ADMINISTRATIVE NEWS
BUSINESS
SERVICES
Volume 26 Number 2
University of Wisconsin-Madison
What’s Inside?
STUDENT FINANCIALS CYCLE IMPROVEMENTS
ACCOUNTING CYCLE IMPROVEMENTS
PROCUREMENT/PAYMENT CYCLE IMPROVEMENTS
ACCOUNTING SERVICES
BURSAR
INTERNAL AUDIT
HUMAN RESOURCES, PAYROLL & BENEFITS
PURCHASING SERVICES
MATERIALS DISTRIBUTION SERVICES (MDS)
RISK MANAGEMENT
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JUNE 2009
The 2009-10 business plans for Business Services can now be
found on the Business Services Strategic Directions website
http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/bsnews/stratdir.html next to the
NEW symbol. A summary of key objectives in the plan can
be found on the right side of the main page. If you have
concerns with the Business Plans, please let Don Miner know
about those concerns.
STUDENT FINANCIALS CYCLE
IMPROVEMENTS
Orientation/Training Available
Many training programs are offered through the Office of
Human Resource Development. See these web sites:
http://www.ohrd.wisc.edu/des/index.asp#biz_services
https://fpm-www3.fpm.wisc.edu/ohrd/coursecreation/
Of particular interest are upcoming programs about:
 eReimbursement training
Please see articles elsewhere in this newsletter about these
programs. Note: that a NetID is required to enroll. NetID
activation information can be found at:
http://my.wisc.edu/portal/index.jsp
Employees without computer access can have their supervisor
register them. Individualized training is also available on
these topics:
MDS Ordering Systems
Contact Mike Marean @245-2928
(mmarean@bussvc.wisc.edu)
UPS CampusShip Program
Contact Kris Roesken at kroesken@ups.com
Enhanced ePayment Services for Students
The Bursar’s office upgraded in late March to real time
ePayment posting of student tuition and fee payments. Real
time posting of ePayments allows students to get more up to
date Student Tuition Account balance information than our
previous batch posting method.
Parent ePayment Available for Student Tuition
Accounts
Students are now able to authorize their parents or other
payors to pay Student Tuition Account balances on-line by
ePayment. Once their students have authorized them to the
ePayment system, authorized payors will be able to see and
pay tuition and fees balances by term; but not see financial
aid, grades or other personal information.
eBilling – Coming Later This Year
The Bursar’s Office is working on a project to provide eBills
for tuition and fees to both students and their authorized parent
or other payors. We will initially provide eBilling in parallel
with paper billing, and then move to all eBilling.
Travel Reimbursements
Margie Burris @262-0121(mburris@bussvc.wisc.edu)
Direct Payments
ACCOUNTING CYCLE IMPROVEMENTS
Steve Sauer @262-1919 (ssauer@bussvc.wisc.edu)
Payments to Individuals
Lori Nolley @263-9361 (lnolley@bussvc.wisc.edu)
WISDM Training
http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/sfs/train.html
2009-10 Business Services Business Plans
Completion of LAST Project
With the approach of the fiscal year end, we are also nearing
the completion of Legacy Accounting to SFS (LAST) project.
When fiscal year 2010 starts in July, we will finally step out of
the old era of the legacy accounting system and transition into
the new world of the Shared Financial System.
During the past three years, we have worked with many
people from departments/colleges to help us define business
requirements, develop system transition strategies and test the
new systems/processes. Following are the highlights of the
major milestones and accomplishments for the past three
years:
ADMINISTRATIVE NEWS – JUNE 2009
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July 2007: Implemented the SFS PO module to accept
and process purchase orders from the Business Services
PO system and process PO payments in SFS. This
implementation replaced the legacy encumbrance
program (EPRQ) and payment program (VPAM).
July 2007: Moved legacy internal billings and transfers to
SFS with the development of the Journal Entry Tool
(JET) which allows staff to submit internal billings and
non-salary cost transfers directly to SFS. This
implementation eliminated the legacy process called
CARDS and decentralized the entry of billing information
for internal billing units, with significant reduction in
processing time.
February 2008: Completed the Program Release to
integrate project/grant accounting with the Shared
Financial Systems (SFS) and the WISDM reporting tool.
This implementation eliminated all the legacy processes
related to grants (ESIA, etc).
August 2008: Moved the year end closing processes from
legacy to SFS. Successfully performed the year end
closing in SFS. This new process reduced the year end
closing cycle by two more weeks with improved data
accuracy.
February 2009: Established new non-sponsored project
processes in SFS and rolled out the SFS Project Costing
module to the pilot unit to manage their non-sponsored
projects. This is the start of future improvements to the
process for setting up non-sponsored projects quickly and
efficiently.
April 2009: Implemented the JET Revenue Accounting
Tool to replace the legacy revenue accounting programs.
