1
Schools
March 2011
INTRODUCTION TO
GALAXY
Table of Contents
2

Background
Pages
3-6

Creating or Changing a PS Item
Pages 7-31

Funding Recommendations
Pages 32-35

Forecast Salary
Pages 36-39

Creating OTPS Items
Pages 40-45

Modifying an Existing Item
Pages 46-47

Other Important Factors
Pages 48-62
Galaxy: School-Based Budget Tool
3
Galaxy is the budget tool used by schools to schedule personnel and
other than personal services in order to staff schools and purchase
supplies, materials and contracted services.
FAMIS is the accounting system of record for the Department of
Education. Galaxy sends information to FAMIS each evening about
the day’s modification activity through a daily batch process.
Personnel & Purchasing
4




All personnel and purchasing transactions require an
approved job or item with appropriate funding in Galaxy.
Jobs must have the correct title, level, effective date and
salary to enable the transaction to be finalized in NYCAPS or
EIS (as required for that payroll bank).
If the job in Galaxy does not meet the parameters of the
transaction as entered in the personnel system, the transaction
cannot be completed.
Administrative “H and Z Bank” and “Q Bank” pedagogic
manager staff require a “P Number” from DHR. Once
approved by DHR, the “P Number” can be accessed and
added to the job in Galaxy.
Funding - SAMs
5

Most funds are allocated to schools by the central Division of
Financial Planning and Management (DFPM) School Budget Office
via School Allocation Memoranda, known as “SAMs”.

SAMs can be viewed on the DBOR website at:
http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/DBOR/AM/default.htm

Check the DFPM website regularly to stay up-to-date on new
allocations.

There is also a link to the SAM on the Allocation History screen in
Galaxy. Instructions on how access that information will be
covered later in this manual.
Funding – Gifts & Grants
6
Other funding, such as competitive grants, gets reported by the
Principal through the Gifts and Grants Reporting System, where it
is forwarded to the appropriate central offices to be converted
into allocations that can be used in Galaxy.
Note in FY 12 the Grants Reporting System will be replaced by
the Grants Planning System. Information about the new system
and how to use it will be disseminated in the spring.
Contact the budget liaison at the CFN for further information.
Creating or Changing an Item
7


