Category: General

Change of Payee for Revolving Accounts Transitioning to UH

To: Principal Investigators, Fiscal Administrators, and Project Staff of RCUH Revolving Accounts

You are encouraged to update payee information on your invoices beginning with your June invoices. All customers should be notified that any remittances made after June 30, 2023 must be issued to the University of Hawaiʻi and not to RCUH.

Please refer to AP 8.701, Receipting and Depositing of Funds Received by the University for procedures on receipting, depositing, recording, reconciling, and safeguarding of funds received. 

If the payment will be electronically transmitted, please provide your customers with the UH Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Form. In accordance with AP 8.702, III.C.2., you must notify the UH Treasury Office when a new EFT agreement is established. The customer must provide identifying information with the EFT payment in order for the UH Treasury Office to identify and route the EFT payment notification to the proper department for recording.

Please direct any questions to the UH Treasury Office at [email protected].

Mandatory Training and Employee Performance Evaluation

TO:                 Principal Investigators, Supervisory Authorities, Administrative Authorities, and RCUH Employees

The 2023 RCUH Annual Performance Evaluation Form includes a certification by the employee that all mandatory trainings and/or requirements defined in their job description have been completed. The certification appears in the employee signature block on the evaluation form.  Please reference our April 17, 2023 web announcement.

The courses mandated by RCUH are as follows:

1) RCUH EEO/Sexual Harassment Prevention for Employees (or Supervisors, as appropriate)

2) RCUH Workplace Violence Prevention for Employees (or Supervisors, as appropriate)

  • Both courses above are found in the RCUH Training Portal
  • Both courses above must be completed once every two (2) years

3) Hawaii State Ethics Commission (HSEC) General Ethics Training

RCUH employees may be required to take additional training, such as the UH Information Security Awareness Training or UH Title IX Training, but employees should check their job description or talk to their Principal Investigator to verify additional training requirements. NOTE: RCUH is currently evaluating its training and policies to reduce redundancies in training requirements for those working for UH projects. 

In a recent audit, we found that many Regular-status RCUH employees did not have an RCUH Training Portal account. Effective May 30, those employees will receive a system-generated message that an RCUH Training Portal account has been created. The three (3) courses mandated by RCUH will have been assigned.

We appreciate the efforts of all employees to complete the assigned training. Should an employee have difficulty logging into their RCUH Training Portal account or uploading the ethics training certificate, please contact RCUH Corporate Services at [email protected].

Requirement for Electronic I-94 for Nonemployee Payments

As the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) continues to streamline and digitize the entry process for international visitors, CBP is eliminating entry stamps in passports at many (and eventually all) ports of entry. Without a passport entry stamp, foreign visitors will only have the electronic Form I-94 as a reference of their lawful immigration status. The Form I-94 is a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrival/departure record issued to aliens who are admitted into the United States. Having this information is critical to ensuring the foreign visitor is in the appropriate status for the correct duration.

Foreign visitors should be advised to check and download their Form I-94 soon after entry into the United States. This is especially important for temporary business visitors (e.g., B-1 visa), because the electronic I-94 only lists the details of the foreign visitor’s most recent entry to the U.S., not any previous class of admission (i.e., visa status). Thus, if the nonemployee departs then re-enters the U.S., their previous class of admission will no longer be available. Incomplete or missing electronic I-94 information may impact RCUH’s ability to process a nonemployee payment or the tax treatment of such payment.

Visitors may access and print their electronic I-94 from the I-94 website or on the CBP One mobile application.

Any questions may be directed to Charlene Gibo at [email protected].

NOTICE TO ATTORNEYS INTERESTED IN PROVIDING LEGAL SERVICES TO THE RESEARCH CORPORATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII

Updated from April 3, 2023 posting: SOQ deadline and late submittal dates are extended.

Licensed attorneys who wish to provide specialized legal services to the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (RCUH) for Fiscal Year 2024 (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024), are invited to submit a Statement of Qualifications and Expression of Interest (SOQ) to RCUH pursuant to HRS § 103D-304.

RCUH is currently looking to contract for legal services in the following areas:

  1. Employment:  Employment, employee benefits, disciplinary, termination, workers’ compensation and discrimination/retaliation issues. Services shall include but not be limited to:
    1. Drafting, reviewing, and providing advice and recommendations relating thereto;
    2. Providing advice and recommendations regarding responses to claims asserted by current and former employees; 
    3. Participating in negotiations regarding items (a) and (b); and
    4. Providing guidance on applicable statutes, regulations, and other legal requirements.

Previous experience advising employers is essential, and previous experience advising government agencies is preferred.  

