checking the on-line
system to see if the check has been received by VU.
7.4.5.2 Demonstrate the ability to record receipt of the check from the source and apply
directly to the student’s account
7.4.5.3 Demonstrate that a student may access their information concerning outside
scholarships.
7.4.6 Loan Processing
7.4.6.1 Demonstrate processing of direct loan information including



Originate direct loan
Recording of cash drawdowns
Perform monthly reconciliation with accounting data
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




Awarding with appropriate academic level
Creation of promissory note with bar code for scanning
Generate duplicate prom note on demand
Scan prom note into system
Annotate that the student has returned the prom note and the loan is ready to go
to the servicer
INTEGRATION POINT:

Post funds when LOR approved by servicer
A student not eligible for subsidized loans, and who has taken their maximum allowable
unsubsidized loan for the year, has decided to borrow $10,000 from First Union Bank of
Virginia through their non-subsidized loan program. The student has obtained an
application, filled it out appropriately, and submitted the application for verification to
the financial aid office.
INTEGRATION POINT:
7.4.6.2 Demonstrate processing of non-subsidized, private loans including processing of
application, notification to lender, tracking of loan, check or EFT processing.
7.4.7
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Department / School Awards
Graduate students receive financial support in several forms:
a. fellowships or direct payments in lump sum or as monthly payments which may
vary in different parts of the pay period over a variable number of months and
may be charged to more than one fund source in equal or unequal amounts;
b. fellowships in a fixed amount intended to pay tuition and fees as well as other
semester-based University charges such as room and board and any balance of
the fellowship to be paid to the student;
c. fellowships intended to pay only tuition and fees without remitting a balance to the
student;
d. work based compensation through payroll (teaching assistant or research assistant
and combinations of the two) which may qualify the student for a fellowship
payment from a Dean’s account or a Dept.’s account of in-state tuition and fees
based on effort level of employment and a fellowship payment for the
out-of-state portion of tuition from a Dean’s account depending upon a
minimum level of projected total compensation and availability of budgeted
funds;
e. need based loans which take into account the amount of non-need based awards
(indicated above) and which must be re-calculated if post-award, non-need
based awards are authorized.
A non-resident applicant to the graduate program in Dept1 has accepted the offer of
admission. The student’s financial support package consists of the following:
a. a research assistantship (academic year stipend level equals $8,000) in the Fall
semester at 50% effort level;
b. a teaching assistantship (academic year stipend level equals $8,000) in the Spring
semester at 50% effort level;
c. a research assistantship in the Summer semester at 100% effort level;
d. a stipend only fellowship of $6,000 from two sources to be disbursed over 9 equal
monthly payments beginning on September 1;
e. a Dean’s fellowship to pay the out-of-state portion of tuition and fees for the
academic year;
f. a Dept fellowship from the same source of funds as the RA wage payment to pay
the in-state portion of tuition and fees for the Fall semester and the Summer
semester based on employment as an RA; and
g. a Dean’s fellowship to pay the in-state portion of tuition and fees for the Spring
semester based on employment as a TA.
Demonstrate the ability to:
7.4.7.1 Create stipend payments of equal amounts using input data of a total amount and
a specified number of months and specific start date;
7.4.7.2 Withhold federal taxes on the stipend based on tax treaty agreement of the
student’s country of residence;
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7.4.7.3 Verify source of payroll funds to validate tuition remission (in-state) charges to
Dept in Fall and Dean in Spring;
7.4.7.4 Verify projected wage minimum to validate out-of-state tuition charges to Dean.
The portion of a fellowship not used to pay direct educational expenses such as tuition
and fees is taxable income.
Demonstrate the ability to:
INTEGRATION POINT:
7.4.7.5 Withhold federal and state taxes on stipend payments paid directly to the student
based on W-4 forms from the student and tax treaty guidelines based on the
student’s country of residence.
A professor (Faculty1) in an academic department (Dept1) has a new post-doctoral
student come to his laboratory. The post-doc, who did not attend the Virtual University,
will be given a monthly stipend from the professor’s grant.
Demonstrate the ability to:
7.4.7.6 Create a non-student record for an individual who was not an applicant to one of
the schools and did not apply for a position through Human Resources;
INTEGRATION POINT:
7.4.8 Refunds
An entering student, who receives direct loans, Pell, and SEOG, drops out of school for
medical reasons on October 30th. The Bursar’s office has determined that he will be
changed for 40% of his tuition and fees, and his room and board has been prorated. The
financial aid counselor uses the system to see which of the three refund methods (as
required by Federal regulations, pro rata, institutional and Federal) will be the most
appropriate in this case, and, having selected a method, has the system repackage the
students. The counselor reviews the awards and approves the adjustments.
7.4.8.1 Demonstrate the ability to set up an indefinite number of refund algorithms based
on federal, state and institutional parameters
7.4.8.2 Demonstrate the ability to calculate the students refund through any or all of the
refund algorithms to determine the most appropriate method to use, and then to
select and utilize one method
7.4.8.3 Demonstrate the ability for the system to change the awards as determined by the
refund method utilized
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7.4.8.4 Demonstrate the ability to refund the appropriate federal and state award
accounts.
8.
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Virtual University
8.1
The Virtual Undergraduate
8.1.1 Student One
Undergraduate One is a high school student of high-ability, a track star, of minority
descent from the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Undergraduate One (know affectionately as UnOn) is interested in the University of
Virginia, and therefore, while taking his SAT I and II, puts VU down as one recipient of
his scores. He is an extremely able student, scoring 1550 on his SAT and his name is
also included in a recently purchased list of prospects for high-ability students. He is
encouraged by his high school counselor to apply for admissions to VU through the early
decision program, which he does. He utilizes the WEB based application and utilizes his
father’s VISA card to pay the application fee.
He is offered admissions, and elects to receive an estimate of his financial aid in order to
make an informed decision about attending VU. He sends the Financial Aid Office a
Financial Aid Statement, and a copy his parent’s previous year’s tax return. As he is a
star athlete, the track coach informs the financial aid office that the applicant will receive
a $3,000 athletic grant-in-aid. Since the applicant is from the Eastern Shore, he also is
eligible for the endowed Bailey-Tiffany grant.
UnOn, upon receiving the estimate of a Pell grant, Bailey-Tiffany, athletic grant-in-aid,
and Perkins Loan, decides to come to VU, and requests that his admissions deposit be