How to Check the Availability of Funds
How to Understand the Budget Book
AC Totals – Allocation Categories
Check Fund Availability First
8
Click on
Info
AC Totals – Allocation Category
Funding Information
9
Select AC
Totals
AC Totals Screen
10
Reimbursable
funding is
identified by
the name of
the program.
Tax Levy
funding has a
prefix of “TL”
on the
allocation
category
name.
Ensure there is enough funding “Remaining” in the
Allocation Category (“AC”) to provide for the cost of the
budget transaction.
11
Once bottom-line fund control goes into effect,
funding must also be available at the Grand Total
level, across all of the allocations in the school.
12
Budget Book: Click on any allocation category to get
further information about the funding; then click on one
of the options in the “Budget Book.”
13
AC Filter Rules will display any special rules that are
programmed into Galaxy to help control how funds are
used, based on programmatic or other limitations on
the funding. As some rules cannot be programmed,
most reimbursable allocations are subject to review by
the CFN.
Valid Quick Codes displays the quick
codes used for the funding in FAMIS.
School Allocations will display the
amounts for all schools which received the
same allocation category.
Available Titles will display all of the titles available
in the Cost Factor for the allocation category.
Allocation History will display all of the changes to
your school’s allocation amount in the allocation
category selected.
Creating an item in Galaxy
14
Select “New Item” from the blue menu bar.
Select the Section of the Table of Organization where
the item is to be created.
15
Note: Schools with an Academy structure will have to first select an Academy.
For purposes of this training, select one of the
sections that contains “Teachers.”
16
The Personal Service Information (PSI) window will
pop-up.
17
From the Title drop-down menu, select a teacher title.
From the Title drop-down menu, select any full-time
teacher title.
18
Indicate the effective date for the job. Note: All fulltime jobs expire on the last day of school for the title.
19
Enter the SSN or file number (PRI) of the person “intended”
for the vacancy, if known.
20
When creating pedagogic items, a series of questions about
the position must be answered. The questions vary by title
and are dependent upon answers to those previously asked.
21
Answer the prompted questions as appropriate for the
circumstances of the hire.
22
Galaxy will check to see if the file number or SSN exists for the
person.
If the file number or SSN does not exist for the person Galaxy
will ask the user to enter the bio/demo data through the
Applicant Gateway.
Details needed on the PSI Window and TO
23
The required fields on the PSI Window and TO will vary by
the title selected, as some positions are hourly or daily or
scheduled in bulk. The daily or weekly schedule for the job
must be indicated and verified as appropriate for the title.
Bulk jobs for per session or per diem service are scheduled by
the number of hours of service needed or the dollar amount
entered.
For this example, let’s assume that this is a true vacancy, and no one
has been selected for the position.
Click the button next to “Is this Vacancy for a New Employee?”
24
The next question asks if you know the SSN of the new
employee. Click the button next to “No”.
25
The next question asks if you know the SSN of the new employee.
Click the radio button next to “No” and click “Next”. Note: In this
example, the effective date was changed to 2/25/2011.
26
The system then returns you to the job window. Click “Save.”
27
You can also add a comment at this time or it can be added later from the line item on the
T.O. Comments provide additional information about the item being created and are useful
to principals in helping manage their budgets. In certain instances, comments are required,
such as when reimbursable funds are being scheduled, to help connect the item to a
particular item in your school’s CEP.
28
Depending on the type of school (elementary, middle, high, other) and the
section for the position, different attributes may be required (Reqd) or
optional (Opt) in order to complete the scheduling of the position.
29
Elementary
Middle
High School
Program Field: Select a program name from the drop-down list or
enter a free-form one of your own choosing. If the program
already exists on the list, please select the standard description.
30
Certain items require that a program description be selected, such
as Title I mandated set asides for parent involvement and
professional development, or the program descriptions for
Contract for Excellence. Others are optional and can be used at
the Principals discretion in order to help manage their budget.
You must fill in all of the required information before you can click on the
Allocation field. Based on the criteria you’ve indicated, Galaxy will issue
funding recommendations as appropriate for those parameters.
31
In this example, the position is for a 2nd grade reduced
class-size teacher.
You must select an allocation to fund the item in order to complete
the process. Click on the “Reqd” field under “Allocation”.
Funding Recommendations
32
Based on the parameters that have been entered for the item being
created, Galaxy offers allocation category funding
recommendations.
The recommendations are based on the allocations to the school, the
allowable titles in the Cost Factor attached to the Allocation
Category, and any filter rules that may exist for the respective
allocation category.
This helps guide users to valid funding for the item, and may prevent
funding from being used for the wrong purpose.
However, some funding rules cannot be coded into the system, so
analysis and approval by your CFN budget liaison is required.
Fund Control: Funding must be available on the
Allocation Category to fund the item
33
If the Allocation appears in light blue, there is not enough money