The new tool handles the accounting for cash/check
collections, sales tax collections/reporting and revenue
transfers. The implementation eliminated all legacy
processes related to receipt processing (DREV).
July 2009: A new JET Budget Adjustment Tool will be
implemented. This implementation will eliminate legacy
processes related to budget adjustments (BUDT, EPBT).
By July 1, 2009 all of the storefronts using WiscCharge will
have been converted to a new service called ePay which is
managed by the Controller’s Office Cash Management unit
and utilizes services from CashNet. The CashNet services are
easy to connect storefronts to and are Payment Card Industry
standards compliant in terms of security.
We began this journey in 2002 when we brought up WISDM
to replace the paper Accounting Control Ledger statements. It
has been a long road
Further information and a system demo will be provided to the
divisional Financial Managers as the system nears
implementation. Once the enhanced search tools are made
available, Purchasing will begin notifying recipients of
Department copies of POs that they should familiarize
themselves with the new tools and will provide a phase-in
period for the cutoff of printing of the Department PO copies.
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We would like to thank all the people involved in the LAST
project for their efforts to make this project successful. Our
next challenge will be to make sure that the new accounting
system interacts properly with the software being planned for
installation as part of the Human Resource System
implementation.
ePay Service Launched
For a number of years, the Division of Information
Technology had provided an ePayment service called
WiscCharge. Using this service web storefronts developed at
UW-Madison could process payments via charge card using a
service called ViaKlix.
If you are planning on operating a web storefront to sell goods
or services, your storefront must conduct commerce in
accordance with these standards. Complete the Account
Request form by logging in using your Net ID and password
to https://charge.wisc.edu/info/request/account_request.asp
Please contact Padmini Prashanth at 608-265-5934,
pprashanth@bussvc.wisc.edu to make sure your storefront is
set up properly and uses the ePay service.
PROCUREMENT/PAYMENT CYCLE
IMPROVEMENTS
Finding PO Information Online and Printing
Department PO Copies
An easier way of finding information about your Purchase
Orders and a new way of handling Department copies of POs
will be implemented in early FY10. The search functions
currently available at
http://poinfo.bussvc.wisc.edu/purch/PurchInqMenu.htm will
be enhanced to allow you to find POs based on any part of the
funding string used on the requisition as well as date ranges
including ending dates of blanket orders and continuing order
requisitions (CORs).
In addition, PO’s will be able to be viewed as printable PDF’s.
Once these documents are easily available online, Purchasing
will no longer be physically printing department copies of POs
and sending them out to campus. Your access will be much
quicker on-line and you may print only if you need to
Split Funding and Reallocation of MDS Charges
MDS is excited to announce that beginning on July 6, 2009
customers will have the ability to reallocate and/or split
funding on purchases made through the MDS e-commerce
system before transactions are posted to SFS. This new tool is
called PAT (the Pre-Posting Allocation Tool) and its design is
similar to that of the procurement card software used to
reallocate purchases.
ADMINISTRATIVE NEWS – JUNE 2009
MDS will offer multiple PAT training sessions/demos
beginning mid-June. Learn how to use the Pre-posting
Allocation Tool to reallocate and split funding on your MDS
e-commerce purchases along with the potential benefits to
using the system. To register, please visit
http://www.ohrd.wisc.edu/reg/catalog_course.aspx?groupcour
sekey=25524.
MDS will also post several resource documents on our website
at http://bussvc.wisc.edu/mds/mds.html.
Finding MDS Information in WISDM in FY10
With the implementation of PAT (Pre-Posting Allocation
Tool), a change in the way you see your MDS purchases in
WISDM will also be implemented. You will no longer see a
single summary entry of the entire month’s purchases for each
MD number, but will instead have access to invoice summary
information. This will mean a greater number of entries
posted for each MD number, but also a much larger amount of
data available for analysis. For example, if a department
makes three purchases to Fisher Scientific, two to VWR, and
four to Corporate Express on MD54321 in the month of July
2009, they would see nine entries in WISDM for that month
for that MD number instead of one entry summarizing all the
purchases. The billing will still occur on a monthly basis, so
these new, more detailed entries will be available in WISDM
at the same time each month, detailing activity charged in the
previous month. This change will go into production with the
beginning of FY10 purchases and you will start to see the data
in WISDM in early August 2009.
MDS Going Green
Shortly after the launch of the PAT (Pre-Posting Allocation
Tool) project; MDS will be implementing a green initiative in
our monthly statement processing. Customers that currently
receive monthly paper statements will instead be able to look
up their transaction details by accessing the “Transaction” tab
on the navigation bar of the MDS website. Detailed
information will be posted on the website and email notices
will be sent as the green initiative launch approaches.
Dell Ordering Process Improvements
MDS, Dell and DoIT have been working on several
improvements to the Dell ordering process.