waived. The Financial Aid Office concurs and the deposit is waived.
In January, UnOn files his FAFSA. The athletic department sends confirmation of his
athletic grant-in-aid to the Financial Aid Office. His financial aid package consists of a
Pell, Bailey-Tiffany Grant, Perkins loan, and University grants. UnOn accepts the
awards, also notifying VU that the Eastern Shore Lady’s Fire Auxiliary will be giving
him $800 for books for the year ($400 each semester).
He receives and signs the promissory note for the Perkins Loan and returns it
immediately.
UnOn soon receives the Presidents Welcome Letter, officially designating him as a
student of VU, and the first of the summer communications. He also receives
instructions as to how to contact his advisor and register for his classes. His first bill
arrives in July, showing that all his financial aid awards and the expected outside
scholarships, and the total final amount he must pay before final registration, which is
just over $100.00.
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Prior to arriving at VU, UnOn enrolls in courses via each of several methods depending
on his location at the time (computer at home, telephone at the beach, etc.).
UnOn arrives at VU on the appointed day, and attempts to do final registration on the
WEB, but is blocked as he has not paid the $100.00. He contacts the Bursar
immediately to ask that the $100.00 be deferred for a month. The Bursar’s office
arranges an appointment for UnOn with the Financial Aid Office, which gives him an
institutional loan for $100.00, interest free for 90 days, takes the block off and allows him
to complete final registration.
UnOn obtains his student ID, and immediately heads for the bookstore to buy his books,
charging them on his student account.
UnOn works hard during the semester, although his girl friend is far away at Virginia
Tech. He began the semester well in most his courses, but had trouble from the
beginning in his Algebra Class, and his advisor suggested he drop the course fall
semester and take only 12 hours.
In November, UnOn’s mother calls and reports that his telephone bill is over $300.00 and
she will not pay it for him. UnOn is desperate, as he knows that it will soon be time to
enroll for next semester classes, and as an athlete, he has top priority for class selection.
He has checked his status and he knows he is blocked from course enrollment.
He
arranges an appointment over the WEB with the Financial Aid Office and after
counseling (the Financial Aid counselor reminds him he can do live conferencing over
the Internet and it wont cost him a penny!), uses some of his unsubsidized direct loan
eligibility to borrow $500.
8.1.1.1 Demonstrate the above scenario using your system.
8.1.2
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Student Two
Twoie is a young single mother of two, who has two years at VU under her belt, but took
two years off to have her children. Twoie is a secretary at the School of Medicine and
has decided to return to school through to pursue a University degree on a part time basis.
She knows that VU will pay for one course each semester as she works toward her
degree. She intends to start by taking one course, but hopes to receive financial aid to
take two courses later.
Twoie applies to VU and is accepted conditionally. She must complete the first 6 hours
of courses to be accepted into the degree program. Twoie registers for her course and
immediately checks her student account to ensure that the account reflects her University
employment status and no charge for the class.
After successfully completing the first two courses (she receives an A in both classes),
Twoie decides to attend summer school, taking a leave of absence from VU for 3 months
so she can take 15 hours. She applies to the Financial Aid Office for assistance, and
enrolls in 15 hours of course work, 8 hours in the first session and 7 in the second. As
she has enrolled prior to her stop date at work, her account reflects her University
employment status. Twoie figures that once she goes on leave, the account will be
adjusted.
Twoie knows life will be difficult financially during the summer so she has applied to a
local charitable organization for assistance. The have agreed to sponsor one of her
courses through VU.
The summer starts out beautifully, as Twoie has received full financial aid, including an
allowance for child care. She does extremely well in her course for the first session, but
suddenly one of her children is bitten by their pet lemur, and will require more care at
home, so she must drop one of the courses for the second semester. She checks her
account to ensure that her charges have been adjusted and to see what affect this has had
on her financial aid.
8.1.2.1 Demonstrate the above scenario using your system.
8.2
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School/Dept Awards
The Fiscal Administrator (Fisadmin) in an Academic Department (Dept1) receives an
annual budget allocation from the Dean which includes graduate fellowship funds,
teaching assistant funds, and funds for the remission of in-state and out-of-state tuition
for teaching assistants. Fisadmin creates local budget categories to provide funds for the
recruitment of new graduate students and the support of continuing graduate students.
The Faculty Member (Faculty2) in charge of graduate student admissions reviews the
applications and provides Fisadmin with a list of applicants and the financial offers to
make to each one. Fisadmin enters the preliminary awards and monitors the
commitments against the budget for new students. As the responses from the offers come
back, Fisadmin records which offers were accepted or rejected.
When the recruiting season is finished, Faculty2 reviews the budget for new students and
moves some of the uncommitted funds to the budget for continuing students. Faculty 2
then provides Fisadmin with a list of continuing students and their financial support
awards including method of payment of stipends and tuition. Fisadmin enters these
preliminary awards and records the responses from the continuing students. When all of
the awards are set, Fisadmin checks the commitments against the budgets and approves
the activation of the awards to the students’ accounts.
Demonstrate the ability to:
8.2.1.1 Create preliminary sub-budgets within account for planning purposes;
8.2.1.2 Enter preliminary award data for applicants including commitments against all
funds (fellowship, teaching assistant, and tuition remission);
8.2.1.3 Review preliminary award data against the preliminary sub-budgets for
reconciliation purposes;
8.2.1.4 Prepare award offer letters to applicants based on preliminary award data;
8.2.1.5 Delete preliminary awards when rejection letters are received;
8.2.1.6 Update preliminary sub-budgets based on balance available;
8.2.1.7 Create preliminary awards for enrolled students against all funds (fellowship,
teaching assistant, and tuition remission) including projections of tuition charges
based on total hours accumulated as compared to degree program requirements;
8.2.1.8 Prepare award offer letters to continuing students;
8.2.1.9 Compare preliminary awards to preliminary budgets for purpose of final approval;
8.2.1.10
Activate awards for all accepted awards putting appropriate credit on student
accounts and encumbrances against each fund.
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An entering graduate student requests housing accommodations in University Housing
and requests a modified meal plan from Dining Services. Since the charges for housing
and dining are expected to be paid on a semester basis, the student requests that an
appropriate portion of the stipend awarded be converted to appropriate credits to pay the