available to fund the item.
If the Allocation is in bold blue, that allocation has enough funding
available to fund the item.
Items can be split-funded across allocation categories by using the
hyperlink at the top of the funding recommendations box.
34
In this example, only TL Fair Student Funding has enough funding
available to fund this position, so click on that row to select that
funding and it will be populated in the Allocation field. Then click
the blue save button.
The budget amount is derived from the Cost Factor
established centrally for the title and funding.
35
Teacher titles are generally scheduled at the school’s average
teacher salary, except for staff in competitive grants.
Most other titles are scheduled at the forecast actual salary for the
person.
Some titles in specific funding are scheduled at a city-wide average
for the title, for instance guidance counselors funded by the TL
Mandated Counseling allocation.
Items scheduled with Reimbursable Funds include the cost of fringe
benefits as prescribed by the title.
Forecast Actual Salary
36
Known and predictable salary events based on salary guidelines for
title and union affiliation are projected in the person’s individual
salary forecast, such as:
• Current Salary: Salary at start of forecast period
• Collective Bargaining: Union Contract Increases
• Anniversary Steps
• March Steps
• Longevity
To access the person’s forecast data right-click the bobble-heads in
the left-most column of the TO and select “Salary Details”.
Sample Salary Details Screen
37
Details Screen - Notes
38
The sample on the previous page is a good example of the different kinds of
salary actions that are known at the start of the year that may occur for a
person, based on the specific title and circumstance of the person.
In this example for a “Teacher – Regular Grades” from FY 2011, you can see on
the top part of the screen how this person’s salary is expected to change
throughout the year due to collective bargaining and step changes.
On the bottom part of the screen, the funding information is displayed. Since this
person is a teacher split funded by various FSF funding streams cost of the
person on the TO is valued at the school’s average teacher salary.
Each school’s average teacher salary changes every year, based on the average
salary of staff on the TO. It’s useful for principals to know the increases
expected for their staff, so that they can best plan for the future.
For staff valued at forecast actual salary, this screen will display exactly how the
person’s cost was calculated on the TO item.
Work Schedule – Enter and confirm the weekly hours for
titles such as School Aides and Family Workers.
39
The weekly work hour schedule must be indicated for each person. You can
change the schedule by adding a new row of data directly in the job window,
with an effective date. The cost of the item is driven by the number of hours
scheduled and the person’s forecasted actual salary.
Creating budget items for other than personal
services
40
Once you select the section and title needed, the Galaxy item
creation window will have different required fields based on the
type of service needed. Follow the prompts to enter all of the
required information.
The TO attributes needed will also vary by the section and title
selected. You must fill in all Required fields and provide valid
funding in order to complete scheduling the item.
We strongly recommend that you use the “Optional” fields and
“Comments” to help you manage your budget. Such fields help
you and staff designated by you, keep track of the intended use
of funding. That is very important when considering modifications
for changing circumstances in the school.
Scheduling OTPS
Select the OTPS title from the drop-down, enter the dollar amount
needed, and click SAVE.
41
42
Finalize the scheduling of OTPS by selecting the proper Organization Category that best
describes the service, and select or enter a program description. Although program
descriptions are optional for the most part, they are extremely helpful in managing OTPS. To
finalize the item, click in the allocation field and select the proper AC. Then finalize by
clicking the blue save button as usual.
OTPS items have an activity code assigned to them by Galaxy, which
is needed in order to make purchases in FAMIS.
43
The quick code is also displayed on the TO.
Details Screen – Left-click on the item to get
the “Details” screen.
44
The Details screen is just that; a screen which displays the details about the coding
of the item, such as item status, object code (needed for purchasing), and
commitments broken out into:
Expenditures (paid bills), Encumbrances, and Pre-encumbrances.
45
Modifying an Existing Item
46
To modify an existing item on the T.O. simply click on the
item.
Clicking will re-open the item and you can then make the
adjustments needed, similar to how you filled in the
fields when you created the item initially.
Once the item has been saved on the TO, monitor the item
processing status by its color.
47
Colors and Modification Approval levels in Galaxy
Color
Schools (Districts 1 -32)
Blue
Mod has been entered by a user with Update access; or a discrepancy has occurred,
which needs to be reviewed and submitted at the school level.
Green
Mod has been Submitted by the School and is waiting for CFN review and approval.
Red
Mod has been Approved by the CFN; or the mod was in an allocation category funding
that automatically gets approved based on the principal or their designee’s creation
of the item (such as TL Fair Student Funding), or the item has been updated via
discrepancy process, and has been automatically submitted.
Black
Mod completely processed through the overnight batch process.
Grey
Item is temporarily being held in communication with NYCAPS. Hit F5 to refresh the
screen if not cleared in 15 seconds.
Other Important Factors
48





