Commitments

Overview

Commitments are the end product of past leadership decisions as well as Finance Committee and Budget decisions.

View All Current Approved Commitments for an Entity

A complete list of commitments can be located on your divisional Commitment Intersection Detail Report (IDR) in your Budget Process folder in the CFO Shared Division Folders (access required).

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Types of Commitments

Commitments are mostly divided between faculty-related commitments and non-faculty-related commitments.

Faculty-Related Commitments

Faculty-related commitments are defined for this purpose as:

  • Start-up
  • Retention
  • Active Service Modified Duties (ASMD)
  • Chancellor Professorships
    • Chancellor professorships are those that are offered via startup or retention in lieu of an actual chair until one can be found, and are on central funds

Backup Documentation

Backup documentation needed for faculty-related commitments:

  • Start-up
    • Offer Letter
    • Budget Worksheet
    • If a non-conventional start-up package, provide approval documentation from Vice Provost or EVCP
  • Retention
    • Budget Worksheet
    • Signed retention letter
    • Approval communication from Vice Provost or EVCP
    • PDF of UCPath Page to show professor has active appointment
  • Other faculty salary - related commitment request (for example, summer 1/9ths)
    • Calculations to support the requested amount
  • Active Service Modified Duties (ASMD)
    • As of FY2020-21, please provide screen shots of UCPath entries for ASMD leave begin dates and ASMD end dates when you queue ASMD funding through the faculty queue
    • Example 1 of a UCPath entry needed:
      • Effective Date: 01/01/2020
      • Effective Sequence: 0
      • HR Status: Active
      • Payroll Status: Active
      • Action: Data Change
      • Reason: Active Service Modified Duties
      • Job Indicator: Primary Job
    • Example 2 of a UCPath entry needed:
      • Effective Date: 01/01/2021
      • Effective Sequence: 0
      • HR Status: Active
      • Payroll Status: Active
      • Action: Data Change
      • Reason: Return from ASMD
      • Job Indicator: Primary Job

Non-Faculty-Related Commitments

All other commitments are considered non-faculty related.

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Funding Commitments in a Particular Quarter

For commitments to be funded in a particular quarter, please complete the forms no later than 30 days prior to the last day of the quarter. Please refer to the Commitment Database (CDB) Allocation Process Schedule for dates.

Commitments That Do Not Need to be Queued

Please note that the following commitments do not need to be queued:

  • Budget Decisions
    • Budget Decisions will be posted on the last journal day for December month-close
    • Budget decisions can be located on your Divisional Commitment Intersection Detail Report (IDR)
    • The following commitment records are considered budget decisions:
      • 116011
      • 116013
      • 117009
      • 117011
      • 117055
      • 119004
      • 119005
      • 119024
      • 120006
      • 121006
      • 121011
      • 121018
      • 122007
      • 122008
      • 123001
      • 123005
      • 124003
      • 224019
  • EVCP TAS
  • Star Awards
  • BEAR Grants
  • Productivity Suite withdrawals (These will be transacted on the last journal day for December month-close.)
  • Campus Data Network VC Admin Assessment (will be transacted on the last journal day for December month-close)
  • McEnerney Funds (commitment records 119011, 119012, 119013)
  • Rotating Endowed Chairs
    • University Development and Alumni Relations (UDAR) will transfer the annual payout to divisions' DeptIDs directly
    • Please refer to the Endowed Chairs page for details
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Pathway to Retirement Funding

The management of funding allocations for the Pathway to Retirement program has been transferred to the Academic Personnel Office (APO). Please submit divisional requests for central funding to Yasya Goretsky at yasyavg@berkeley.edu. Please be sure to include a copy of the signed Pathway to Retirement Agreement, and supporting documentation identifying the course(s) taught, semester, instructor(s), and GL detail when relevant. This documentation should be provided from campus-based systems, such as the Berkeley Academic Guide (course catalog) and Cal Answers.

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Commitment Database (CDB) Allocation Process Schedule (2023-24)

Final Deadline for Divisions to Request a Commitment

Quarter 1

September 1, 2023

Quarter 2

December 1, 2023

Quarter 3

March 1, 2024

Quarter 4

April 30, 2024

The Quarter 4 deadline is one month earlier. This is the final opportunity to request queued commitments for the year. Requests for commitments contingent on Q4 actuals will not be posted until a few days before the fiscal close departmental deadline (June actuals journal cutoff) to allow divisions to make adjustments to their ledgers after they receive the funding.

Journal Date (actual date for closed months, projected date for open months)

Quarter 1

September 30, 2023

Quarter 2

December 31, 2023

Quarter 3

March 31, 2024

Quarter 4

May 31, 2024

June 30, 2024

Final Posting Date

Quarter 1

October 8, 2023

Quarter 2

January 10, 2024

Quarter 3

April 10, 2024

Quarter 4

June 7, 2024

July 12, 2024

Quarter 3 and Quarter 4 dates are estimates and will be updated when the final calendar is posted.

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Processed Queued Commitments

Approved and/or queued commitments are processed and posted on a quarterly basis. Please refer to the following Journal ID and Date Information to check the transactions in your ledger for your queued commitments. Journals are usually posted on the last journal processing day of each quarter.

Quarter 1

Actuals Journal: ZACAM758F

Permbudg Journal: ZACAM242P

Journal Date: 9/30/2023

Quarter 2

Actuals Journal: ZACAM781F

Permbudg Journal: ZACAM244P

Journal Date: 12/31/2023

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Commitment Queue Request Form

Starting in FY23 there will only be one Commitment Queue Request Form (access required).

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Contact

If you have any questions, email us at dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu with "Commitments inquiries" in the subject line of your email.

All inquiries must be reviewed and submitted by your Divisional Finance Leader.

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