room and board charges. The Housing and Dining Services offices enroll the student in
the appropriate plans, which create charges on the student’s bill. Fisadmin reduces the
student’s stipend and awards the funds as fellowships limited to housing and dining
charges. The credits appear on the student’s bill along with the remission credits such that
the student has a zero balance.
Demonstrate the ability to:
8.2.1.11 Assign a student to a graduate dormitory room and place the charge on the
student’s account;
8.2.1.12
Assign a student a meal plan and place the charge on the student’s account;
8.2.1.13 Allow the reduction of a stipend award with a recalculation of the monthly
payments;
8.2.1.14 Award a fellowship which will only be credited against specific charges such
as housing or dining;
8.2.1.15
Create a bill for an entering student assuming maximum tuition charge for
the student with all other charges and credits for mailing to the student.
The student arrives on Grounds a week before the semester starts and moves into the
assigned housing. Dept1 advises the student about courses for the first semester and sends
the student to an orientation for new teaching assistants. After one week of classes, the
student is having language difficulties and must drop one class.
Demonstrate the ability to:
8.2.1.16
Provide advising information relative to degree requirements;
8.2.1.17
Allow a new student to enroll in classes;
8.2.1.18 Schedule the student for a non-credit, mandatory orientation session for new
teaching assistants;
8.2.1.19 Allow the student to drop one course and remind the student to add a
corresponding number of hours of research hours;
8.2.1.20
Adjust the charges to the student’s account to reflect the change in enrollment;
8.2.1.21
Adjust the credits to the student’s account to reflect the change in charges.
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At the end of the semester, the Faculty1 records a grade of “A-” for the student.
Demonstrate the ability to:
8.2.1.22
Enter a final grade for a course.
8.3
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The Virtual University Human Resource Script
8.3.1 Educational Leave without Pay
Faculty1 in dept1 currently has a 12 months appointment. In mid June, faculty1 starts an
educational leave without pay. The virtual university continues to pay full benefits for
this type of leave except for the employee’s portion of health benefits. The employee is
automatically billed monthly throughout her leave for her portion of health benefits.
8.3.1.1 Show the effects of this action in the following areas: employee record,
employee history, position control, benefits, deductions, payroll, effort reporting,
and budget.
Faculty2 in dept1 currently has a 9 months appointment. Faculty2 in mid June assumes
duties from faculty1, who is now on leave, and consequently changes his appointment
period to 12 months. The salary for faculty2 increases with the change of appointment.
Faculty2’s health benefits have been deducted for the entire 12 months during his 9
months appointment and held in escrow for the summer months.
8.3.1.2 Show the effects of this action in the following areas: employee record,
employee history, position control, benefits, deductions, payroll, effort reporting,
and budget.
Fisadmin in dept1 is currently a classified staff member. Fisadmin is promoted to a
faculty position mid June to also assume some of the duties of faculty1, who is now on
leave. The benefits available to a classified staff are different than those benefits
available to a faculty member.
8.3.1.3 Show the effects of this action in the following areas: employee record,
employee history, position control, benefits, deductions, payroll, effort reporting,
and budget.
One month into faculty1’s leave, the dean notifies faculty1 that she has been promoted
from an associate professor to a professor, granted tenure, and give an increase in pay.
8.3.1.4 Show the effects of this action in the following areas: employee record,
employee history, position control, benefits, deductions, payroll, effort reporting,
and budget.
9.
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“Test Drive" Requirements
The goal of the system Test Drive is to provide an opportunity for University faculty,
staff and students to have a "hands-on" experience with the vendor's software. The
University evaluation team will not expect the vendor to tailor their base package to
emulate the University's environment, but we will expect the vendor to make a strong
effort to cast the tasks in Virtual University terms.
All vendors will be required to provide a self-contained laboratory with a minimum of 6
client desktop units, server(s), DBMS, operating systems, cables, and training and
presentation materials. UVa will provide 110/120 volt duplex receptacles, tables, chairs,
and people. Web access and telephone service will not be provided.
Test drives are scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of the same week that
the vendor is conducting the software demonstrations. Tuesday morning has been
reserved for Student Services test drives, Wednesday morning has been reserved for
Finance test drives, and Thursday morning has been reserved for Human Resources test
drives. During the afternoon, each day, we have planned an open house, where all three
of the components should be available for test drives. The agenda for each day will be:
Morning
The morning sessions will be structured by topic and will be by invitation. The vendor
should provide a representative to assist University evaluators to become familiar enough
with the system to be able to perform the test exercises.
Session 1 – 1.5 hours. 6 or more people chosen by the Functional (Finance, HR, Student)
Task Force covering topics identified by the Functional Task Force.
Session 2 – 1.5 hours. 6 or more people chosen by the Functional (Finance, HR, Student)
Task Force covering topics identified by the Functional Task Force.
Prior to each session, the invited participants will be given a short introduction by a UVa
evaluation coordinator where the objectives of the test drive, and the evaluation
procedure will be explained. They will be told what aspects of the system to focus on,
and what aspects to ignore.
At the conclusion of each morning session, the participants will complete a short
assessment form consisting of the following questions. The questionnaire will be
completed individually and discussed as a group.
1. What vendor’s software did you test-drive?
2. What software functions did you perform?
3. What features and functions did you like?
4. Why did you find them to your liking?
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5. What aspects of the software worked well?
6. What aspects of the software seemed to lack needed functionality?
Afternoon
The afternoon session will be an open house during which time the vendor should
provide a representative to assist University faculty, staff, and students as they attempt to
exercise the functionality of the system. The topic areas are the same as those selected
for the morning session. Each participant will be asked to complete the same
questionnaire as used in the morning sessions. Participants in the afternoon sessions will
not be asked to attend either an introductory session or a post-session discussion.
Suggested topic areas by function
The Functional Teams have identified the following set of tasks as ones they would like
the evaluators to be able to test. Vendors are requested to provide tutorials for as many of
these tasks as possible. The tutorials should provide step-by-step instructions suitable for
a novice user, and should be limited to a single sheet if possible.
Human Resources:

Post a vacant position (include identifying required skills)

Submit an employment application

Select a candidate from a group of applicants

Approve the recommended salary

Grant tenure to a faculty member

Update an employee's home address and marital status

Select an employee benefits package

Put the employee into a leave status

Change a payroll funding source and the salary paid from that source

View an employee's YTD pay and deductions summary

Terminate an employee
Financial:

Browse an on-line catalog of items

Enter an order for office supplies (or some other low cost item)

Record receipt of the item

Review the budget vs. actual status of an expenditure account

Create the account for a new project

Create a simple budget for the new project

Re-assign an employee to be paid from the new account

Review the budget vs. actual status of the old and new account




Retrieve a grant application template for a Federal sponsor
Reconcile expenditure transactions against department receipts
Move an account from one department to another
Process a temporary budget amendment
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


Student:





Perform a journal entry to charge one expenditure account and credit another
Process a reimbursement payment to an employee for a subscription
Perform a simple pre-defined query
Enter a student application for admission (include processing a deposit fee)
Make an applicant into a registered student
Change a student's local address
Process a student's request to declare a major
Add a course to a student's schedule

Drop a course




Add a penalty fee to a student's account
Change a student's financial aid information
Change a student's need analysis information
Re-package a student's financial aid

View the affect on the student's account

Enter a student grade

Change the grade



Apply a student payment which must be spread across several charge types
Apply a third party guarantor payment that impacts several students
Enter a registration block flag