Batch Process
InfoLink
People not on the TO
TO Navigation
Reference Materials
 Understanding
Mod Approval Levels
 Galaxy Systems Interfaces

Resources
The Batch Process
49
Galaxy sends information to FAMIS each evening about the day’s modification
activity through a daily batch process.
The batch generally begins at 4:00 pm daily Monday through Thursday, and at
3:00 pm on Friday.
Modifications must be RED on the TO by those times in order to be processed
through to FAMIS in the overnight batch process.
This is especially important to be aware of regarding OTPS spending. If the
mod is not approved by the time batch runs for the day, it must wait until the
following night’s batch to be processed to FAMIS.
In order to ensure timely processing of personnel and payroll related
transactions, personnel transactions can be completed immediately once the item
is in RED and a job ID has been attached to the job item on the TO. You do not
have to wait for the batch process to be completed in order to use the job.
InfoLink – People Not on the TO
Click on any number appearing the first column in order to get further
details of the issue(s).
50
Smith, John
0777777
People Not on the TO
51
Staff appear in the People Not on the TO tab of the InfoLink are
either people without jobs (PWJ) or add discrepancies.
If a person is PWJ it means that a personnel transaction was
initiated (“they were PTF’d”) in EIS (pay cycle B or P only) or an
automatic return from leave (RFL) action was initiated.
A “discrepancy add” means that a staffing transaction was
probably reversed or an error occurred and the person needs to
be put back or updated on the Galaxy TO.
Appropriate action must be taken on each person.
Consult with your HR Partner or CFN budget liaison for assistance
with how to proceed with such staff.
The Alloc. Changes tab on the InfoLink will display any allocation
changes made to your AC Totals page within the last seven days
52
If you acknowledge the item after clicking on the “$” sign for more details, it will be
removed from the list.
Click on the green ledger icon and the AC Transaction Ledger for that allocation category
will be displayed.
The TO Fund Changes tab will display details of changes made to your TO in the
last seven days. Click on Changes done by others not in my school to view the
transaction ledger which displays details of the change.
53
Changes done by others in my School: Staff in your school, who the principal
has designated to have security to make changes to the TO.
Changes done by others not in my School: CFN or central staff may have had
to take action on your behalf on the TO due to a deadline or other emergency
issue. You will always be notified by the person or office making the adjustment.
Certain transactions, such as discrepancies between the payroll systems and
Galaxy, will trigger a mod to be done automatically on your TO. For instance,
when staff separate from service, a mod is done by the system to free up the
remaining unused portion of the job. Check the sign-on screen for messages of
transactions initiated by the central school budget office.
Managing your budget through Galaxy
Click on the blue menu bar to view options to help further monitor your budget,
including transaction ledgers and item histories, as well as ways to print, sort and
download the TO into an excel spreadsheet.
54
Use the
search field for
staff, jobs or
activity codes
on the TO.
Further menu options for item-specific information can be
found by right-clicking or left-clicking the icons on the left
side of the TO.
55
LEFT-CLICK
RIGHT-CLICK
Reference Materials
56
Colors and Mod Approval levels in Galaxy
57
Color
Schools (Districts 1 -32)
Blue
Mod has been entered by a user with Update access; or a discrepancy
has occurred, which needs to be reviewed and submitted at the school
level.
Green
Mod has been Submitted by the School and is waiting for CFN review
and approval.
Red
Mod has been Approved by the CFN; or the mod was in an allocation
category funding that automatically gets approved based on the
principal or their designee’s creation of the item (such as TL Fair
Student Funding), or the item has been updated via discrepancy
process, and has been automatically submitted.
Black
Mod completely processed through the overnight batch process.
Grey
Item is temporarily being held in communication with NYCAPS. Hit F5
to refresh the screen if not cleared in 15 seconds.
Major System Interactions With Galaxy
58
Galaxy
DOE Systems
59
Personnel/Payroll Processing
GALAXY - Budget system where line item budgets are
scheduled for each person on a school or office’s Table of
Organization (T.O.).
Administrative
Most School-Based
H & Z Bank
Q, P, & E Bank
Staff


NYCAPS - New Human Resource system for the
handling of personnel and payroll transactions for
Administrative H and Z Bank staff. NYCAPS is the system
of record and aligns with the NYC platform.

E Bank is
coming soon!
APRL (administrative payroll) - Legacy system that the
DOE uses to streamline personnel transactions
processed in NYCAPS are passed OVERNIGHT to APRL to
create the 9902.

PMS – 9902s for Administrative staff must be approved
by Payroll before payroll information can be sent to
Payroll Management System (PMS), the City’s Payroll
System.


EIS – Once finalized, the PTF (Personnel Transaction
Form) data is updated in EIS.


60
Interface Systems Needed to Process Hiring
and Payroll
Web Resources
Budget, Payroll and DHR
61
Division of Financial Planning and Management (DFPM):
 http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/DBOR/default.htm
Division of Financial Operations – Payroll Memoranda:
 http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/EnterpriseOperations/ChiefFinancia
lOfficer/DFO/PayrollAdministration/KeyDocuments/Payroll+Memo
randa.htm
Division of Human Resources – Salary Schedules:
 http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/DHR/TeacherPrincipalSchoolProfessi
onals/Salary/Salary+Step+and+Differential+Schedules.htm
For Further Assistance
62
Schools
Contact the CFN budget liaison or HR Partner responsible
for your school.
Presentation created by the Galaxy Budget Unit
Division of School Budget Planning and Operations
Division of Financial Planning and Management