  1. Immigration: Temporary visas and/or permanent residency applications. Services shall include but not be limited to:
    1. Drafting, reviewing, and providing advice and recommendations relating thereto;
    2. Completing and filing permanent residency applications (previous experience representing both employers and employees in the permanent residency application process is essential);
    3. Completing and filing temporary visa applications and related documentation; and
    4. Providing guidance on applicable statutes, regulations, and other legal requirements.
  1. Tax: Payroll, IRS compliance, foreign payroll and/or nonresident alien and foreign entity contractor payments (crossover immigration experience preferred), IRS compliance. Services shall include but not be limited to:
    1. Providing guidance on applicable statutes, regulations, internal policies, and other legal requirements.
  1. Maritime: Charter, third-party vessel, and other marine-related agreements; marine insurance terms and policies. Services shall include but not be limited to:
    1. Drafting, reviewing, and providing advice and recommendations relating thereto; and
    2. Providing guidance on applicable statutes, regulations, insurance policies/terms, internal policies, and other legal requirements.

Please email your SOQ to: [email protected] by Friday, May 12, 2023, to be eligible for consideration. SOQs received after May 12, 2023 will be classified as “late submittals” for the balance of the fiscal year as follows: a late submittal received May 13, 2023 through September 15, 2023, will be considered for services beginning October 1, 2023; a late submittal received September 16, 2023 through December 15, 2023, will be considered for services beginning January 1, 2024.

SOQ forms are available here.

Fiscal Year-End June 30, 2023

Important Dates:

June 30, 2023Last Check Run for FY 2023 (Payments must be approved by 12 noon)
July 6, 2023RCUH Financial System scheduled to reopen
July 6, 2023First Check Run for FY 2024 (4:00 PM)

Online purchasing, payment, and travel transactions must be approved by Fiscal Administrators by 12:00 noon on Friday, June 30, 2023 to be included in FY 2023. The last check run for the fiscal year will be on Friday, June 30, 2023. Pending transactions will remain in the RCUH financial system, and will not be automatically deleted or disapproved.

From July 1 through July 5, online purchasing, payment, and travel transactions can be created, but Fiscal Administrators will not have the ability to approve transactions. Transactions will not be posted to project accounts until the financial system is reopened for FY 2024. The RCUH financial system is scheduled to reopen on Thursday, July 6, 2023. The first check run for FY 2024 is scheduled for Thursday, July 6, 2023 at 4:00 PM.

On an emergency basis only, manual checks can be issued during this period. Fiscal Administrators should contact RCUH Disbursing at [email protected].

Project reports will be accessible on the RCUH website. However, report balances will only reflect transactions posted through June 30, 2023, until processing resumes on July 6, 2023.

Please contact Maile Brooks at (808) 956-0508 or [email protected] if you have any questions.

RCUH Vendor Payments for April 18, 2023 – UPDATE

The RCUH Financial Portal is back in operation and Fiscal Administrators may resume approving transactions.

On Tuesday, April 18, 2023, we encountered a system error which affected our end-of-day business processing. Vendor payments for transactions approved on April 18 will be processed in accordance with our normal processing schedule.

RCUH transactions approved on April 18 for UH Extramural accounts will be transmitted and posted to the UH Kuali Financial System on April 19.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

RCUH Vendor Payments for April 18, 2023

On Tuesday, April 18, 2023, we encountered a system error that affected our end-of-day business processing.  Vendor payments for transactions approved on April 18 will be processed when the issue is resolved.

At this time, online purchasing, payment, and travel transactions cannot be approved in the Financial Portal until the issue is resolved.  We are working to resolve the issue and will post an updated announcement when the Financial Portal is back in operation.

RCUH transactions approved on April 18 for UH Extramural accounts will NOT be transmitted or posted to the UH Kuali Financial System, and UH Project Fiscal Reports may reflect incorrect amounts and balances until the issue is resolved.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

RCUH Vendor Payments for April 17, 2023 – UPDATE

The RCUH Financial Portal is back in operation and Fiscal Administrators may resume approving transactions.

On Monday, April 17, 2023, we encountered a system error which affected our end-of-day business processing. Vendor payments for transactions approved on April 17 may be processed one business day later than normal.

RCUH transactions approved on April 17 for UH Extramural accounts will be transmitted and posted to the UH Kuali Financial System on April 18.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

RCUH Mandatory Training Courses to be Updated April 21, 2023

TO: RCUH Employees, Supervisory Authorities

RCUH will be updating its EEO/Sexual Harassment Prevention and Workplace Violence Prevention courses in the RCUH Training Portal on Friday, April 21, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. If you are in progress of completing either course, please complete it by April 21st, otherwise your progress may be lost. If you have not yet completed the two mandatory training courses, please wait until after April 21st to view the updated versions. NOTE: These training courses are required for all RCUH Employees once every two years.

If you have any questions about either training or your training status, please email [email protected].

RCUH Vendor Payments for April 17, 2023

On Monday, April 17, 2023, we encountered a system error which affected our end of day business processing. Vendor payments for transactions approved on April 17 will be processed when the issue is resolved.

At this time, online purchasing, payment, and travel transactions cannot be approved in the Financial Portal until the issue is resolved. We are working to resolve the issue and we will post an updated announcement when the Financial Portal is back in operation.

RCUH transactions approved on April 17 for UH Extramural accounts will NOT be transmitted or posted to the UH Kuali Financial System, and UH Project Fiscal Reports may reflect incorrect amounts and balances until the issue is resolved.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.