Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Finance & Administration

Using a P-Card for conference registration / hotel expenses is optional but recommended. The traveler may also utilize a travel advance to help offset the timing of reimbursement.

Please see the current matrix below.

Yes. The CO-17XP submission should be marked accordingly and should be factored into the final reimbursement total to be paid out to the traveler.

Travel expenses do affect the cardholder’s monthly spending limit. The P-Card holder can request a temporary credit limit increase through the P-Card Office. 

45 days

Requests for a travel advance must be indicated on the Travel Authorization along with the amount requested and must be received in the Travel Office at least two (2) weeks prior to departure. Advances are restricted to 80% of the total approved for reimbursement on the Travel Authorization exclusive of any SCSU prepayments and the advance amount must be in excess of $100.00.

The travel advance will be received by the traveler approximately three business days prior to departure either by ACH (direct deposit) or check.

Yes, Payroll Direct Deposit is different than Accounts Payable Direct Deposit. The AP process is to complete the ACH Payment Enrollment form and forward it to scsuvendors@southernct.edu along with a voided check or bank letter verifying the account details. Please be aware that whenever a change is made to your banking information you must make the change with both the Payroll office and the AP office.

Yes

Short-Training Videos are being developed and will be posted to the AP website with a goal of January 1st. 

Invited speakers or other university guests (other than candidate travel reimbursement) would have the SCSU host submit a TA and necessary documents (W-9 and ACH Payment Enrollment form) for assignment and ultimately travel reimbursement.

OWL Buy can be accessed by visiting the OWL Buy page and selecting "Access OWL Buy." From there, choose "SSO" and sign in using your SCSU single sign-on credentials. 

We have preloaded access for employees who submitted a purchase requisition within the last two years. Employees who do not already have access may request it by emailing Procurement@SouthernCT.edu. Access is granted by the Procurement team and is typically established quickly.

Yes. The suppliers loaded into the Test environment may differ from those available in the Production environment. For Production, we loaded vendors who were actively enrolled in Direct Deposit as of October 23. As a result, some vendors available in Production may not appear in the Test environment.

The process begins with the submission of a Supplier Request Form. Procurement then reviews the request to determine whether the supplier already exists in the system and to prevent duplicate vendor records. If the supplier is not already established, Procurement will invite the supplier to register in OWL Buy. The time required to move a supplier from registration to active status depends largely on the supplier's responsiveness in completing the registration process and providing any required documentation. Once the supplier has successfully completed registration and all required reviews have been completed, the supplier can be activated for use and payment. Additional information about supplier onboarding is available on the OWL Buy website.

Quick guides and Training Videos can be found on the OWL Buy website. 

Prior to launch, we hosted a series of OWL Buy training sessions to prepare campus users for the transition. Following launch, we also offered live drop-in support sessions during the first week to assist users with questions and provide hands-on guidance. We will continue to communicate upcoming training opportunities as they are scheduled. In the meantime, training videos and other support resources are available on the OWL Buy website and can be accessed at any time for self-paced learning.

No. When determining whether a purchase is late, Procurement will use the Purchase Requisition submission date, not the Purchase Order issuance date

For an event-related service or similar transaction of approximately $1,500, how should a department determine whether it is eligible for direct pay or must be processed through a Purchase Order? 

In general, a Purchase Order (PO) is the standard method for purchasing goods and services and should be used whenever a transaction goes through the University's normal procurement process. The procurement cycle includes submitting a requisition, issuing a Purchase Order, and processing payment against that Purchase Order. A Direct Pay (Voucher/Disbursement Form) may be used only for specific types of payments that do not go through the procurement cycle. Examples include: (1) Honoraria-type services or one-time professional engagements under $5,000 (including expenses) within a twelve-month period, such as guest speakers, performers, or similar service providers, provided all eligibility requirements are met. (2) Payments against an executed Personal Service Agreement (PSA) after services have been completed. (3) Stipends. (4) Membership or subscription renewals. (5) Prizes or awards.

When in doubt, contact Procurement Services before making a commitment to a vendor.

No. Student refunds may be issued either by direct deposit or by check, consistent with the University's student refund process. However, if a student is acting in a supplier capacity and is receiving payment as a supplier, the student must be enrolled in direct deposit through the supplier registration process.

Yes

Departments may encounter the following common vendor objections and use the suggested responses below:

Vendor Objection:

"Our Legal Department requires us to use our own terms and conditions."   

Suggested Response: As a Connecticut state agency, Southern Connecticut State University must comply with State statutes, regulations, and contracting requirements. For many routine purchases, a Purchase Order containing the University's required State terms and conditions is sufficient to establish the transaction.

If a vendor insists on using its own contract or terms and conditions, the review and approval process can become significantly longer. In many cases, the vendor will still be required to accept the State's mandatory provisions. Using a Purchase Order often allows both parties to proceed more quickly and efficiently.

• For larger or more complex agreements, additional legal review and approvals may be required, which can substantially increase the time needed to finalize the transaction.

Vendor Objection:

"Other customers sign our agreement without changes."

Suggested Response: Private organizations often have greater flexibility in accepting contractual terms. As a Connecticut state agency, the University operates under specific legal and policy requirements that do not apply to many private-sector customers. We must ensure that any agreement complies with those requirements.

If Discussions Stall

If a vendor remains reluctant to proceed without its standard contract language, departments should refer the matter to Procurement. Procurement can discuss the University's requirements directly with the vendor and determine whether a Purchase Order, negotiated contract, or alternative procurement approach is appropriate.