There are three ways to order Dell products:
 Featured Systems and General Catalog - Provide a
wide selection of Dell products available through MDS.
Featured Systems, configured by DoIT and Dell, are
available at great pricing (get volume discounts without
the volume purchase!) These computers are preconfigured but also be customized to meet your needs.
Departments can even create their own Featured Systems,
making it easy for faculty and staff to easily get a
compatible computer system. You can access hundreds
of other Dell products through the Full Catalog (just click
on "Systems" or "Software and Peripherals" at the top of
the screen).
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 E-Quotes - The easy way to order! You can customize
the system to your needs, save the configuration, and then
place the order yourself or have someone else finalize the
E-Quote / order within 30 days. You can save an E-Quote
of any MDS/Dell shopping cart, and you don't need an
MD number or login to save an E-Quote; just login as
"Guest".
 DOMS / QTO Quotes - For large orders, or those
involving servers and storage, you can use a DOMS or
Custom Quote, formerly Quote To Order (QTO). DOMS
quotes should be utilized when ordering:
20 or more identical desktop computers
10 or more identical laptop computers
3 or more servers and/or storage arrays
For complete information on how to order Dell products via
MDS, please visit
http://mds.bussvc.wisc.edu/order/default.asp, login and click
on Shop at our PC prime vendor, Dell Computers in the store
lobby.
eReimbursement Rollout Continues
Following the installation of several updates to the
eReimbursement software, rollout to users continues
beginning June 1, 2009. eReimbursement is the on-line,
electronic workflow based travel expense reimbursement
system.
You can learn about the system by going to
http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/TEWeb/tabereimbursement.
html . There you will find a one minute video and powerpoint
describing the system as well as links to the on-line training.
Data from the use of the system by its pilot users during
the period Dec, 2008 to April, 2009 were fantastic. Paper
TER’s took an average of 26.5 days from the time they
were signed by the traveler until the paper check was put
in the mail by Accounts Payable. eReimbursements took
an average of 5.5 days from the time the traveler
submitted them to the workflow process until the
reimbursement was direct deposited to the traveler’s bank
account.
We look forward to the complete implementation of
eReimbursement in the next year.
ACCOUNTING SERVICES
Welcome New Employees
Kerry Morgan joined the Accounting Services on March 23rd
as a Business Automation Senior. He will provide WISDM
ADMINISTRATIVE NEWS – JUNE 2009
support. Kerry had worked at TDS Telecom for 20 years. He
brought us the experience in financial and accounting systems
with strong knowledge in various query tools. Kerry will
conduct WISDM training classes, answer WISDM and
DataView questions, help campus with various financial
reporting needs and manage the WISDM and DataView
system change projects. Kerry can be reached at
sfsmsn@bussvc.wisc.edu.
Kyle Schwoch joined Accounting Services on May 11th as the
Property Control and salary cost transfer Accountant. Kyle
worked for Covance for three years as a financial accountant
and has a degree in accounting and management information
systems. He brings to the Property Control team experience in
financial and capital accounting. Kyle will be working on the
financial statements, accounting for capital equipment, and
processing salary cost transfers. Kyle can be reached at
kschwoch@bussvc.wisc.edu.
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restructured for clarity and consistency. The revised website is
organized into the following sections:
 Current Paper Process – for all users that have not
received notification to begin using the new eReimbursement system
 e-Reimbursement – this new system is gradually being
released across campus during 2009-2010
 Travelport – for online booking of airfare, available for
all users, with both the current paper process and new eReimbursement process
 Trip Planning – available for all users, with both the
current paper process and new e-Reimbursement process
Please note that with the website redesign, some links have
changed. Visit the new website and update your browser
bookmarks or favorites.
Receipt and Sales Credit Processing Changes
Travel and Expense Policy
Effective June 1, 2009, the following updates were made to
the travel and expense reimbursement policy. Please note that
any travel expense reports in progress are not affected by these
changes.
Receipts for travel expenses are now required only for
expenses exceeding $25. Actual expenditure limitations are
still in effect per Wisconsin Statute and may be found on the
Receipt Requirements (201.L-Travel) policy web page.
Detailed receipt requirements for specific expense types are
listed at
http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/policy/travel/receipt.html.
The travel and expense reimbursement policy now reflects
changes to both the paper travel and expense reimbursement
process and where appropriate, e-Reimbursement. Please note
that there are three new policy titles:
 201.Q-Travel: Other Non-Travel,
 201.R-Travel: Other Travel, and
 201.S-Travel: Registration Fees
A list of updated policy titles may be found at
http://bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/policy/ppindex.html. If you have
any questions, please e-mail them to
uwtravel@bussvc.wisc.edu.