Remove the block

Terminate a student
We would, ideally, like to see both versions of any transactions that may be
performed either by the individual or in a central office.
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10. Preliminary Demonstration Schedule
This agenda is provided for informational purposes only. These times represent a
generous estimate of the total time needed to perform the demonstration points contained
within the demonstration scripts. The University will work with the firms selected to
demonstrate their software in order to reduce the overall duration of these
demonstrations.
DEMONSTRATION AGENDA DAY 1
TIME
DAY 1
8:00 a.m.
DEMO
Welcome and Introduction (5 min)
8:05 a.m.
Vendor Overview (25 min)
Cross Module Topics
8:30 a.m.
Security (15 min)
8:45 a.m.
Workflow (25 min)
9:10 a.m.
Imaging (10 min)
9:20 a.m.
Ad hoc Reporting (30 min)
9:50 a.m.
BREAK (15 min)
10:05 a.m.
Import / Export Data (20 min)
10:25 a.m.
Web-based Transactions (20 min)
10:45 a.m.
Help Features (15 min)
11:00 a.m.
System Tools & Software Management Philosophy (25 min)
11:25 a.m.
Financial Reporting (35 min)
12:00 - 12:30
p.m.
LUNCH
Financial Demonstration Script
General Ledger
125
12:30 p.m.
General Features (15 min)
12:45 p.m.
Create a new Object Code (10 min)
12:55 p.m.
Maintain Account Attributes (10 min)
1:05 p.m.
Close and/or Freeze an Account (20 min)
1:25 p.m.
Journal Entry Processing (55 min)
2:20 - 2:35 p.m.
BREAK (15 min)
2:35 p.m.
University-wide Financial Inquiry and Analysis (10 min)
2:45 p.m.
Fiscal Year-end or Period-end Processing (10 min)
2:55 p.m.
Budgeting
Budget Planning/Assumptions (20 min)
3:15 p.m.
Budget Preparation (1hr 15 min)
4:30 p.m.
Budget Review and Approval (10 min)
4:40 p.m.
Budget Implementation (30 min)
5:10 – 5:25 p.m.
BREAK
5:25 p.m.
Budget Monitoring and Reporting (50 min)
6:15 p.m.
Encumbrances (25 min)
6:40 p.m.
Restrictions (5 min)
6:45 p.m.
Budget Close Out/Year End (15 min)
7:00 p.m.
Evaluation Debrief
8:30 p.m.
DEPARTURE
126
DEMONSTRATION AGENDA DAY 2
TIME
DAY 2
DEMO
8:00 a.m.
Financial Demonstration Script, continued
Procurement
Vendor Relations (45 min)
8:45 a.m.
Internal Purchasing (15 min)
9:00 a.m.
Using a Procurement Card (35 min)
9:35 a.m.
Making “On Demand” Payments (25 min)
10:00 a.m.
Processing Travel Reimbursements (30 min)
10:30 a.m.
Manual Check Process (5 min)
10:35 - 10:50
a.m.
10:50 a.m.
BREAK (15 min)
12:00 p.m.
Delivery Instructions (10 min)
12:10 p.m.
Miscellaneous Features of Assisted Buying (20 min)
12:30 - 1:00 p.m.
LUNCH
1:00 p.m.
Change Orders (5 min)
1:05 p.m.
Standing Order Processing (10 min)
1:15 p.m.
Voucher Processing (30 min)
1:45 p.m.
Receipt Matching (10 min)
1:55 p.m.
Payment Processing (15 min)
2:10 p.m.
Asset Management
Trigger Events (10 min)
2:20 p.m.
Information Collection (10 min)
2:30 p.m.
Bar Coding/Tagging (10 min)
127
Assisted Procurement Demonstrations (1 hr 10 min)
2:40 p.m.
Sponsored Programs Administration (60 min)
3:40 - 3:55 p.m.
BREAK (15 min)
3:55 p.m.
Accounts Receivable (Non-student) and Collections
Creating an Account (15 min)
4:10 p.m.
Posting Charges (5 min)
4:15 p.m.
Sending Statements (15 min)
4:30 p.m.
Process Customer Information and Inquiry (5 min)
4:35 p.m.
Receive and Post Payments (30 min)
5:05 p.m.
Account Adjustments and Refunds (15 min)
5:20 p.m.
Credit and Collections (30 min)
5:50 p.m.
Reporting and Aging (10 min)
6:00 p.m.
Cash Management
Daily Cash Management (15 min)
6:15 p.m.
Cash Flow Forecasting (15 min)
6:30 p.m.
Cash Receipt Processing (10 min)
6:40 p.m.
Evaluation Debrief
8:10 p.m.
DEPARTURE
128
DEMONSTRATION AGENDA DAY 3
TIME
DAY 3
DEMO
8:00 a.m.
Human Resources and Payroll Demonstration Script
Human Resources
Classification and Posting (30 min)
8:30 a.m.
Position Control (40 min)
9:10 a.m.
Applicant Processing (55 min)
10:05 - 10:20
a.m.
10:20 a.m.
BREAK (15 min)
11:10 a.m.
Compensation Management (10 min)
11:20 a.m.
Non-Resident Alien Tax Processing (5 min)
11:25 a.m.
Benefits Administration (60 min)
12:25 p.m.
Benefits Interactive Voice System with Web Access (10 min)
12:35- 1:05 p.m.
LUNCH
1:05 p.m.
Tax-deferred Annuities (10 min)
1:15 p.m.
Deductions (40 min)
1:55 p.m.
Payroll Processes
Payroll Processing Overview (30 min)
2:25 p.m.
Payroll Employee Information Maintenance (10 min)
2:35 p.m.
Earnings (55 min)
3:30 - 3:45 p.m.
BREAK (15 min)
3:45 p.m.
Payroll Processing/Check Production (15 min)
4:00 p.m.
Time Reporting (30 min)
4:30 p.m.
Research Effort Processing (20 min)
Maintenance of Employee Data (50 min)
129
4:50 p.m.
Student Employment (10 min)
5:00 p.m.
Training and Career Development
Training (15 min)
5:15 p.m.
Tracking (15 min)
5:30 p.m.
Evaluation Debrief
7:00 p.m.
DEPARTURE
130
DEMONSTRATION AGENDA DAY 4
TIME
DAY 4
DEMO
8:00 a.m.
Student Services Demonstration Script
Recruit and Admit Processes
Prospect and Candidate Access(20 min)
8:20 a.m.
Application Submission and Maintenance (50 min)
9:10 a.m.
Select, Offer and Notify Students(20 min)
9:30 a.m.
Student Records
Course Catalog (10 min)
9:40 a.m.
Course Schedule (25 min)
10:05 - 10:20.
a.m
10:20 a.m.
BREAK (15 min)
11:30 a.m.
Final Registration (15 min)
11:45 a.m.
Grading and Grade Reporting (15 min)
12:00- 12:30
p.m.
12:30 p.m.
LUNCH
12:50 p.m.
Transcripts and Certifications (20 min)
1:10 p.m.
Student Financials
Student Account Creation (5 min)
1:15 p.m.
Tuition and Fee Calculations (15 min)
1:30 p.m.
Accept Other Charges (20 min)
1:50 p.m.
Billing (25 min)
2:15 p.m.
Payment Processing and Cashiering (25 min)
2:40 p.m.
Refund Calculations and Processing (5 min)
Course Enrollment (70 min)
Faculty Advising and Degree Audit (20 min)
131
2:45 p.m.
Student Account Adjustments (10 min)
2:55 p.m.
Delinquent Accounts (15 min)
3:10 p.m.
Posting Financial Aid (20 min)
3:30 - 3:45 p.m.
BREAK (15 min)
3:45 p.m.
Financial Aid
Application/Document Tracking (10 min)
3:55 p.m.
Packaging (15 min)
4:10 p.m.
Need Analysis (10 min)
4:20 p.m.
Awarding (20 min)
4:40 p.m.
External Scholarships (15 min)
4:55 p.m.
Loan Processing (15 min)
5:10 p.m.
Department/School Awards (30 min)
5:40 p.m.
Refunds (20 min)
6:00 p.m.
Evaluation Debrief
7:30 p.m.
DEPARTURE
132
DEMONSTRATION AGENDA DAY 5
TIME
DAY 5
8:00 a.m.
DEMO
Virtual University
The Virtual Undergraduate
- Student One
- Student Two
Virtual University School / Department Awards
10:30 - 10:45
a.m.
BREAK (15 min)
10:45 a.m.
Virtual University Human Resource Demonstration
12:30- 1:00 p.m.
LUNCH
1:00 p.m.
Evaluation Debrief
2:30 p.m.
DEPARTURE
11.
133
University Contacts
All questions and requests for information regarding these demonstration scripts or any
other aspect of this procurement should be directed to the contacts below. Firms are
strongly encouraged to submit their questions via electronic mail to assure a faster
response from VU.
Eric N. Denby
Director
Purchasing Department
Carruthers Hall
Charlottesville, Virginia 22906
voice: (804) 924-4019
fax: (804) 982-2690
e-mail: Error! Reference source not found.
Gary S. Nimax
Assistant Director
Purchasing Department
Carruthers Hall
Charlottesville, Virginia 22906
voice: (804) 924-4220
fax: (804) 982-2690
e-mail: gsn6x@virginia.edu
12.
134
Glossary of Terms
The following glossary is provided to aid the firm(s) in interpreting certain terms
contained in these demonstration scripts that may carry a meaning peculiar to the
University of Virginia.

