Internal RSCA Grant Award Process Improvements

Research & Innovation has made some process improvements intended to alleviate the workload both at the college and department levels effective with the 2023-24 grants that were recently awarded.

  1. All faculty internal grants (Seed, Level-Up, Mid-Career) will be awarded for two years.  No spending extension will be granted except for a compelling reason (e.g. illness, pandemic).
  2. Internal grant funds will be allocated in two categories only to eliminate (1) the minutia of tracking expenses by account and (2) the need for reallocation requests.  The two categories are Summer Fellowships and Operating Expenses (OE).  Per past practice, Summer Fellowships funding will remain with the Office of Research, and we will work with University Personnel to have summer payments issued.  OE will act as a catchall to include Student Assistant, Equipment, Travel, Supplies, etc.  We trust faculty to use their grant money in a manner that allows them to meet the original goal of their proposal and we will review their progress when they submit a report at the end of their grant period.
  3. Grants expiring in 2023 will automatically be extended for one additional year only if an extension is submitted.
  4. Small awards (e.g. $500 in professional development funds) are being phased out though you may see a few more being issued due to commitments already made.

Please refer to this Q&A for more information.

 

ABSO training workshop series – Introduction to Budget Management Starts Tomorrow!

This is your friendly reminder to join ABSO this month for an opportunity to learn the basics of budget management. Our first of three training workshops starts tomorrow Friday, 4/14!

This workshop series offers an overview of the commonly used fund types, expense tracking, and reconciliation.  Come and learn how to track all of your financial details on one spreadsheet!  This workshop series will take place virtually over three days – April 14, 21, and 28 between 10 – 11 am.

All department admins new to Academic Affairs or interested in getting a refresher are encouraged to attend.  Please register if you haven’t yet done so using the link provided below before 4/14.

https://sjsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kc-2uqzgoHtA1hEt3UcQfeOsxYRaevskI

 

The AA Resource Hub now has a new Faculty Start-Up Summary dashboard!

 To help colleges and departments manage their faculty’s start-up funds, ABSO is introducing a new dashboard, where start-up account information can easily be retrieved by DeptID, Department, College, Faculty Name, or Class Code.

What does the new Start-Up Summary dashboard show?

  • General faculty information
  • Original spend deadline date; possible values include:
    • Absolute date = date given in offer letter
    • N/A = not specified.  For more information, consult your Dean’s office. 
    • End of Probation = funds are available until the end of the faculty’s probation period
  • Extended spend deadline date; possible values include:
    • Absolute date = approved extension date 
    • Blank = no request for an extension was submitted, or an extension was not approved
  • Expired/Depleted status – “No” or “Yes”

By design, start-up fund balances are not displayed in this dashboard. To find the balance, use Data Warehouse.

When is the dashboard updated?

  • When new start up accounts are established
  • When the expired status changes from No to Yes

New start-up accounts shown in the dashboard may take an additional day or two to show in Data Warehouse.

How to navigate there:

  1. On the AA Resource Hub, on the top menu bar, select “Budget and Finance”.
  2. Under Faculty Start-Up, select “Faculty Start-Up Expiration Dates”.

Did you know…?

Earlier this week, ABSO announced a new DocuSign template to facilitate the approval process for extending faculty start-up funds.  Please refer to the Faculty Startup page on the Hub for more information. 

For questions about start-up funds, please contact  Connie Kim at connie.kim01@sjsu.edu.  For other questions or issues, please contact academic-budgets@sjsu.edu.

ABSO training workshop series – Introduction to Budget Management

Join ABSO in April for an opportunity to learn the basics of budget management.  This workshop series offers an overview of the commonly used fund types, expense tracking, and reconciliation.  Come and learn how to track all of your financial details on one spreadsheet!  This workshop series will take place virtually over three days – April 14, 21, and 28 between 10 – 11 am.

All department admins new to Academic Affairs or interested in getting a refresher are encouraged to attend.  Please register before 04/14/2023 using the link provided below.

https://sjsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kc-2uqzgoHtA1hEt3UcQfeOsxYRaevskI

Assigned Time Data Entry is Back Up!

The Database and Assigned Time System are both back up.

As a reminder for technical issues, please contact IR directly at, institutional-research@sjsu.edu.

For other questions and concerns, please contact abso@sjsu.edu