Travel and Expense Reimbursement Web Site
Updated
As part of the phased rollout of the new online eReimbursement system, the Travel and Expense
Reimbursement web pages at
http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/TEWeb/index.html have
been redesigned and the related policies have been
Since April, 2009 Receipt and Sales credits have been posted
in SFS directly. At that time new forms were created for those
who deposit money at that Bursar’s Office. This form can be
found on the web at
http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/forms.html#scdf. For those
departments which do their own accounts receivable invoicing
and request the customer to send payments to the Bursars
Office along with a copy of the invoice for deposit (the form
use to be called the “6 part invoice form”), Cash Management
has created a new electronic form which can be customized.
To receive an example of this form, please contact Cash
Management at Cashmgt@bussvc.wisc.edu and ask for the
A/R Invoice template.
Cash Management will send the template back along with
instructions on how to use it and customize it. All new forms
reflect the SFS, rather than Legacy Accounting System,
coding strings. Please make sure you are using the most
current forms from this website and destroy all previous
forms.
BURSAR
Bursar’s Office Moved to 333 East Campus
Mall, Suite 10501
The Bursar’s Office moved in December, 2008 from 21 N.
Park Street to the new Student Services Tower in the
University Square complex at 333 East Campus Mall. We are
located in Suite 10501 on the 10th floor of the University
tower, with an entrance off of East Campus Mall next to
Walgreens. The Bursar's Office has a drop box on the first
floor of the tower, right next to the elevators.
The Registrar’s and Student Financial Aids Offices also
moved to the University Tower at 333 ECM. By having all
three offices in the same tower, we offer one-stop service to
ADMINISTRATIVE NEWS – JUNE 2009
students since the services provided by our office are
integrated.
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Where possible, do not enable a person to commit errors and
also correct errors, even if you trust them. The only people
who can commit fraud or embezzle funds are those who have
been trusted. Always proceed independent of trust.
INTERNAL AUDIT
Financial Distress, Furloughs, Fairness, Fraud
and the Three Curses
Where it is not possible to separate duties, regularly review
assets and transactions, as if you were the owner of the
business.
The first curse of living in interesting times is upon us, and we
need to be attentive to how these times can create conditions
that result in fraud or embezzlement.
Follow up on small losses and errors, as these can be
perceived as future opportunities for fraud if need and
rationalization are present.
The classic “Fraud Triangle” consists of: financial need,
rationalization, and an opportunity. In times of financial
distress, financial need is more intense and upsetting. There
can be real distress such as inability to maintain current
standard of living, and perceived distress that others have
more favorable treatment. In a large organization, there will
inevitably be uneven application and impact of rules that can
be misinterpreted as being purposely unfair.
If you become aware of specific instances that indicate
possible fraud or embezzlement, you should report it to either
Internal Audit or the UW Police. More information on this is
included in the “How-To” pages of Business Services under
the title of “How To Report an Allegation of Misappropriation
of University Assets”.
Inequitable treatment can provide rationalization excuses to
commit fraud or embezzle funds. As corruption schemes in the
financial services sector become publicized, people under
stress can be led believe that corruption can go on for
extended periods and maybe never found if small amounts are
involved. Anyway, “I need the money more than they”; “I
intend to return it when I can”; “They deserved it because
nobody asked any questions”.
The next curse of finding what you are looking for begins by
someone observing and exploiting a weakness in general
internal controls or access to assets provided based upon trust
by management. The most obvious weaknesses in our
environment are setting up fictitious or “ghost” employees;
making small dollar payments to dummy vendors; and
pocketing or skimming program revenue cash before it is
deposited in the university bank account. Small thefts grow
with success and continue with dependence on an increased
standard of living. Larger scale thefts become more complex,
difficult to manage, and error prone.
This person then incurs the third curse – they come to the
attention of those in authority. Someone notices an irregularity
and follows up with questions needing complete answers. Or,
an organizational change of duties disables making and
correcting errors by one person. Implicit trust breaks down
with a new supervisor, suspicion, and investigation of unusual
events.
Lessons for times of financial distress:
We cannot manage a person’s actual or perception of financial
need or their ability to rationalize actions they may take. As
stewards of financial resources, we can and should limit
opportunities for fraud and embezzlement. The following are
some minimum steps.
HUMAN RESOURCES, PAYROLL & BENEFITS
Kronos Update
Effective in late September, a new release of Kronos will be
implemented. With this new release, the student printed time
sheet will no longer be available. For those UW-Madison
Divisions/Departments currently using the student printed
time sheet, the employing units will need to convert from the
printed time sheet approval process to the electronic
supervisory approval. This Kronos upgrade will occur on
September 26, 2009. The new version of Kronos will get us
more current to the newly released JRE versions.
High Level Implementation Steps
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Conversion plan and contact by the UW Service
Center will be made to each Divisional unit that
currently uses the student printed time sheets.
Training the supervisors for electronic
supervisory approval will be scheduled by the
Divisional unit with the training assisted by the
UW Service Center.
