Pre- and Post-Doctoral Fellowship Payments

John Kruczek, University ControllerRita Cowan, Director, Academic Personnel Office

Several offices have worked together to make the fellowship payment process more user friendly and to provide check distribution in a simpler manner. The following is a summary of the revised process:

Direct Deposit and Check Distribution to TKL’s

Beginning November 8, 1996 the university will begin to deposit fellowship payments directly into the fellows’ bank accounts via electronic funds transfer for those individuals who have already completed the form necessary for participation. Forms were sent to the fellows with the payment received around September 27, 1996.

Fellows who are not currently participating, but wish to do so, should complete a form and return it along with a voided blank check for their bank account to University Financial Services, Box 114050, S-113 Criser. Additional forms can be requested by calling University Financial Services at 392-0737. It will take approximately 3 weeks for direct deposit to begin after the form is submitted. Please note, this process is separate from the University Payroll Direct Deposit procedure, i.e. if a fellow has direct deposit for employment, it will not apply to fellowship stipends.

Also beginning November 8, 1996, those fellows who have not previously signed up for direct deposit will have their checks available for their department/unit to pick up at the Payroll Office when the payroll checks are distributed to the timekeeping location (TKL) responsible for the certification of their payment. The receipts of payment for those fellows having direct deposit will also be given to the TKL representative. Along with the checks and receipts will be a report of fellowship payments issued for that office for the pay period.

New Forms

In an effort to reduce paperwork and to help clarify payments made to the fellows, the Academic Personnel Office has designed Form AP FEL (see Attachment A.) This form will include all information needed to process an appointment for payment as well as the Fellowship Questionnaire which must be completed for each fellowship. Instructions for completion can be found on the back of the form. We anticipate that these forms will be available from University Printing by December 1, 1996. Until then the departments/units can continue to use Forms GS-705 and 255.

Lump sum payments to pre-doctoral fellows should indicate the amount to be paid to the student for each semester. If the amount is for $1,000 or less, it will be paid to the student in one lump sum at the beginning of the semester. If it is for $1,001 – $2,000, it will be divided into two equal payments. One will be made at the beginning of the semester. The other will be made at mid term. Those paid more than $2,000 per semester will have checks issued every two weeks.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) (see Attachments below) has also been revised to reflect the new process. A new statement has been added at the beginning of the memorandum which will allow department/units to reappoint a fellow to the same SAMAS account at the expiration of his/her current fellowship without having to complete a new MOU or a Fellowship Questionnaire, so long as all conditions, including source of funds, remain unchanged.

Stipend Checks

Currently stipend checks for the fellows will have no deductions for fees, accounts receivable or short term loans. Charges for stipend checks will be charged to the Expense category except for fellows in F-1/J-1 visa status who will have charges in the OPS category since they are still processed by the Bureau of State Payrolls. The cash or budget authority must be in the proper category at the time a check is issued.

Because there is no mechanism for emergency checks for fellows, it is imperative that departments/units process the appointment forms on a timely basis. Should a pre-doctoral fellow encounter financial difficulty prior to receiving his/her first check for the semester, s/he could secure a short term loan by contacting:

Student Financial Affairs
S-107 Criser Hall
392-1275

Training Sessions

Training sessions will be offered to instruct staff on the new process and the new forms. Representative from Academic Personnel, Contracts and Grants, Payables and Disbursement Services, and University Financial Services will be available to offer guidance and to answer questions. The sessions will be:

     DateLocationTime

Thursday, November 7          282 Reitz Union      9:00 - 10:00 AM

Friday, November 15     282 Reitz Union      9:00 - 10:00 AM