Account Code - A discrete fund source in the University’s accounting system that
records all revenues and expenses for a given source of either restricted or
unrestricted funds. For example, each separate sponsored program has its own
account code, each gift and each state account has a separate account code, etc.
There are 6 digits in each account code. The first digit designates the ledger or
type of funds. All state funds begin with a 1, all sponsored program funds begin
with a 5, all gift funds begin with a 6, etc. For example, a valid and complete state
account code is 1-26020. The only purpose of the last 5 digits is to designate the
discrete account within the ledger. Ranges of these 5-digit codes are assigned to
each ledger. For example, all account codes from 5-32000 through 5-32999 will
be assigned to sponsored programs. None of the other ledgers will have account
codes whose 2nd and third digits are 32.

Account Attributes - Identifying characteristics of an account (e.g. department to
which the account belongs, person responsible for the account, freeze indicator,
etc.).

Acting Pay - Acting/Special Pay is an annualized amount approved by Human
Resources to compensate an employee for duties in addition to his/her regular
duties for a specified period. This field also contains any Supplemental Pay as
defined by the Provost’s Office for salaried faculty. It is added to the employee’s
Base Annual Salary along with any Market Differential to obtain the employee’s
Benefit Base Annual Salary.

Administrative Information Technology Professionals - Individuals who have
IT related job responsibilities and work in central administrative departments.
These individuals will be responsible for managing those aspects of the new
system that are delegated to the central operating departments.

ADA – The Americans with Disabilities Act - Signed into law on July 26 1990,
the Americans with Disabilities Act is a wide-ranging legislation intended to
make American Society more accessible to people with disabilities. Employment
(Title I) Business must provide reasonable accommodations to protect the rights
of individuals with disabilities in all aspects of employment. Possible changes
may include restructuring jobs, altering the layout of workstations, or modifying
equipment. Employment aspects may include the application process, hiring,
wages, benefits, and all other aspects of employment. Medical examinations are
highly regulated.
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
Agency Funds - Funds for which the University acts as the custodian. For
example, the University serves as the custodian of funds belonging to student
groups.

Attribute Records - The system of records within the University’s accounting
system that contains information about each account code. Examples are program
codes, departmental codes, organization codes, the name of the person responsible
for the funds, etc. All account codes have the same attribute records though the
information contained in them varies by account code.

Auxiliary Services - Independent business entities at the University (e.g. student
housing, dining services, parking and transportation, university bookstore, etc.).

Board of Visitors - The Board of Visitors is composed of sixteen members
appointed by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, subject to
confirmation by the General Assembly, for terms of four years. In addition, a
non-voting student member is appointed to serve a one-year term each year before
the annual meeting of the Board. The Rector and Visitors serve as the corporate
board for the University of Virginia, and are responsible for the long-term
planning of the University. The Board approves the policies and budget of the
University, and is entrusted with the preservation of the University's many
traditions, including the Honor System.

Broad Banded Classifications - Currently the State has highly specific job
classifications (e.g. Office Services Technician, Programmer/Analyst Senior,
Accountant Senior, etc.). The University wishes to move toward more general
classifications (the broad banded classification) that afford wider latitude in job
descriptions and remuneration.

Central Information Technology Professionals - Individuals who work in the
central Information Technologies and Communication division of the University,
and who will be responsible for all functions assigned to the central IT division.

Central Office - An office responsible for general oversight of a particular
functional area (e.g. Payroll, Human Resources, Registrar, Bursar, etc.).

Classified Staff - An employment category indicating status as
non-faculty/non-student/non-health care provider. This employee is defined
under the Code of Virginia guidelines for classification, compensation and hiring.

Customization - The process of writing computer program code to alter the
functionality of the base product. This includes creating new functionality that is
not available in the base product.

Decentralization - Delegated authority granted to state supported higher
education agencies (e.g. check writing, purchasing approval, hiring decisions,
funds management, etc.).

Departmental Managers - The manager of a central department or the manager
of a non-central department (e.g. academic department business manager).
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
Departmental Support Information Technology Professionals - Individuals
who provide front line IT support to academic departments and other non-central
departments.

Dependent Care Reimbursement Account - A type of Flex Spending Account
provided as an optional benefit to salaried employees with a maximum annual
limit of $5,000. The benefit is employee-paid.

