On Tuesday, January 4, 2022, we encountered a system error which affected our end of day business processing and consequently checks could not be printed.  We are working to resolve the issue and we will post an updated announcement when the Financial Portal is back in operation. At this time, online purchasing, payment, and travel transactions cannot be approved until the issue is resolved. 

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

Effective January 1, 2022, the following updates were made:

• UH WH-1 Form – The University of Hawaii Statement of Citizenship and Federal Tax Status form has been updated for 2022. The new form may be found in the RCUH Procurement and Disbursing Document Library. Previous versions of the UH WH-1 Form will no longer be valid.
• Standard mileage rates – The Internal Revenue Service has updated the standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile (includes cars, vans, pickups, and panel trucks) for business or charitable purposes. The 2022 rates are as follows:

$0.585	per mile driven for business purposes, increased from $0.56 in 2021
$0.14	per mile driven in service of charitable organizations (rate for volunteers)

• The standard mileage rate for business miles is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. The charitable mileage rate is set by statute. See IR-2021-251, December 17, 2021.
• Attachment 12, Current RCUH Travel Rates, has been updated with the mileage rate changes. UH employees may refer to www.hawaii.edu/etravel/rates.html.

Should you have any questions, please contact Charlene Gibo at [email protected].

We are pleased to share the success of RCUH’s 2021 Aloha United Way Campaign. We are very grateful for the support and contributions that RCUH made this year. Not only did we increase overall participation, but together we have committed to aiding our community through our pledges to Aloha United Way.

One of the most significant changes that occurred this year compared to past campaign years is the introduction of the AUW ePledge online giving platform, where our employees were able to donate easily and effortlessly to the agency of their choice. It is our belief that when given the opportunity to see your donation made to one of the many agencies of AUW, it feels more impactful and meaningful.

Not only have we steered our direction towards online giving, we also noticed an increase in this year’s participation. We had three times (3x) the number of total participants than last year! It seems appropriate to say that providing a convenient source to pledge and a variety of ways in which to do so has made a huge impact on RCUH’s AUW campaign.

We again would like to sincerely thank you all for your donations this year and will be looking forward to another successful campaign in 2022.

The following procurement policies have been updated on the RCUH website effective December 27, 2021.

• Policy 2.013 Signature and Document Approval Requirements
  • Sections III.B. and IV.
    • Updates to signature requirements were made to conform to changes in Policy 2.203, noted below.
• Policy 2.201 Purchase Orders
  • Sections II.B., II.C., II.G., and III.
    • Updates were made to clarify tax exemption, and to conform to changes in Policy 2.203, noted below.
• Policy 2.203 Vendor Terms and Conditions
  • All sections have been updated.
    • Updates were made to:
      • Clarify the types of terms and conditions that RCUH amends for purchases $25,000 and above (Section III.A.1.).
      • Include various University of Hawaii and Direct Project requirements for certain purchases (related to intellectual property, export controls, data, hardware/software, and publicity issues) (Section III.A.2.).
      • Revise RCUH’s requirements, such that Fiscal Administrators are now authorized to execute certain vendor terms and conditions under $25,000 (Section III.B.).
• Policy 2.204 Services Agreements
  • Sections I., III.C., and IV.
    • Updates were made to add policy references, to add in guidance on Hawaii Revised Statutes § 103-55, and to conform to changes in Policy 2.203, noted above.

Should you have any questions, please contact Erin Yoda at [email protected].

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we will not be mailing or printing vendor checks on Monday, December 27, 2021.  Vendor checks for payments approved on Thursday, December 23, 2021 will not be mailed until we resume business operations on Tuesday, December 28, 2021.  Vendor payments approved on Monday, December 27, 2021, will be processed on Tuesday, December 28, 2021. 

The Financial Portal will remain open and you may process and approve online purchase orders, payments, and travel.  However, RCUH transactions for UH Extramural accounts will NOT be transmitted and posted to the UH Kuali Financial System until we resume business operations.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, RCUH will not be mailing or printing vendor checks on Monday, December 20, 2021.  Vendor checks for payments approved on Friday, December 17, 2021 will not be mailed until Tuesday, December 21, 2021.  Vendor payments approved on Monday, December 20, 2021 will also be processed on Tuesday, December 21, 2021. 

