Upcoming Deadlines at a Glance
- Friday, 2/3 - Complete Q2 Key Controls (today)
- Friday, 2/10 - Submit Reserve Analysis templates
- Thursday, 2/16 - Submit completed and approved org tree change requests
- Friday, 2/24 - Queue commitments for Q3 requests
UAW Agreement Financial Impacts and Budget
VCF is building the campus financial model to understand UAW financial impacts
The campus is in the process of building a financial model that helps us better understand the financial impacts of the UAW agreement. The model draws from UCPath and SIS data at the employee level and will deliver aggregated results by title (GSI, GSR, PostDoc, Academic Researcher), department, and award. We would prefer that all schools and colleges use the data set within the model as a starting point for your own calculations to avoid inconsistent reporting for critical decision-making. CAO Dat Le (Engineering) and Amy Robinson (Letters and Science) are representing the CAO/DFL community in this work group.
We are nearing the completion of the model and will begin sharing it with the broader campus community in the next two weeks. Completion of this work is essential to finalizing the assumptions for and launching the FY24 budget process, which we will provide more information about in the coming weeks.
Action Items
Complete Q2 Key Controls by Friday, February 3 (today)
Please complete and submit both the Financial Reporting Review and System Access Review by Friday, February 3. Please visit the Division Key Controls page for instructions and more information. Email questions about the financial reporting review controls to the Financial Accounting & Controls team at gao@berkeley.edu and questions about the system access review controls to the BFS Security team at secbfs@berkeley.edu.
Submit Reserve Analysis templates by Friday, February 10
The Reserve Analysis templates will be due on Friday, February 10. The Reserve Analysis template is in your division folder under FY2023-24 Budget Process > Reserve Analysis Template. A copy of the prior year’s completed template is included in this folder for your reference. More information is available on the Reserve Analysis web page. We are also offering office hours on Mondays. These will be on January 23, January 30, and February 6 from 11 am to 12 pm to help answer any questions you might have regarding this exercise. Sign up for the Reserve Analysis office hours by completing the linked Google Form. The Zoom link is included in the sign-up form.
Submit completed and approved org tree change requests by Thursday, February 16
If you would like to submit changes to the Org Tree, please submit your completed, Budget and Financial Operations (BFO) Committee approved request by Thursday, February 16. We recommend that you submit your change request form for review as soon as possible to allow time for the BFO team to review your request, follow up with you for any necessary clarification, approve your request, and allow you time to obtain all required signatures before the submission deadline. This is for all org changes with the exception of Org Node and DeptID moves.
The time needed to review change requests will vary, depending on the complexity of the request. For more information:
- A high-level summary of the process to approve org tree changes is available on the DFL concierge webpage.
- An overview of the org tree change submission deadlines is available in the Org Tree Submission and Processing Timeline.
- Please review the Org Tree Calendar for the timeline of allowable org tree changes throughout the year.
- Please submit questions and requests for changes to the Org Tree to dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu.
- Please note: If you plan to request an Org Node change or Entity Hierarchy redesign, please contact dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu and explain what you would like to change before completing the request form because these changes are typically more complex and involve longer consultations.
Queue commitments for Q3 requests by Friday, February 24
Please complete the Commitment Queue Request form by Friday, February 24, for commitments to be funded in the third quarter of FY2022-23. Please note that the following commitments do not need to be queued: Budget Decisions; EVCP TAS; Star Awards; Bear Grants; both Productivity Suite and Campus Data Network assessments and endowment payouts for rotating chairs. Commitments are processed on a quarterly basis. You only need to use one commitment queue google form to submit your commitment requests for both faculty and non-faculty funding commitments. Faculty commitments are defined for this purpose as Start-up; Retention; ASMD; and Chancellor's Professorships. Chancellor’s Professorships are those that are offered via start-up or retention in lieu of an actual chair - until one can be found, and are funded by central resources. For more information about queueing commitments and documentation required, please visit the Commitments page. Please note that if you are working remotely, you must log in through VPN for these forms to work. Please email dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu with questions.
