FAQs related to the RPTS Business Office
Business Office (Mrs. Tina Vega, Mrs. Connie Lara, Ms. Irina Shatruk)
Business Office Hours: 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. , 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Tina Vega’s Office Hours: 8 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. , 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. , 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Understanding Payroll and Benefits
Q: What are the salary and benefit amounts for different types of assistantships?
A: Base salary rates for assistantships are Masters–$1100 per month and Ph.D.–$1400 per month. In some cases students working on specific research projects may have an agreement with a faculty member to have a higher salary.
Benefits are provided for all graduate students who are salaried employees. Benefits are not automatically provided for students who work for an hourly wage.
If you are writing a graduate student into a grant please see http://www.rpts.tamu.edu/about/forms/documents/fringebenefits.pdf for the appropriate rate that you should charge for student benefits. At this time it is 2% of their salary (e.g., $28/mo for a PhD student).
See questions below for more detail about benefits
Q: When do salary and benefits for assistantships start and stop during the calendar year?
A: Salaries for students on assistantships normally start on September 1 and end either January 15 or May 15, depending on the offer letter from the department or their agreement with a faculty member if on grant funding.
Graduate student employees are not eligible for the state contribution toward insurance until the first of the month following their first 90 days of employment by The A&M System. Graduate students employed by the Texas A&M University System for longer than 90 days will receive a state contribution towards their premium payment. Premium payment for the first 90 days of employment is the responsibility of the employee and can be automatically deducted from their paycheck. After the 90 day period the premium is no longer deducted.
http://www.aipinternational.com/TAM/plan_select.html
Q: How do different types of employment and benefits work through the summer?
A: Students are more often paid on an hourly basis in the summer. If a student is paid on a hourly basis they are not necessarily eligible for insurance, but if the student has been on an assistantship for the Fall & Spring and continues (even on a hourly position) and will be back on an assistantship in the Fall, then their insurance is covered for the summer.
If the student will be paid on a hourly basis for the summer, then they do not have to be registered in school for the summer providing they were enrolled in the Spring and will be enrolled in the Fall. Students on salaried assistantships during the summer are required to take 3 hours per summer term or 6 hours over the 10 week term.
Q: How are pay rate and duration of employment set for someone being paid hourly?
A: Situations like this are normally being paid from grant funds so the rate and duration are set by the faculty member who has hired them to work on the project. The website below offers advice for faculty on current rates of pay on campus.
https://jobsforaggies.tamu.edu
Q: What does it mean for benefits?
A: If paid hourly there are no benefits but in most cases insurance benefits carry through the summer for those paid as graduate assistants in the previous spring.
Traveling
All information can be obtained from this website: Travel Policies and Procedures Manual
http://agrilifeas.tamu.edu/fiscal/disbursements/index.php
Q: How can I pay for conference registration?
A: Conference registration, NOT MEALS or MEMBERSHIPS, can be paid on the purchasing card and then re-allocated to the faculty member’s account number. Mrs Vega or Ms Shatruk can assist with this.
Registration can also be paid in advance with personal funds and reimbursed after the trip. Be certain to provide a registration receipt that indicates cost of registration and that it was paid by you.
Q: How should I make reservations for air travel, rental cars, and/or lodging.
A: Airfare can be made by calling National Travel Systems-Carole @ 800-814-3336×114
She will provide an itinerary , which the Business Office will send to you for approval, if dates and times are what you have requested, then we will approve providing you have done a travel & leave request.
If you prefer to make your own airline reservation on-line you may check out the travel card from Mrs Vega or Ms Shatruk. There are specific steps that must be followed for accounting purposes.
Lodging can also be booked directly using the travel card or you may book it directly and submit your receipt afterward for reimbursement. If using state money for lodging (or per diem) check the allowed rates for a given city as it varies considerably. The state rates for different areas can be viewed at: _________________________________________
Be certain to fill out the tax (state) exempt form and submit it to the hotel. The state policy does not allow us to pay state tax so you will not be reimbursed for that expense. For more on the tax form see – http://www.rpts.tamu.edu/about/forms/documents/Tax%20Hotel%20ExemptAgResearch.pdf
Rental cars can be reserved by the traveler, please call our office for a purchase order number and the direct bill direct number. Our department has a contract with Enterprise # ____________________ and with Avis # ___________________. Please clear the use of the contract number with Irina Shatruk prior to making a reservation.
Q: How do travel requests work and when do I need to submit one?
A: Travel & Leave request should be completed before you leave on a trip. For the form see -
http://www.rpts.tamu.edu/about/forms/documents/TravelRequest5-08.pdf
International travel on Research Funds (06):*
1) Fill out the regular travel request:
https://vpfnexternal.tamu.edu/sites/travel/default.aspx
2) State the benefits to TAMU. (This is a short paragraph attached that explains how TAMU benefits, there is no special form)
3) Daily Itinerary. (This is a basic itinerary typed up and attached, there is no special form)
4) Always check for current travel warnings .
International Travel On TAMU Funds (02):*
1) fill out the TAMU foreign travel request form online and bring print out for signatures: http://agrilifeas.tamu.edu/fiscal/disbursements/index.php
2) State the benefits to TAMU. (This is a short paragraph attached that explains how TAMU benefits, there is no special form)
3) Daily Itinerary. (This is a basic itinerary typed up and attached, there is no special form)
4) Always check for current travel warnings.