Training and reference material will be updated
by the UW Service Center for the upgrade to
Kronos 6.0.
Discussion/implementation sessions will be
scheduled and conducted for the employing units
encompassing the upcoming changes within the
Student Timekeeping “Kronos” process
COBRA Health Insurance Continuation
Premium Subsidy
Congress passed the landmark Consolidated Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act (COBRA) health benefit provisions in
1986. The law provides unemployed workers the opportunity
to continue group health coverage that otherwise might be
terminated.
ADMINISTRATIVE NEWS – JUNE 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into
law on February 17, 2009, established an employer-provided
COBRA subsidy. Employees who are involuntarily
terminated between September 1, 2008 and December 31,
2009 may be eligible for a nine month subsidy of COBRA
premiums. The subsidy also applies to any eligible family
member of an involuntarily terminated employee. A
qualifying individual would pay 35% of the premiums during
the subsidy period. The University of Wisconsin will
subsidize the remainder, but will receive a tax credit for its
65% share.
Individuals eligible for a COBRA premium reduction for State
Group Health Insurance coverage also have the opportunity to
have a COBRA subsidy for the following benefit plans: EPIC
Dental and Excess Medical Insurance, Anthem Dental
Insurance, and OptumHealth Vision Insurance. Individuals
must have been actively enrolled in these benefit plans in
order to have an opportunity to continue coverage.
Those who are eligible for other group health coverage (such
as a spouse's plan) or Medicare are not eligible for the
COBRA premium reduction. There is no premium reduction
for COBRA premiums paid for coverage prior to February 17,
2009. The COBRA premium reduction is decreased or
eliminated for individuals in certain income categories defined
within the law; see the Department of Labor COBRA
Premium Reduction Fact Sheet link below for more details.
Any employee who is involuntarily terminated during the
effective period will be sent their COBRA continuation notice
and subsidy information from the Office of Human Resources,
Benefit Services.
University of Wisconsin System
Premium Assistance for COBRA Continuation of Insurance
Benefits
http://www.uwsa.edu/hr/benefits/ins/2009COBRA.html
U.S. Department of Labor
Fact Sheet: COBRA Premium Reduction
In English
http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fsCOBRApremiumreducti
on.html
en Español
http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/fsCOBRApremiumreductionsp.p
df
International Faculty and Staff Services
Impact of Furloughs on Non-Immigrant Employees
The mandatory furloughs that state employees will be required
to take in FY 2009-1010 and 2010-2011 will have an impact
on UW-Madison employees who are working in either H-1B
or E-3 (Australian) status. This is because we must certify on
the Labor Condition Application (LCA) that we will pay them
at least a certain salary. The furloughs will cause us to pay
them 3% less than the salary that was originally promised.
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In the case of new employees (including initial and portability
cases) and employees who are due for an extension of stay,
amendment, or change of status to either H-1B or E-3 within
the next six months, we will need to certify on the LCA and
the I-129 that the salary is 3% less than what the actual fulltime salary rate is. In addition to the standard appointment
letter which will give the full-time rate, we need to specify in
writing that the gross pay will be 3% less. Steve Lund has
suggested the following wording:
“The Governor is requiring all state employees to take 8 days
of furlough (unpaid leave) in each of the next two fiscal years.
Eight days of unpaid leave equates to a 3% reduction in your
gross earnings for the period July 1, 2009 through June 30,
2010. While your full-time rate will be $57,000 per year, your
gross pay for 2009-10 will be $55,290.” Obviously, the
figures should be adapted for each individual’s situation.
Since there is no problem with paying more than what is stated
on the LCA, should the furloughs not be implemented, we
would still be in full compliance with the attestations on the
LCA and the I-129 by using the lower rate on the forms.
As for other employees in H-1B or E-3 status who will not
need an extension of stay within the next six months, we are
awaiting direction from UW System Administration regarding
what will need to be done. We will be in contact as details
become available, and information will be posted on our web
site.
If you have any questions, please contact either Deborah
Ahlstedt, dahlstedt@ohr.wisc.edu, or Jennie Taylor,
jtaylor@ohr.wisc.edu.
New H-1B Processing Times and Information
Please try to anticipate new international hires and their
immigration needs. It is now taking at least four (4) weeks
before IFSS can submit a completed H-1B application to US
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The
Department of Workforce Development (DWD) is taking up
to three (3) weeks to generate the prevailing wage
determinations. Additionally, the new Labor Condition
Application system is taking up to 10 days to certify the
Application. Even if premium processing is requested, the 15
day clock does not begin until USCIS has the application in
hand. Therefore, with premium processing, the soonest IFSS
can submit a completed H-1B petition to USCIS is six (6)
weeks after receiving the prevailing wage request. The
soonest IFSS expects to receive an approved H-1B petition
back from USCIS is two (2) months after starting the process.