Informational Updates
TSA PreCheck event in March
From March 6 -10, 2023 the Travel Team is offering a week of interview appointments to complete the TSA PreCheck enrollment process on campus. This is an opportunity for UC Berkeley faculty, staff, students, and their families who are eligible to schedule an interview with TSA on campus. Visit the TSA PreCheck event page on the travel website to read detailed instructions on how to apply. If you are interested please do not delay, as we expect the appointments to fill up fast. The TSA PreCheck event webpage is the best source for event news. Please contact the Accounts Payable and Travel office at travel@berkeley.edu with questions.
Refreshed FY23 Q3-Q4 Forecast and FY24-FY25 Operating Budget Intersection Detail Reports
We have refreshed the Intersection Detail Reports for the FY23 Forecast as well as the FY24 – FY25 Operating Budget. The refreshed FY23 Intersection Detail Reports (IDRs) help clarify what was loaded to CalPlan in the FY23 Forecast for Q3 and Q4. For the FY24 – 25 Operating Budget, the information is not final and is subject to change. These refreshed IDRs will be published to your Divisional Folders by end of the day today, and will be located in the “FY2022-23 Budget Process Folder”. Both IDRs will be titled as “FY23FC Q3 & Q4 Refreshed” and “FY24OB-FY25OB Refreshed”. Any changes to commitments made after January 9 will not appear on the IDRs. If amounts change, the affected units will be emailed and the amounts will be updated manually in CalPlan. Please contact the Financial Planning & Analysis team at dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu with questions.
FY2023 Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Rate proposal
As you may be aware, we are currently developing the FY2023 Facilities and Administrative Rate (F&A) proposal, through which the campus generates indirect cost recovery (ICR) for research grants. A major workstream in the F&A rate development involves conducting a survey of research space. We are currently identifying the departments that we’ll be working with on the space survey and will be reaching out soon to schedule a division-specific meeting to provide an overview of the space survey, roles and responsibilities, and timeline.
Financial Systems Availability
The following financial systems will be unavailable due to scheduled system maintenance.
CalPlanning
- Sunday, February 5, from 6:00 am to midnight
Cal Answers
- Sunday, January 29, from 6:00 am to midnight
- Sunday, February 5, from 6:00 am to midnight
CalPlanning training
The next series of CalPlanning and Smart View training classes begin Thursday, September 8. The curriculum uses a blended learning model. Courses begin with self-study using online “books” divided into chapters supplemented with practice exercises and short videos. Courses culminate with a group session using Zoom in which participants work on case studies in small teams to apply the material covered in the self-study. The self-study materials are available on the website for everyone to use; they can be a helpful resource for those that have already completed the training and are looking for a refresher. Review the CalPlanning training page for schedules, links to enroll, and to access the self-study materials.
Office Hours for CalPlanning and Smart View
Office hours are available so that you can ask specific questions about CalPlanning and Smart View. Request office hours and indicate the topic for which you are requesting support. Office hours are an opportunity to get individual support for a specific challenge your unit is facing; they are not a replacement for training.
Cal Answers Training
Please review the self-service learning resources on the Cal Answers website, where Cal Answers users will find a complete course in basic navigation as well as short videos, job aids, wiki documentation, and a list of Frequently Asked Questions. Additionally, the two-hour instructor-led classes build on the basic navigation skills covered in the self-study. There are separate courses focusing on financial dashboards and student data dashboards. In the class, a subject matter expert will guide a deep dive into the reports and data available in the dashboards and answer specific questions.
Changes to the DFL in your division?
If the DFL role in your division is changing, email fpa@berkeley.edu to ensure our website, communications, and training plans are updated.
DFL Weekly Updates Page
As a reminder, these updates are regularly posted to the DFL Weekly Updates page so you can reference past updates at any time. Additionally, the Operational Deadlines page provides an overview of deliverables by quarter.
Thank you,
Office of the Vice Chancellor of Finance