The Financial Portal will remain open and you may process and approve online purchase orders, payments, and travel.  However, RCUH transactions for UH Extramural accounts will NOT be transmitted and posted to the UH Kuali Financial System until Tuesday, December 21, 2021.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

Due to the inclement weather, the payment approval deadline for Monday, December 6, 2021 will be 3:20 p.m.  Online payment transactions approved before 3:20 p.m. on December 6 will be included in the daily check print and ePayment file for December 6.  Online payment transactions approved after 3:20 p.m. on December 6 will be processed on Tuesday, December 7, 2021.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

The payment approval deadline on Thursday, December 23 and Thursday, December 30 is 12:00 noon.  Online payment transactions approved by Fiscal Administrators by 12:00 noon on December 23 and 30 will be included in the daily check print and ePayment file. 

The last check run for the calendar year will be on Thursday, December 30, 2021.  Month-end processing will commence at 12:00 noon on December 30, 2021.  During this period, online purchasing, payment, and travel transactions can be initiated, but Fiscal Administrators will not have the ability to approve transactions.  Transactions approved after 12:00 noon on December 30 will not be included in project reports for the month of December.

If you have any questions, please contact Maile Brooks at 988-8340 or [email protected].

RCUH Director of Corporate Services, Ms. Kaylee Hull, has been named RCUH Assistant Facility Security Officer (AFSO), a new role that serves to support research projects that require security clearances. She will be assisting Executive Director Leonard Gouveia, Jr., who will continue to serve as the Facility Security Officer (FSO) for RCUH.

If you have any questions or need assistance with security matters, please feel free to call (808) 988-8311 or email [email protected].

All of this year’s nominees are well-deserving of recognition as 2021 RCUH Outstanding Employees of the Year! Their nominations made the Selection Committee’s work very challenging. Before we announce the nominees, we’d like to share a big mahalo with the judges who volunteered their time and pored over every nomination to determine the final awardees. They are:

• Micah Kāne, CEO & President, Hawai‘i Community Foundation
• Colleen McAluney, Director, Patsy T. Mink Center for Business & Leadership
• Todd Nacapuy, Chief Information Officer, HEMIC

Without further ado, please join us in celebrating and congratulating the 2021 awardees:

RESEARCHER/PROJECT MANAGER CATEGORY

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• Serge Chastel, UH Institute for Astronomy, Pan-STARRS
  
• Robin Hayes, UH Institute for Astronomy, Maunakea Observatories Support Services
  
• Mark Huber, UH Institute for Astronomy, Pan-STARRS
  
• Melanie Hutchinson, UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research
  
• Howard Morrow, Applied Research Laboratory at the University of Hawai‘i
  
• Amy Weintraub, Hawaii Academy of Science

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PROJECT SUPPORT STAFF CATEGORY

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• Andrea Alexander, UH Mānoa College of Education, Center on Disability Studies
• Eva Brill, UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, Natural Resources & Environmental Management
• Claudine Chan-Naruse, UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine, Hawaii and Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center
• Dylan Davis, UH Mānoa College of Natural Sciences, Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, Ko‘olau Mountains Watershed Partnership
• Elizabeth Dingeldein, UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, Pacific Biosciences Research Center, Center for Conservation Research & Training
• Martin Holzgang, Kapi‘olani Community College, Title III Lawelawe Po‘okela Project
• Rosalind Kia, UH Mānoa College of Education, Center on Disability Studies
• Yumi Nagayoshi, UH Institute for Astronomy, Maunakea Observatories Support Services
• Peter Oshiro, Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Vannida Phommachanh, UH Mānoa College of Natural Sciences, High Energy Physics

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TEAM CATEGORY

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• Hawai‘i Health Data Warehouse
  Katherine Benson, Jill Yamashita, Kristine Hironaka
  UH Mānoa Office of Public Health Studies
  
  
• Sport Fish Restoration (Monitoring)
  McKenna Allen, Mia Melamed
  Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Aquatic Resources

• UH Cancer Center Pathology Core
  Hugh Luk, Keiko Garvin, Kyle Nishiyama, Xue Mei Zhu
  UH Cancer Center