EEO Category - The Equal Employment Opportunity Category that applies to a
particular job classification. Valid values are:
Category
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
P
Q
R
S
Z
2
8
Description
Executive/Administrator/Manager
Executive/Administrator/Manager
Executive/Administrator/Manager
Professional Non-Faculty
Professional Non-Faculty
Professional Non-Faculty
Secretarial/Clerical
Secretarial/Clerical
Secretarial/Clerical
Technical/Paraprofessional
Technical/Paraprofessional
Technical/Paraprofessional
Skilled Crafts
Skilled Crafts
Skilled Crafts
Service Maintenance
Service Maintenance
Service Maintenance
Jobs For Students
Instr/Public Serv/Research Faculty
Research Associate/Research Assistant
Job Group
Business & Finance
Non-Business & Finance, Non-Health
Health Related
Academic Related
Business & Finance Related
Health Related
Business & Finance Related
Clerk/Assistants
Stenographers/Typists
Computer Related
Health Related
Service/Technician (non-computing)
Buildings and Grounds Maintenance
Craftsman/Operator
Food Services
Buildings and Grounds
Food Services
Health Related
None
None
None

Effective Dating - The Effective Date of an action is the date the action “takes
effect”. It is not the date the action was processed (System Date). Effective
Date is used to stack “history records” for different areas of the system whether
it be data for an employee record, position record, classification record, salary
table, benefit rate table, etc.
By using an Effective Date, the user can
determine for any point in time how the record looked at that particular time.

Encumbrance - The University uses this term in two different ways. A hard
encumbrance is used when budget availability is enforced prior to accepting a
transaction. A soft encumbrance is used to show an obligation, but budget
availability is not required. Both options are currently used.
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
End-user - Any individual in a central or non-central department who accesses
the University's administrative systems as a regular part of their work. In the
future, all stakeholders (e.g. students, faculty, parents, alumni, vendors, etc.) are
potential end-users of the University's systems.

Eminent Scholar - The Eminent Scholars Program was established by the
General Assembly of the State of Virginia in 1964. Under this program, salaried
faculty may receive special salary supplements funded from endowment income
and matching general fund appropriations. The amounts of the supplements are
determined by the University and are subject to the availability of qualifying
endowment income and general fund appropriations. Eminent Scholar monies
are included in the employee’s Base Annual Salary, with the Eminent Scholar
dollar amount also stored in a separate field.

Facilitator - A member of the University staff who has received training in group
process and team leadership.

Facilitation. Improving the efficacy of an organizational unit with techniques
such as: process mapping, Joint Requirement Planning (JRP) and Joint
Application Design (JAD) methodologies, formulation of problem and goal
statements, identification of scope and boundaries, root-cause analysis, cycle time
analysis, continuous improvement, total quality management principles and tools,
and decision-making techniques.

Financial Accounting System (FAS) - The Information Associates (IA)
accounting system currently used by the University of Virginia. This system was
originally installed in 1976.

Flexible Spending Accounts - An employee-paid benefit which allows
employees to set aside pretax dollars for dependent care expenses and
out-of-pocket medical expenses not covered by the employee’s health benefits
plan.

FTE, Full-Time Equivalent - Full-time is defined as 40 hours per week for 1
FTE. The FTE for a part-time employee is calculated by taking Hours/40. For
example, the FTE for an employee who works 20 hours per week is .50.

Funding Sources - Funding Sources are those accounts from which an employee
is paid. An employee can have up to 14 funding sources for any one job.

Grounds - The preferred synonym for campus at the University of Virginia.

Health Care Providers (HCP’s) - An employment category of health-related
classifications including, but not limited to nurses, physical therapists,
pharmacists, etc. Health Care Providers currently receive a flexible benefit
package including a Paid Time Off leave program that is different from Classified
Staff.
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
Health Sciences Center - The University's patient care facility. It is a separate
state agency, but it has certain reporting and systems connections to the overall
University.

Individual Effort Certification - A compliance report that is mandated by the
Federal government. All University personnel contributing effort to Federal grants
or contracts must periodically certify, in writing, the percent of their professional
effort that was devoted during the reporting period to any Federal sponsored
program activity.

Information Warehouse - The University is actively developing a warehouse
that is being populated with information harvested from our legacy systems. The
individual tables are repopulated after batch transaction processing occurs in the
legacy systems each evening.

Integrated Systems Software - See Attachment 12: Definition of Integrated
System

Inter-Departmental Transfers (IDT) - Journal entries which move funds
between University accounts For example, Physical Plant will use the IDT
process to recover costs for renovations, new construction, and utilities from
academic departments and other fund sources.

KSAs - The University uses a Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities rating system to
match applicants to job openings.

Ledger – see Account Code.

Limited Purchase Orders (LPO) - a document that provides for the purchase of
goods and services (with the exception of certain restricted items) totaling less
than $5,000. The end user sends the LPO directly to the vendor, and does not
require prior approval from Purchasing.

Local Funds - Designates a source of revenue distinguished from other
categories, in particular those revenues obtained from sources other than through
appropriations by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Major Budget Unit (MBU) - A subdivision of the University that is identified
for management or budgetary purposes (e.g. School of Architecture, Parking and
Transportation, Vice President for Student Affairs, etc.).

Market Differential - Market Differential is an annualized percentage of Base
Annual Salary approved for certain classifications for which difficulties in
recruitment and retention have been documented. It is added to the Base Annual
Salary along with any Acting/Special Pay to obtain the employee’s Benefit Base
Annual Salary. It is stored in a separate salary field.