The key message for vendors is that Southern seeks to conduct business efficiently while complying with State requirements. In many cases, accepting a Purchase Order with the University's standard terms is the fastest path to completing the transaction.

Purchase Orders are issued against available funding for a specific fiscal year and are not intended to obligate the University to future-year expenditures that have not yet been authorized. As a result, Purchase Orders are typically renewed or reissued as needed in subsequent fiscal years, subject to funding availability and University approval.

For services that span multiple years, departments should work with Procurement to determine the appropriate procurement method. In many cases, a multi-year contract or agreement may be established, while Purchase Orders are issued annually under the terms of that agreement.

In emergency situations where there is an immediate threat to health, safety, property, or the continued operation of the University, departments should contact Procurement as soon as the need is identified. Procurement will work with the department to determine the appropriate emergency procurement method and document the circumstances supporting the emergency purchase.

Yes. Procurement is currently developing decision trees, process guides, and other reference materials to help departments determine the appropriate procurement and payment pathway. The goal is to post these materials by January 1st

Does OwlBuy change the treatment of funding across fiscal years? OWL Buy does not change the University's existing rules or practices regarding fiscal year funding or budget carry forward. If funding is needed across multiple fiscal years, departments should plan accordingly through the University's budgeting process.

However, OWL Buy will help streamline the transition between fiscal years. Procurement can pre-create Purchase Orders for the upcoming fiscal year and route them through the approval process in advance, placing them on hold until the new fiscal year begins. Once the fiscal year opens on July 1, those Purchase Orders can be released immediately to suppliers, reducing delays and helping projects continue without interruption.

At this time there is not electronic solution that enables departments to view the status of the hiring process for Graduate Assistants.  HR is assessing several options to solve this challenge and hope to have a solution by July 2027.

HR will be working with are partners in the Budget Office, SPAR, and Payroll improve this process.  The anticipated kick of that process improvement effort will be February/March 2027.

The Deans should provide a justification to their Senior HR Business Partner.  HR consults with the Provost who will make the decision for the waiver. 

This is assessed on a case-by-case basis. 

Open virtual trainings session are scheduled for: November 4, 6, and 9.  Please contact Daisy Torres-Baez or Barbara Basel if you need a personalized session or a group session for your department. 

Yes. Focused Inbox is a feature in Microsoft Outlook that separates messages into two tabs, Focused and Other, based on which messages Outlook determines are most likely to be important to the recipient. Messages placed in the Other tab are still delivered to the user's mailbox and remain searchable, but they may be less immediately visible.

IT will provide additional guidance explaining how Focused Inbox works, how users can review messages placed in Other, and how individuals can adjust or disable the feature if they prefer to view all messages together. We will also reinforce best practices for ensuring that important university communications are not overlooked.
 

IT is currently evaluating options for managing Focused Inbox at the university level. This includes whether the feature should remain enabled by default, whether different settings are appropriate for students and employees, and what options are available to ensure communications from university offices and other priority senders are consistently visible.

Because changes to these settings can affect the email experience across the university, we want to evaluate the available options before making a systemwide change. We expect to provide additional guidance and any recommended changes in the coming weeks.
 

Blackboard Ultra course shells have been created for all Spring courses, and faculty may begin preparing their courses.

Faculty teaching multiple sections who would like those sections merged into a single Blackboard course should submit a request to the IT Help Desk. The Help Desk will coordinate the merge so that faculty can continue with course preparation and related activities. Faculty are encouraged to submit merge requests as early as possible, particularly before significant course content or student activity is added to the individual course shells.
 

For IT-related questions and requests, the IT Help Desk should be the primary point of contact. Using the Help Desk allows requests to be documented, prioritized, and routed to the appropriate IT team or specialist, which generally provides a faster and more reliable response than attempting to identify an individual staff member.

IT will continue working to make support information and service ownership clearer so faculty and staff know where to begin when they need assistance. For technology-related matters, contacting the IT Help Desk is the best starting point, even when the requester is unsure which IT group ultimately owns the service.
 

The Connecticut Office of Policy and Management (OPM) has issued an Information Security Policy, and a new purchasing process at CT State College requires OPM’s Information Security Program Office to make a risk assessment before a purchase is made to ensure that the new technology, hardware, software, or cloud product meets security standards and does not create undo risk for the institution. For now, this review program has not been adopted by the CSCU System office for the State Universities.

The State's standard terms and conditions include provisions intended to protect University information and student data. Depending on the nature of the product or service, these provisions may address:

• Compliance with applicable federal and state privacy laws.
• Protection of confidential and personally identifiable information.
• Restrictions on unauthorized use, disclosure, or sharing of data.
• Security and data breach notification requirements.
• Requirements for vendors to safeguard University data in their possession.
• Record retention, audit, and public records requirements applicable to state agencies.

For contracts involving student records, the University may also require compliance with applicable student privacy requirements and related data protection obligations.

In many cases, vendors use standard commercial terms that are written for private-sector customers and may not align with the requirements applicable to Connecticut public institutions. Procurement will work with the vendor to determine whether acceptable revisions can be made. 

If a proposed technology, software product, or contract presents data privacy, cybersecurity, or other concerns that are not clearly addressed by existing guidance from the Attorney General's Office, Procurement will consult with the University's Information Technology department. Additionally, where applicable, Procurement may seek guidance based on requirements and interpretations provided by the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General.

For contracts exceeding $25,000, the Office of the Attorney General reviews the agreement as part of the State approval process. This review provides an additional level of oversight regarding contractual protections, legal requirements, and compliance considerations, including those related to data privacy and security.
 

For honorarium type services under $5,000 only a Disbursement Voucher and invoice are needed for payment. 

Yes