President Machen addresses budget challenges

On June 10, President Machen sent a message to UF faculty and staff addressing the 2011-12 budget. Please visit the HRS web site to view the memo. Employees are encouraged to e-mail comments regarding the proposed changes to human-resources@ufl.edu.

July 1 paycheck to be issued a
day early

To help ease the transition, the University of Florida will change its original paycheck issuance date of July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2011, for the June 10 through June 23 pay period.

Please help to ensure employees in your area are aware of the following:

1. Employees will not have to contribute the 3% of eligible earnings for the June 30 paycheck; contributions will begin with the next paycheck, dated July 15, 2011.
2. Retirement contributions will be calculated using the rates in effect during the fiscal year 2010 - 2011.
3. Some deductions, including 403(b) deductions, will not be processed due to June 30 being the third payday of the month.
4. Employees who are not impacted by the 3% retirement contributions will also receive their paychecks on June 30, 2011.

Questions may be directed to University Retirement, at (352) 392-2477 or retirement@ufl.edu.

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ORP participants informed of how legislative changes will affect their contributions

Department administrators will wish to note the following information so they can be informed if employees come to them with questions.

• The mandatory 3% employee contribution will be automatically deducted from each employee’s gross pay. No action is required by the employee.

• The ORP rules limit the amount of voluntary employee contributions to the amount the employer is contributing to the participant’s account. Since the employer contribution is decreasing from 10.42% to 7.42%, the voluntary employee contribution limit is also decreasing by the same amount. All participants who are currently contributing between 7.43% and 10.42% on a voluntary basis will automatically have their voluntary employee contribution amount decreased to 7.42%. No action is required by the employee.

• The mandatory 3% employee contribution is considered an employer-paid employee contribution for IRS limit purposes. This means the mandatory 3% is not included when calculating the IRS employee contribution limit. Therefore employees may still contribute up to the IRS limits of $16,500 or $22,000 (for participants 50 or older) on a voluntary, calendar-year basis.

• The mandatory 3% contribution is based on gross, retirement-eligible compensation and does not reduce income reported for social security purposes. The mandatory 3% contribution is tax-deferred and, therefore, will reduce taxable income.

• An employee whose voluntary contributions to the ORP are automatically reduced to 7.42% but chooses to contribute more, up to the IRS limits, may begin or increase contributions to a UF Tax-Deferred 403(b) or UF Roth 403(b). Please see “Resources” below for links to the investment providers and forms.

  • If you have an existing 403(b) contract, you can complete a new salary reduction agreement (SRA) and submit it to Human Resource Services.
  • If you do not have a 403(b) contract, please contact an investment provider to enroll by completing a contract and the SRA.
    
    
• This table illustrates the current and upcoming contribution percentages and limits for the ORP.

• The legislative changes will take effect with the July 15 paycheck. If you want to change your voluntary employee contributions beginning with the July 15 paycheck, the appropriate forms should be submitted to Human Resource Services between June 24 and July 6.
  
  
• All voluntary employee contributions, both ORP and UF 403(b), may be changed at any time throughout the year.

Resources:
ORP and 403(b) Investment Providers
ORP Change Form (ORP-16A)
UF Tax-Deferred 403(b) SRA
UF Roth 403(b) SRA

For assistance or answers to questions regarding your ORP or 403(b) accounts, please contact your investment provider(s). Other questions may be referred to Human Resource Services at (352) 392-2477 or retirement@ufl.edu.

Social media policy use guidelines introduced

Over the past year, a university-wide committee, with input from multiple university constituencies, has developed guidelines and policy implications regarding the use of social media as an employee, appointee, or student at the University of Florida, or as a user of UF computing resources. This information is now available on the Policies section of the HRS web site.

Department administrators are encouraged to review the information in this document. If you have questions, please contact the University Privacy Office at (352) 273-1212 or privacy@ufl.edu.

Proposed Fringe Benefits Pool rates effective for fiscal year 2011-12

• FICA OASDI (Social Security)
• FICA Medicare
• Health Insurance (including graduate assistant and postdoctoral associates health insurance)
• Retirement (employer contributions)
• Life Insurance
• Clinical disability insurance
• Worker's Compensation
• Unemployment Compensation
• Vacation and sick leave cash-outs
• Sick leave pool payments

The employee categories and corresponding proposed benefit rates are as follows:

Based on similarities in fringe benefits, effective July 1, 2011, Regular Post Docs have been moved from the Housestaff/Post Docs category to the Graduate Assistants category for purposes of determining the fringe benefit pooled rates.