On a related note, the prevailing wage determinations are
coming back higher than they have in the past. There are new
personnel at the DWD who are determining our prevailing
wages. It is essential to list only the minimum qualifications
for a job, and not what our employee has. For example, per
ADMINISTRATIVE NEWS – JUNE 2009
the Unclassified Title Guidelines (UTG), the minimum
education requirement for a faculty associate is a Master’s
degree and not a PhD. The minimum education requirement
for a researcher is an advanced degree (Masters or PhD). The
UTG does not require a PhD. Please keep this in mind when
completing the prevailing wage request.
Lastly, on the IFSS website, new forms have been posted.
Please go to the IFSS website every time you complete an I129, I-539, or I-907 to make sure you are using the most
current version of the forms. USCIS can reject the application
if the wrong forms have been submitted. This will delay the
process even further.
Permanent Residence Visa Numbers Retrogress
Effective in June 2009, visa numbers for individuals born in
India who are applying under the second employment-based
(EB-2) category will retrogress 4 years to January 2000. The
State Department predicts that visa numbers may retrogress
for individuals from all other countries during the final months
of the fiscal year (through 30 September 2009). Anyone who
currently is eligible to adjust status and has not done so should
prepare the documents immediately. Visa number availability
is announced around the 15th of each month for the following
month on the State Department’s Visa Bulletin:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html.
PURCHASING SERVICES
Welcome New Staff
We are pleased to announce that Andy Richardson has
accepted a position in Purchasing Services as a Purchasing
Agent. Andy comes to us with a background in private sector
purchasing and project management. He will be the
purchasing agent for various commodity areas including office
equipment and convention space rentals as well as assisting
with the department's requisition and encumbrance
management workload. Andy started in Purchasing on May
20th, 2009. Please join us in welcoming him to UW-Madison.
Minority Travel Vendors
The University is committed to striving to spend 5% of our
purchasing dollars with Wisconsin Certified Minority
Business Enterprises. One area where we can make positive
strides towards our spending goal is in our utilization of
Minority Businesses to service our travel needs. See
http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/purch/mbetravellist.html for a
complete list of MBEs.
If you routinely travel, or you are responsible for travel
coordination in your department, please use one of the
following MBE Travel Agencies. Meeting our goals requires
individual commitment by everyone and your personal efforts
are sincerely appreciated.
Page 7
 Admiralty Travel, LLC
608-233-2626
 America’s Best Travel, Inc.
262-787-0517
 Burkhalter Travel
608-356-4999
Email: info@burkhaltertravel.com
Website: http://www.burkhaltertravel.com
 Capitol Travel
608-221-4791
Email: Marcia@captvl.com
Website: http://www.captvl.com/
 Chambers Travel
608-496-9596
Email: chambtrvl@aol.com
Website: http://chamberstravel.info/
 Educational Travel Center
608-256-5551
Email: edtrav@exepc.com
Website: http://www.edtrav.com/
 Gulliver’s Travels, Inc.
800-236-4404
Email: gulliverstvls@vacation.com
Website:
http://gulliverstvls.vacation.com/siteviewer/home.jsp
 Houses Travel
414-421-3458
Email: housetravel@aol.com
 Image Keepers
920-430-5131
Email: sam@hvsproductions.com
Website:
http://www.casinovendors.com/Vendor/ImageKeepers-Inc
 Keystone Travel
800-486-8687
Email: Arts.keystonetvl@wspan.com
Website: http://www.travelbykeystone.com/cms/
 Landa Cleary Travel
608-849-4359
Email: landactc@chorus.net
Website: http://www.landacleary.com
 Middleton Travel
608-831-4664
Email: travel@middletontravel.com
Website:
http://www.middletontravel.com/$spindb.query.index
.carlsonwag
ADMINISTRATIVE NEWS – JUNE 2009
 Top of the Line Travel
414-578-3131
If you have general travel questions, contact Jan Richardson at
262-5656, for MBE related questions, contact Hartley Murray
at 262-4562.
Page 8
In June 2009, Purchasing Services will be updating our
website to match the design and layout of other Business
Services units. Most of our pages will not change content and
addresses, but we will be adding a number of new areas along
the left hand navigation bar to offer better information to
campus, including expanded Encumbrance Management,
External Requisition, Training, and Information for Vendors
sections.
Fiscal Year 2009 Year End Deadline Reminders
Due dates for receipt of all types of FY 2009 transactions are
available at http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/ddtime.html.
The dates and deadlines for both Accounting and Purchasing
have been merged into one timetable for easier reference and
are also available in a printable format. The fiscal year end
memo is available at
http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/YREndMemo2009.pdf and
explains some of these items in further detail.