MEA-Maximum Exclusion Allowance - The greatest amount of money the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will allow you to tax defer in a tax-deferred
investment or TDA is called your Maximum Exclusion Allowance.
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
Mechanical Entry - An accounting entry generated automatically by the
accounting system as part of the month-end close out process. This usually
involves the multiplication of (1) a previously stored rate and (2) monthly
expenditures within individual accounts. The rates (fringe benefit or indirect
cost, for examples) are stored in electronic tables.
Example 1: Fringe benefits...At the end of the month, the system looks at
the salary and wage expenditures within individual accounts, applies the
appropriate fringe benefit rate from a table, calculates the result, and then
generates an automatic accounting entry to create the fringe benefit
expenditures for the month.
Example 2: Indirect cost on sponsored programs...At the end of the
month, the system looks at the direct expenditures within each sponsored
program account, applies that account's indirect cost rate (stored in a
table), calculates the result, and then generates an automatic entry to create
the indirect costs charges and revenues for the month.

Medical Reimbursement Account - A type of Flex Spending Account provided
as an optional benefit to salaried employees with a maximum annual limit of
$3,000. The benefit is employee-paid.

Negative Confirmation - Many small purchases made by university departments
are not subjected to a formal receiving process. Departments are notified when
an invoice is received by central Accounts Payable. If the department does not
raise any objection to the invoice within 14 days, the invoice will automatically be
paid.

Non-allowable Expenses - Any expense that is not allowed to be charged to a
University account code. For example, flowers and gifts may not normally be
charged to state accounts, meals above a certain dollar amount may not be
charged to state accounts, and equipment may not be charged to some sponsored
program accounts.

Non-Salaried Appointments - Appointments primarily for faculty who are
visiting the University for teaching or research purposes and paid by someone
other than the University.

Object code - The University's current general ledger system (FAS) uses this
term to refer to an expenditure or revenue object (e.g. printing, travel, postage,
scholarship, etc.). The code is currently used in conjunction with the account
number to classify an accounting transaction.

Open Enrollment - A specific period during which an employee may elect to
make benefit changes that are not due to a qualifying event.

Position Control - A functional area of the HRS system that tracks the
establishment, change, and abolishment of salaried positions for both faculty and
staff. The different components are comprised of 1) Position Detail History, 2)
Position Funding History, and 3) Position Incumbent History.
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
Post Transaction Audit - A process that takes place after transactions have been
posted that ensures correctness, appropriateness, and integrity of transactions,
based on a sampling technique.

Posting - The process of listing University job vacancies in order to promote
equal employment opportunity.

Process Simplification - A business process re-engineering initiative that is
currently underway at the University, which will become an integral part of the
systems implementation sought in this RFP.

Public Institution - An institution of higher education in the Commonwealth of
Virginia that is designated as a state agency, receives appropriated funds from the
state legislature, and is subject to oversight by central agencies in such areas as
budget, personnel, finance, accounting, and purchasing.

Qualifying Event - An occurrence defined by a particular benefit plan, such as
health insurance, that allows for an employee to make a change to that benefit
plan outside of the Open Enrollment period. For example, the birth of a child is
considered a “qualifying event” which allows an employee to change his/her
health insurance option to allow coverage for the new child.

Shadow System - A system maintained by a non-central department that requires
duplicate data entry and data storage from the main University system. These
systems arise from the need to provide local functionality that is either difficult or
impossible to get from the institutional systems.

Special Pays - A code that defines payments made to an employee in addition to
regular pay. The HRS system allows the University to define up to 99 special
pays per processing company.

SRA - A Salary Reduction Agreement (SRA) is an agreement between the
employer and employee under which the employee takes a reduction in salary and
has the employer contribute that amount to a tax-deferred annuity (TDA).

Strategic Direction Statements - Documents prepared by cross functional teams
at the University to set forth a vision of how services could be provided and work
could be performed internally in the future, if the enabling technology were
available.

Steps - Different levels of progression within a salary grade or range. The
Commonwealth of Virginia’s Graded Pay Plan for classified employees contains
23 grades with each grade having 21 steps of approximately 2.25% between steps.
The University of Virginia has moved to “stepless” pay grades for all employees
effective February 25, 1998.

Supplemental Pays - Supplemental pays are compensation paid in addition to the
employee's regular wages. There are special taxing rules that apply to
Supplemental Pays.
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
Supplemental System - A system maintained by a non-central department that is
populated with data extracted from the institutional system and augmented with
data that is unique to the establishing department, or one that maintains unique
data only and merges data from the institutional system for analysis or reporting.
These systems are conceived to satisfy a unique functional need and should be
facilitated in the new systems environment.

Tailoring - Adjusting tables, parameters, or settings to tune the system to the
needs of a particular person or group. This does not necessitate the modification
of program code.

TDA’s-Tax Deferred Annuities - A Tax-Deferred Annuity (TDA) is an optional
opportunity offered to employees to tax-shelter income and invest for the future.
Through the process of a Salary Reduction Agreement (SRA), the University
sends an employee’s tax-sheltered contribution to a University-sponsored
carrier(s) and then reports a reduced salary for tax purposes. These are also
called Tax-Sheltered Annuities (TSA’s).

Unclassified Staff - An employment category indicating status as
non-faculty/non-student/non-health care provider. This employee is not defined
under the Code of Virginia guidelines allowing the University to establish its own
guidelines.

Wage Auto-Paid - Wage Auto-Paid is a category of temporary employment type
that is paid a specified amount each pay period. Because they are wage
employees, they do not have position numbers or many of the benefits afforded to
salaried employees, such as health insurance. They are eligible for Tax-Deferred
Annuities. Employees in this category are automatically paid a set number of
hours each biweekly pay period multiplied by their hourly rate to get their
biweekly salary. They do not have to submit time card hours or time sheets in
order to be paid. Wage employees in this category include, but are not limited
to, certain faculty wage employees, wage coaches, Graduate Teaching Assistants,
and Graduate Research Assistants.
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