The proposed rates also take into account recent legislation requiring employee contributions toward retirement.

Please contact the following individuals if you have any questions:
Brian Kuhl, bkuhl@ufl.edu or (352) 392-1231
Jim Ferrer, jferrer@ufl.edu or (352) 392-2402
Sheela Moudgil, moudgils@ufl.edu or (352) 392-1324

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Submit perquisite renewals this month

Requests for new perquisites should be submitted as a new request using the Request for Approval of Perquisites or Sale of Goods and Services (HR-400) form.  Questions may be directed to Adia Rhodes at adia-rhodes@ufl.edu or (352) 392-2477.

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Authorizations for additional university employment must be renewed

TEAMS, USPS, and OPS—Classification and Compensation, PO Box 115009. Contact Brook Mercier at bmercier@ufl.edu or (352) 392-2477 with questions.

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New format for Fall 2011 New Faculty Orientation

Dates, locations, and a tentative list of topics are as follows:

Wednesday, August 17, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Emerson Alumni Hall
Information Fair; Tenure and Promotion; Academic and Undergraduate Affairs; Shared Governance (Faculty Senate); Benefits and Retirement

Thursday, August 18, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Emerson Alumni Hall
Sabbaticals, PDLs and FEOs; Libraries and Bookstores; Campus Security; Technology for Teaching; 5 Policies Every Administrator Should Know

Wednesday, September 7, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art
Assisting Disruptive or Distressed Students; Parking; How to Use the UF Foundation; IT Security; Grants; UF Cultural Plaza

Department administrators may register their new faculty by completing the New Faculty Information Form and submitting it electronically to Ellen Sattler at esattler@aa.ufl.edu by Monday, August 1. New faculty, for the purpose of this orientation program, are persons new to the university this year and/or appointed after the last New Faculty Orientation held August 19, 2010. If you have additional hires confirmed after August 1, please contact Ellen Sattler at esattler@aa.ufl.edu as soon as possible. The information received will be used to invite new appointees to orientation and to send information about various university programs developed specifically for them.

If your unit/college would like to participate in the Information Fair to be held on August 17 and September 7, please submit an Information Fair Registration Form.  Please select one date only. Information Fair spaces will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis and spaces may fill up quickly. Please note that submitting a form does NOT guarantee a spot in the Information Fair.

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Submit Material and Supply, Equipment Use Fee applications soon

All existing fees should be reviewed to determine if appropriate fees are being charged to cover the resources needed. For further details, please see the DDD memorandum from Sheri Austin. To ensure your area has the information it needs to successfully manage the updates, please refer to the Material & Supply and Equipment Use Fees Toolkit. 

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New Effort Reporting system for research awards to be introduced this summer

A sponsored research Commitments module also will be introduced that will provide information to principal investigators to better manage their effort commitments as well as those of their key management personnel.

For more information, please see the May 18 DDD memorandum.

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Do you know how to select a printing vendor?

The University of Florida recently issued a multiple award for Commercial Printing to a select group of vendors, based on quality, capabilities, service, and sustainability practices. For more information on the 13 vendors selected, please visit UF’s Think Before You Ink! web site.When undertaking a print job, please keep in mind the following:

• Print jobs of $1,000 - $4,999 require a minimum of one written or electronic quote from the certified printer list. A best practice is to solicit two quotes.
• Printing jobs of $5,000 - $74,999 require two or more written or electronic quotes from the certified printer list.
• Printing jobs of $75,000 and above require a formal solicitation process through UF Purchasing Services.

Please note that vendors not on the certified printer list can still quote on printing, but two quotes from the pool of certified vendors are required in addition to the outside printer's quote. For more information, please contact Carole Wimmer, UF Purchasing Services, at (352) 392-1331 x 227, cwimmer@ufl.edu, or purchasing@ufl.edu.

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©2011 University of Florida Office of Human Resource Services
The InfoGator for Department Administrators is a monthly e-publication produced by the University of Florida’s Office of Human Resource Services. It is distributed electronically to UF faculty and staff and is available online. Please direct questions or comments to its editor, Angie Brown; Human Resource Services; P.O. Box 115006; (352) 392-4626; TDD 800-955-8771. The InfoGator is available in an alternative format upon request.