Fiscal Year End PO Rollover
With the approaching end of fiscal year 2009, we will be
performing our second year end closing and PO rollover in
SFS. This process will take place in the same manner as last
year and will occur on July 1-2, 2009. Any open PO that has a
remaining encumbrance balance will rollover into FY10 with
the remaining encumbrance balance as the new amount on the
PO. POs that are fully liquidated, but not closed (e.g. $1
blanket orders with valid end dates extending into FY10), will
not rollover, but will remain open to order and pay against.
These POs will be usable, but will not show up in fiscal year
based searches in WISDM until a transaction has been posted
against them in FY10.
Need Help Finding a Purchasing Agent?
Purchasing Services has redesigned and posted a new
functional staff directory on our website. The new options
make it easier for campus to get in contact with the right
person that specializes in procurement in the areas that they
need. Our directory listings are available at
http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/purch/purchdir.html, but the links
below will take you right to the new sections. You can use the
new listings in three different ways:
 Which agent is responsible for the commodity I need?
(PDF)
 What commodities is each agent responsible for? (PDF)
 Full detail of agent commodity assignments and their
back-ups (sortable in Excel)
The first two options provide a broad overview listing. If they
do not offer enough detail to find what you need, use the third
option which is a complete listing of what is covered and can
be categorized and sorted in Excel according to your
individual needs. If you have any difficulties finding the
specific individual to speak with, we still maintain our general
phone number at 262-1526 and email at
purch@bussvc.wisc.edu.
New Purchasing Web Layout
Funding Errors in the External Requisition
Generator
If you find yourself trying to enter you’re funding to complete
an external requisition in My UW, but are receiving an error
message and are unable to continue, go to
http://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=7184 for more
information on how to deal with these errors. All of the
specific error messages are listed along with a screenshot and
tips on how to resolve the errors or who to contact for further
information. If you encounter a problem that is not answered
on this page or on any of the other pages in the Help Desk’s
KnowledgeBase for the External Requisition Generator, please
contact the Help Desk at 264-4357 or help@doit.wisc.edu for
further assistance in resolving the problem.
Procuring IT Services
When needing to contract with resources outside of UWMadison for information technology services, please be aware
of a mandatory information technology services contract for
any needs over $5000. This contract requires us to go through
a request for services (RFS) process through the vendor
management services provider Comsys. There are cases
where use of the contract is waived, but those waivers are
granted through the contract administrator at the Department
of Administration. Please contact Carl Hubbard,
chubbard@bussvc.wisc.edu or 2-6557 with questions on
contracting out for IT services. SNP Genotyping Services
Last fall, Purchasing Services and representatives from CALS
and SMPH worked on a contract bid for SNP Genotyping
services. The contract, at
(http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/purch/contract/wp5088.html)
was awarded to multiple contractors for different sizes and
types of genotyping services and is available for use.
MATERIALS DISTRIBUTION SERVICES (MDS)
End of FY09 MDS Purchasing Cut Off Dates
Approaching
Orders to be billed via the MDS E-commerce system in FY09
must be purchased no later than Friday, June 19th to ensure
they are billed in FY09. Orders placed between June 22-26
may or may not be billed to FY09 depending on vendor
invoicing process. All returns must be picked-up and
delivered to the vendor by June 19th to ensure posting in
FY09.
ADMINISTRATIVE NEWS – JUNE 2009
MDS Annual Inventory
The MDS warehouse will be closed for our yearly physical
inventory starting at noon on June18th through 7 AM on June
22nd. Customers will still be able to order from all Prime
Vendors (Airgas, Dell, Fisher Scientific, Grainger Industrial,
Corporate Express and VWR) via the MDS website but will
not be able to order MDS stock. All orders that were placed
by noon on June 18th will be delivered as normal on June 19th
along with Prime Vendor and cylinder orders.
Page 9
Once the form is completed, with both moving violations and
at fault accidents, the form must be notarized by a Notary
Public. Some departments have people with such a
designation, but for those who do not, we have two Notaries in
our office, Margaret Hoffman at 262-0379 and Debbie Beich
at 262-8926.
We ask that employees or students call to make an
appointment with either Debbie or Margaret. That will save
a trip to our office, in case neither of them is available.
MDS Spring Product Show on Hiatus
For the second year, MDS will not be offering a spring
products show due to increased costs associated with
producing the show. We hope to bring the product show back
at some point, but in the meantime all prime vendor
representatives are willing and able to conduct product
demonstrations upon request.
Airgas Contract Renewed
Effective June 1, 2009 the industrial gas contract has been
renewed with Airgas. New contract terms will result in lower
prices on some select products.
General Warehouse Storage Fees
Effective June 1, 2009 MDS General Warehouse Storage Fees
will be increasing from .43 to .45 per sq. ft. Pallet location
storage will remain the same at $12.50 per pallet location; per
month.
SWAP Delivery Fees
Effective July 1, 2009 SWAP delivery fees will increase to
$50 for dock delivery & $100 for room delivery.
