Applies to: Any person who spends, uses or benefits from university funds
The purpose of the document is to provide fiscal guidance and clarification around discretionary expenditures initiated in the College of Education and Human Ecology through June 30, 2024 (fiscal controls beyond FY24 will be communicated separately). These controls are being put in place to meet the college’s target reduction plan. During this time, all procurement and travel requests will be subject to greater scrutiny and may require additional documentation to justify the expenditure. For the purposes of this document, discretionary expenditures are defined as expenditures that are not deemed necessary to complete conduct the business of the University. Expenditure requests that deviate from the EHE FY24 Financial Controls can be submitted via an Exception Request Form found on the OFBS website.
- Travel
Travel will be limited to following occasions:- Business Essential Travel Only
- Business essential travel is defined as travel that is necessary to fulfill the mission of the university and can only be completed in person. Every effort should be made to conduct business remotely. In general, attending conferences is not considered essential travel if the individual is not presenting.
- Student travel is not subject to these financial constraints.
- Business essential travel is limited to two trips per year if presenting or conducting other essential business.
- Confirmation letter for speaking or presentation must be attached to the travel spend authorization in Workday.
- Travel that is externally funded or through non GFA sources and part of an approved budget is not subject to these controls.
- Business Essential Travel Only
- Discretionary Spending
- Procurement requests should be limited to essential purchases only. Essential purchases are defined as purchases necessary to complete the mission of the university, as it relates to teaching, research, the student experience, and the support of these activities. These include, but are not limited to the following:
- Purchases related to maintaining the infrastructure of the College; these purchases include the following:
- Services related to college infrastructure, such as background checks for new employees and shredding services, etc.
- Maintenance/Renewal of software, data storage, equipment as determined and approved by OIT. General guidelines and the request process start here: Service Catalog - Technology Purchasing (teamdynamix.com)
- Requests will be approved for the following:
- Software and Cloud Services
- Equipment
- For incoming faculty and staff.
- Computer equipment that is past its useful life (older than 5 years) and the requestor does not have other computers assigned to them.
- Acquisition of a standard iPad+keyboard cover as part of instructional initiatives, where the requester is teaching a class and does not have an iPad.
- Renovation and furniture requests will be approved on a case-by-case basis. Priority will be given to requests that pose a risk to health and safety.
- Supplies needed to complete teaching and research activities, including the following:
- Books and instructional materials for teaching
- Transcription costs
- Incentives for research or stipends
- Publication costs
- Data storage and access as approved by OIT
- Consultants costs
- Space rentals for future events, however contracts need to be revaluated six months prior to event to confirm event dates.
- Supplies and services directly related to existing contracts and MOUs.
- Lab and research supplies, (University will provide necessary PPE for labs and studios; more information is pending.)
- Other supplies and services directly related to existing sponsored programs; if requests for research activities fall outside of existing established projects, the following must be in place:
- Preliminary project must be in place, through the submission and approval of an OGC-005.
- Usage of residual funds must be prior approved by ORIC, through the submission of a justification and email sent directly to Kim Lightle.
- Expenditures that are deemed non-essential include, but are not limited to:
- Blanket order for any non-essential supplies or services
- Individual memberships (institutional memberships are permitted)
- Individual subscriptions
- Business meals, unless they are related to Advancement
- Coffee and meeting refreshments. Use discretion when purchasing water service and individual bottled water
- Professional development activities
- Individual gifts and staff appreciation expenditures
- Any requests for services that are offered internally at the College or University level will require additional justification if an external party is being requested. Utilizing services internal to the college or university should be a priority.
- High dollar requests for consultants over $10K will require review and approval by Dean.
- Purchases related to maintaining the infrastructure of the College; these purchases include the following:
- Procurement requests should be limited to essential purchases only. Essential purchases are defined as purchases necessary to complete the mission of the university, as it relates to teaching, research, the student experience, and the support of these activities. These include, but are not limited to the following:
- Expenditure Approval and Requirements
The Office of Finance and Business is making every effort to review and approve transactions expeditiously;
however, completing a full and thorough review of each expenditure request may require longer than expected
approval times. Each transaction requires the following:- Compliance review and essential justification by unit Fiscal Coordinator.
- Budget and guidelines review by unit Finance Officer.
- Finance Officer must add comments as part of rationale and route to (ad hoc) the EHE CAO for review and final approval.
- For emergency requests, submit (ad hoc) to the EHE CAO AND EHE Business Operations Manager.
- Requests that do not include the EHE CAO approval will be returned to the initiator in Workday.
- Review and approval by College CAO or designee (Budget Planning Director)
- All expenditures must be approved by the College CAO.
- Dean’s review and approval for all requests over $10K threshold.
- Unit finance staff should be notified with any emergencies and/or time sensitive requests.
Questions regarding EHE guidelines should be directed to unit finance staff and/or EHE-BusinessOperations@osu.edu.
Updated 1.16.24