*Except for travel to Canada, Mexico, or any state of possession of the United States.
Q: How and when can I buy food (rules for day vs. overnight trip, per diem vs. actual costs,
alcohol, receipts)
A: One day trip no meals allowed. For an overnight trip food can be paid for two ways. 1) Per diem can be reimbursed at the allowable state rate which varies by meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner), city, state and country. 2) You may keep your receipts and be reimbursed for exactly the amount you spent (less alcohol).
http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/100000
-Alcohol is out of pocket at your own expense.
-Keep all your receipts.
Q: How do I handle receipts?
A: The best rule in travel is to keep all your receipts. Make sure any hotel receipt has 0 balance on it and that state tax is not included (unless you are ok to cover that cost yourself).
Q: Do I have to pay tax?
http://www.rpts.tamu.edu/about/forms/documents/Tax%20Hotel%20ExemptAgResearch.pdf
A: No state tax allowed. Make sure receipts do not include state tax.
Q: What’s a mini-grant for travel and how does it work?
A: A mini grant for travel is usually matched by a faculty member and should be handled just like a regular travel, the student will need to complete the travel & leave request along with the mini grant application. Mini grant applications are available at _________________________.
Making Purchases
Q: What can the pro card be used for?
A: Examples of Acceptable Purchases:
Books, films & videos, computer consumables, computer equipment, computer software & hardware, registration fees, rental of tools & equipment, office supplies (encouraged to use HUB vendors) educational supplies, freight & delivery services (use contract providers for express mail services) rental of conference rooms and exhibit space, subscriptions (4025)
Examples of Restricted Purchases:
Animals, Food (if allowable on the account)-must indicate business purpose for food purchases on supporting document.
Business meals- need 5 w’s of who, what, where, when & why on the meal transaction form
http://www.rpts.tamu.edu/about/forms/documents/Food-Meal.xls
Alcohol (if allowable on the account) only Dr. Schuet, Dr. Kaiser & Dr. Ellis have these kinds of funds.
Employee gifts (5240)-recipient’s name, address, and social security number (only if greater than $600)
Non-employee gifts (5241)-recipient’s name, address, social security number (only if greater than $600)
Q: When is a Purchase Order (PO) needed and what do I need to do?
A: Any time money is going to be spent, travel registration, supplies, etc, complete form AG 610 (see the link below), turn in to the business office and a purchase order will be issued.
http://agservices.tamu.edu/forms/AG-610.pdf or complete http://www.rpts.tamu.edu/about/forms/BusinessRequest.htm
Q: What if I pay for supplies out of pocket?
A: If you pay out of pocket you will need to have one of the above forms completed and turned in to the Business Office. Please remember that we cannot reimburse you for state taxes.
Q: Can I have a purchase direct billed?
A: Purchases can be direct billed if arrangements have been made with the vendor and the business office in advance.
Q: What’s a HUB vendor, what’s it mean to purchasing
A: HUB vendor—Historically Underutilized Business
http://aghr.tamu.edu/rules-a/250601a101HUB.htm Using You’re Accounts (Allocations, Grants and Contracts)
http://agsupport.tamu.edu/purchasing/purchasing-guidelines09.pdf
Q: What do different types of accounts mean in terms of spending?
A: There are different kinds of accounts in 02, 06 & 07
02—University Funds (for example it might look like this 02-130013)
State Funds beginning with the number 1 (like the example above) have to be spent by 8/31 of the current fiscal year.
Local funds- beginning with the numbers 2, 5 & 6 (for example 02-240913, 02-510017 or 02-635439) carry forward from year to year.
06-Texas AgriLife Research Funds
State Funds-beginning with the number 1 (for example 06-121220) must be spent by 8/31 of the current fiscal year.
Designated Funds beginning with the number 2 (for example 06-203093) carry forward to the next fiscal year.
Accounts beginning with a 4 or 5 (e.g., 06-412131; 06-512131) are Contract & Grants accounts and the ending dates are specified in each individual agreement/contract.
Q; How can I find out what accounts I have available to spend from?
A: Mrs Vega will make a list available to each faculty member with their account numbers.
For Contract & Grant accounts each individual faculty receives an email from Contract & Grants with their number assigned. They should then add this to their account list.
Q: Can I spend grant money for anything?
A: It usually depends on the stipulations (budgeted line items) of your grant.
Q: How does indirect cost (IDC) work on a grant?
A: IDC or Facilities & Administrative Cost Rate is charged to a grant by rate established by the Texas A&M System. The standard rate is 46.5% but there are situations in which it is lower. For example there are often agreed upon rates that are lower among state agencies.
IDC is earned first before it is distributed to the department. The department receives 25% of the IDC. The unit/department keeps 15% and 10% goes to the principal investigator. The department head can change the distribution percent or follow the allocation that is sent to him from AgriLife Research.
IDC can be used for travel, tuition payment & fees, but not for food.
Q: What’s bridge funding related to grants and how does it work?
A: Bridge funding is a loan to help pay for expenses/salaries while the grant is going through the channels of approval, these funds are made available when a principal investigator knows that a grant will be funded and the department head agrees to assist.