Driver authorization information, including all current forms,
is available at
http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/risk_mgt/drivetable.html.
Updating Your Special Inventories
Each spring we update all of our values for special inventories
and report them to UW System. While we must report values
every year, we don't actually do a full survey of
departments each year, since we have noticed that significant
changes don't occur every year Accordingly, it is critical that
departments report any substantial changes to our office, when
they occur, to make sure we have all the most current values
for art, museum collections, boats and motors, special
libraries, farm values and livestock, etc.
Significant changes can be reported to our office by sending
us an updated inventory of your collection, or by providing a
written copy of just the changes, whichever seems to make
more sense. If you have questions as to how to report the
changes, please contact Margaret Hoffman at 262-0379, or by
e-mail at mhoffman@bussvc.wisc.edu. If you would like, we
can send you a blank copy of the forms to re-submit your
values.
SWAP Enhances Computer Offerings
Due to changes in licensing programs, SWAP will now be
providing operating systems on a select number of computers
being sold through the retail store and online auction.
SWAP Saturday Sales
SWAP is open to the general public the second Saturday of
every month from 8am-2pm.
 July 11 – Independence Day Sale
 August 8 – Back to School Sale
 September 12 – Labor Day Sale
RISK MANAGEMENT
Notary Public – Appointment Please
For those of you who submit driver authorization forms, but
haven’t had your Wisconsin license for 3 years, we require
that you provide us with a notarized copy of your driving
record for the past 3 years. There is a special form available
for this on our driver authorization web page.
Driver Authorization Timelines and Form
Completion
Requests to become an authorized driver have more than
doubled over the past year. We urge you to send these forms
(available at
http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/risk_mgt/risk_mgmt_forms.html)
as soon as you know a staff member needs to drive a fleet
vehicle, rather than waiting until it is close to the time to pick
up the vehicle.
New employees that could need to drive at some point can
complete the form as part of their initial orientation. That way
if they need to drive, they won’t have to worry about waiting
to get approved in order to reserve a vehicle. Please allow
plenty of time for student authorizations.
Please make sure the forms are complete and legible. There is
no optional information on our form – all information must be
provided in order to process the request. Also, all signature
lines must be signed by the appropriate person. Your
assistance is much appreciated.
ADMINISTRATIVE NEWS – JUNE 2009
Page 10
Medical Coverage for Students
Recently, our office received the following question, and
because it is one we receive often, we thought it might be
helpful to answer it publicly:
“I have a question concerning graduate and undergraduate
students. If we have students doing work on projects or their
thesis during the summer and they are not registered for
credits during the summer, are they covered for liability by us
if they have an accident while conducting the research? These
would be students who took classes during the spring semester
and are enrolled for the fall semester.”
First of all, it might be useful to provide a bit of definition for
the word “liability” – while we find people often use it for the
risk of personal injury, in the insurance industry it is used to
discuss the responsibility one person has for injury or property
damage they cause to someone else, usually based on their
negligence. For example, if we drive a car into someone’s
mailbox – that is our liability; or if a professor accidentally
knocks a students laptop off their desk, causing damage, that
is our liability; or with reference to medical, if a professor
accidentally sprays acid on someone’s skin, during an
experiment, that would be our liability.
Regarding, student-incurred injuries on campus, students are
not covered for injuries they cause to themselves, i.e. they
break a flask in a lab and cut their hand, or they stumble when
running to make a class and sprain an ankle. Students must
have their own health insurance for injuries they incur on
campus. The only exception to this would be if their injury is
specifically caused by a University employee or agent, as in
the liability of the professor for spraying acid on someone’s
skin.
In actuality, students are not covered for blanket medical
insurance, either registered, or not-registered. This is why it is
so critical that students have their own insurance. The
University can pay for injuries ONLY in the case of
negligence on the part of our employees/agents, i.e. a student
riding their bike legally, is hit by someone driving a
University vehicle and negligently causes injury to the student.
And lastly, student hourly employees, as well as Teaching
Assistants and Project Assistants are covered by Workers
Compensation. However, Research Assistants, who are not
considered employees and are not on payroll (it is a stipend),
are NOT covered by Workers Compensation and would need
to have their own health insurance.
This is a complex issue and so we would ask that questions be
directed to Jeanine Critchley at 262-8925 or by e-mail at
jcritchley@bussvc.wisc.edu.
BUSINESS SERVICES NEWS
A quarterly publication to provide up-to-date information to University of
Wisconsin faculty and staff on University business policies and procedures.
Contributions to this newsletter are made by Business Services' departments,
Office of Human Resources and Office of Archives and Records
Management. Circulated free via the internet and by subscription ©All rights
reserved. Business Services is located at 21 N. Park Street, Madison 53715.
Editors: Don Miner, Carla Raatz, Pam Frederick