ARC Briefing April 2005

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ARC BriefingApril 2005

• Presented by the
• DCP ARC

National Institutes of Health
DHHS
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AGENDA

• Welcome
• Travel
• COMP Time
• Mandatory Use of Omega
• Applying Conference Allowance
• NFT Issues
• Common Errors on Travel Auths
• No Leave Allowed on HHS-348 Travel
• Procurement Issues
• Updating ACH Information
• Separate the Requests for Travel Auths Reg.
  Forms
• Information for Employees
• Benefits Calendar of Events
• myPay Update
• IT Hints
• Accessing your H Drive and L Drives from home
• Delaying the Time Limit on the Locking Screen
  Saver

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Welcome!

• The DCP ARC welcomes two new staff members
• Sheila Wellington Admin Tech for the Organ
  Systems Groups.
• Andrea Richards Administrative Career
  Development Intern with NCI Andrea will be
  assisting Mary Lou Carter.

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Travel Issues
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Travel COMP Time

• NCI is working with NIH to develop agency wide
  standards for manual tracking.
• Until these are issued, travelers will keep track
  of potential travel comp time.
• Recommendations tracking will remain with the
  traveler, their leave approving official, and
  their timekeeper.

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Travel COMP Time (continued)

• How this affects Travel Planners
• Effective immediately All travel authorizations
  for eligible employees must have the following
  language entered into the REMARKS section of the
  Travel Authorization
• Comp time may be earned by the traveler for this
  trip.
• In DCP, the only staff members not able to earn
  Travel Comp Time are those paid under title 38.
  Diane Solomon, Jason Vourlekis.

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Mandatory Use of Omega for Hotel Reservations

• It is especially critical to use Omega for hotel
  reservations when a traveler requests a
  conference rate or AEA.
• The ARC cannot approve travel orders or accept
  hotel receipts from a third party (i.e.
  Travelocity, Hotels.com, Expedia, etc.)
• Use of a travel credit card to make reservations
  with a third party constitutes misuse of the
  travel credit card.

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Conference Allowance

• When selecting the Conference Allowance on a
  Travel Authorization, please be sure to override
  the Actual Lodging amount.
• This way the Travel Authorization is a closer
  estimate of final costs.

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NFT Issues

• The following is a list of common problems with
  the NFT form. Please make an effort to follow
  the guidelines below when entering NFTs
• The block asking, Has the Country Clearance
  Cable Been Prepared must have a YES or NO
  answer.
• In the International Emergency Contact
  Information Block, you must enter the following
  information in this order for each destination
  Meeting Name, Contact (name, address, phone),
  Hotel (name, address, phone), US Embassy (address
  and phone).
• If the trip is sponsored, the name of the
  sponsor(s) must be entered into the Funding
  Details Block.

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NFT Issues (continued)

• The purpose explanation must have the name of the
  meeting, title of the presentation and who the
  traveler is meeting with.
• NEW REQUIREMENT The Per Diem block next to the
  City/Country block must be completed. Add the
  lodging and MIE rate together for one day and
  enter this amount in the block.
• Any travel time that is not business-related must
  be accounted for on the NFT. Enter the
  explanation in the Purpose Explanation block.
  This includes weekends, annual leave (NTE 2 days
  per fiscal year), etc.

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NFT Issues

• A Notification of Foreign Travel (NFT) training
  class will be held on Wednesday April 27th at the
  Parklawn Bldg 5600 Fishers Lane Room 4-35 from
  900am 1145am.
• To reserve your seat, send an email to
  aaliyev_at_osophs.dhhs.gov
• The availability of the computer lab is limited,
  so book in advance.
• The NFT form, samples and instructions are
  available at http//ogha.psc.gov/ogha/

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Common Errors on Travel Authorizations

• Per Anne Rogersons April 8th email, here are
  some recurring problems with Travel
  Authorizations
• If the traveler is presenting a speech, talk,
  poster, abstract, etc., the title must be in the
  Purpose Description block.
• Justifications for Non-Contract Carriers, Cash
  Tickets, and Premium Class Tickets must be
  entered in the Comments Block.
• When a registration fee is being paid and meals
  are zeroed out and/or lodging is zeroed out, be
  sure to indicate in the Comments Block whether
  the meals and lodging are covered by the
  registration fee.

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Sponsored Travel Leave

• It is HHS Policy that employees shall not be
  permitted to take annual leave in conjunction
  with any trips that are sponsored, in whole or in
  part, by non-Federal sources, whether for-profit
  or non-profit. This includes domestic and
  foreign travel.
• This is a change from the current policy which
  used to allow leave on domestic sponsored travel.
• Clarification NO LEAVE is allowed on any
  sponsored trip.

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Procurement Issues
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Updating ACH

• When you submit a PSO and attach the Vendor Alpha
  Search (VAS) page from DELPRO, please make sure
  the ACH STATUS says, ACH DATA EXISTS and that
  the address is current. If the address is
  different, most likely they also need to update
  their banking information.
• Just because your search says, ACH Data Exists,
  this doesnt necessarily mean all the information
  is current.

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Separate Requests

• Please be sure to submit Travel Authorizations
  and Tuition/Registration Fee Request Forms as
  separate items.
• When you submit these two separate items to the
  ARC stapled together, its not clear if the
  registration needs to be paid, or if youre
  submitting proof that is has already been paid.
• If the registration fee has already been paid, we
  dont need a copy of the purchase request. Just
  notate this information in the comments section
  of the Travel Auth.

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Information for Employees
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FY 06 Performance Plans

• Beginning Oct 1, 2005 performance plans will be
  on a fiscal year basis, not a calendar year basis
  (current plans will end Sept 30.)
• DHHS will move from a pass/fail evaluation system
  to a multi-level evaluation system (Exceptional,
  Fully Successful, Minimally Satisfactory,
  Unsatisfactory) each goal in the plan will be
  rated under the multi-level system.

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Benefits Calendar of Events
The Service Days are for the benefit of FEHB
enrollees of the respective plans above who have
questions or problems with their enrollments or
claims. These are one-on-one meetings with the
plan representative. No appointment is necessary.
You will be seen on a first come, first served
basis.
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myPay Update

• UPDATE New Payroll System DFAS
• Roll out on schedule for pay period starting on
  4/17/05.
• Employee Express is longer accessible as of
  4/13/05.
• DFAS will begin mailing letters with PIN numbers
  to access myPay 4/21/05.
• MyPay will be available starting 4/25/05.
• First pay slip available through DFAS on 5/6/05
  for PPE 4/30/05.
• Recommend that you review your first few pay
  slips carefully.
• Additional information available at
  http//intranet.hhs.gov/epay/
• ITAS will remain as our Timekeeping System

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IT HINTS
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Access Work Folders From Home

• Did you know you can access your H and L drives
  at home via http//remote.nci.nih.gov ?
• Just go to the URL above, log in using your
  regular user name and password (the one you use
  in the morning) and youll see the folders on the
  shared drive.

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Delaying the Locking Screen Saver

• Tired of being forced to keeping logging into
  your computer because the locking screen saver
  keeps going to the sign on screen?
• You cant turn this function off completely, but
  heres how you can delay the lock out time to 30
  minutes
• Click on Start, All Programs, Core Services
  Applications, Network Utilities, Password
  Protected Screensaver, and click on the maximum
  delay of 30 minutes.

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Delaying the Locking Screen Saver

• DEMONSTRATION

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OPEN DISCUSSION
Problems? Issues? Concerns? Anything youd like
to see on next months agenda? Do you have
something youd like to present? Just let us know!