Asset Services: Tracking University Property for Home Use

With the majority of the campus working from home during the COVID-19 Shelter in Place, Asset Services has created a simple Google Survey to track the University property that is being used by our staff and faculty at home. In addition to using the Property Check Out Policy/Authorization form, departments can follow the instructions below to save their own versions of the equipment survey to help keep track of who has what equipment.

1)  Click on Telecommuter Equipment Survey folder in Google Drive.

2)  Right-click on the “Telecommuter Equipment – *Enter Department Name*” file and create a copy which should automatically save in your My Drive.

3)  Go to My Drive, locate the file and right-click on it to rename it by removing “Copy of” and adding your department name to replace this text… *Enter Department Name*.

4)  Double-click to open the file. In the first line of text under the title, add your contact information for department-related questions.

5)  To protect the original document, the existing questions/fields cannot be changed; however, new questions can be added anywhere in the form.

6)  Next, to know when respondents submit their surveys, click on “Responses,” then the 3 vertical dots next the green Google Sheets icon and select “Get email notifications for new responses.”

7)  Click Send.
a. Enter individual email addresses or if you have a distribution list, enter that name.
b. Add a personalized message if desired. Check “Include form in email” to save time for your respondents.
c. Click Send.

8)  When responses come in, return to the survey and click on Responses.

9)  Click on the Google Sheets icon to create a spreadsheet of the collected data. The default file name will be your survey name with “(Responses)” added to the end, hit save. The spreadsheet will be located in your Google drive. Format spreadsheet as desired.

10)  As new responses come in, repeat steps 7 and 8.

If you have any issues or questions about how to use the survey or access your Google Drive, please contact Sonja Bowsky, the Distribution and Asset Services Manager, at 408.924.1592 or sonja.bowsky@sjsu.edu and she will be happy to assist.

 

 

 

 

Extended Suspension of Business Travel and New State Added to Restricted List

Business Travel Suspended Through June 2021 Due to COVID-19

The CSU Chancellor’s Office recently announced that non-essential international and domestic travel will be suspended through June 30, 2021. For more information, please view the FY2020-21 Systemwide Meetings and Conferences memo.

In response to the extension, SJSU will continue to follow the travel guidelines established due to COVID-19 and as explained in our blog last March. The noticeable change to the original guideline is the President (or their designee) now maintain final approval for essential travel. Essential travel is not authorized until President approval is obtained.

For information on the university’s plan to continue campus operation, please refer to SJSU Adapt.

Update- New State Added to the Restricted Travel List

With the effective date July 1, 2020, Idaho has been added to Assembly Bill 1887, the law restricting the funding or sponsoring of state business travel to states with discriminatory laws.

The current list of restricted states are as follows:

Alabama
Idaho
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Mississippi
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas

For the background and guidelines regarding Restricted Travel, please refer to the Travel Guide.

Travel Reimbursement for Business Travel Suspended by the COVID-19 Situation

Employees whose business travel were suspended due to the COVID-19 situation can submit a Travel Reimbursement in FTS for non-refundable expenses paid for out of pocket. Please use the Travel Reimbursement that is associated to your Travel Authorization. Enter the expenses in the One Time Charges and not in the Daily Charges section. In the Funding Source/Chartfields section, include COVID-19 class code 4716 with the required chartfields (Account-Fund-DeptID).

For expenses incurred by the department (typically on a GoCard), review your GoCard statements for costs incurred in previous months and enter an Expense Transfer Journal in FTS to add class code 4716 to the transaction. While an extra step, it will best ensure departments receive reimbursement for costs associated with cancelled trips.

Please refer to our travel announcement for guidelines related to submitting a Travel Reimbursement. If you have any questions, contact Finance Support at financeconnect@sjsu.edu or 4-1558.

Figure 1: An example of how to enter claims in the One Time Charges. Click on image to enlarge.