Process Guide for Merging Concurrent Appointments

Purpose

To ensure employee records are established as efficiently as possible in the OnePurdue system, it has been recommended that concurrent appointments be merged where practical within the legacy system prior to HR/Payroll implementation. Human Resource Services, the OnePurdue team, and the Provost’s Office developed decision rules for merging appointments in the legacy system. These decision rules should be used to identify the employment combinations that are to be merged, as well as the appropriate position codes and home departments for the merged appointments.

Process

Each department will receive a current listing of faculty or staff with concurrent appointments. These listings should be reviewed against the merging concurrent appointment guidelines to identify the ultimate department and position code for each faculty or staff member. Other departments affected by the merge should be contacted to confirm their agreement to the action. After determining the final action to be taken for each concurrent appointment, the department will prepare payroll changes for the faculty and staff whose positions will remain in their department subsequent to processing the payroll changes. Payroll changes will route to all departments concurrently employing the faculty/staff member for approval. The departments will submit an advance copy of the payroll change to the Payroll Office with a Business Office Form 1422M, Payroll Distribution-Merging Concurrent Appointments. The Form 1422M documents the cost distribution of the merged position and will be provided to the Costing Office upon final approval of the payroll change for the initial cost distribution of the merged appointment.

Guidelines for Merging Appointments

Current concurrent appointments have been reviewed and the following guidelines have been developed to be used in addition to Appendix A – Criteria for Merging Concurrent Appointments. These guidelines should help to manage the merging process, including appointments with the same position codes and same base pay; different position codes and same base pay; and positions with or without administrative supplements.

I.Guidelines for Merging Concurrent Faculty or Administrative/ Professional Appointments

  1. For faculty members who also hold an Assistant Dean, Associate Dean, Dean, or Department Head appointment in addition to their regular faculty appointment:
  • The Dean or Department Head code (7F or 8F) should be retained and the faculty code should be changed to (0036Fxx, 0035Fxx), indicating a no-pay faculty appointment in the tenure department with an administrative appointment.
  • The “home” department will be the unit where the Dean or Department Head position is held.

  1. For faculty members who are Special Assistants to the Provost:
  • The faculty code should be retained, and the “Special Assistant” title will be noted for recognition purposes.
  • The home department will be the department where the faculty position is held.
  1. For individuals who hold an administrative/professional appointment and a faculty appointment:
  • If the appointments are in the same organization unit (AA code or Personnel Organization Code), the faculty appointment should be retained, and the administrative/professional appointment should be dropped.
  • The home department will be the department where the faculty position is held.
  • If the appointments are in different organizational units, the appointments should remain concurrent.
  1. Interim Processes for Interdisciplinary Appointments
  1. Prior to implementing SAP, it will be important to avoid creating additional unnecessary concurrent appointments.
  1. The documentation being used now to merge concurrent appointments can also be used to determine how to set up new interdisciplinary appointments for current or new faculty and staff members.
  1. At this time, there is no central “interdisciplinary office” in existence to facilitate the establishment of interdisciplinary appointments across multiple departments.
  • Identify a faculty or staff member as “interdisciplinary:”
  • Initial establishment of assignments across multiple departments.
  • Current faculty or staff member who will begin assignments across additional departments.
  • Business Offices from each department where the interdisciplinary assignments will exist must coordinate the establishment of the assignments.
  • Review “Appendix A” Criteria for Merging Concurrent Appointments.”
  • Determine which set of criteria are appropriate; either set up one merged assignment or set up concurrent appointments.
  • For criteria requiring Provost and HR Guidelines, review Appendix B, Section I “Provost/HR Guidelines for Merging Concurrent Faculty or Administrative/ Professional Appointments with Different Position Codes and Same Base Pay, With or Without Administrative Supplement.”

Payroll Change Preparation

Each department will receive an updated listing of faculty and staff with concurrent appointments. This list should be reviewed and evaluated against the Criteria for Merging Appointments. Once the appropriate action is determined (no action, retain appointment in the department, merge appointment into another department), departments will prepare payroll changes for the appointments that will be retained. Example payroll changes are included in the sample section of the packet. Advance copies are due in the Payroll Office by Monday, November 13, 2006 for monthly paid staff and by November 28, 2006 for the few biweekly staff that may be merged.

Cost Distribution Process for Monthly Paid Faculty and Staff

Cost distribution of payroll charges is a key activity that involves an assessment and later confirmation of the appropriate account or series of accounts that received direct benefit of the effort expendedby faculty and staff. For a new appointment, the account and approximate distribution of payroll is estimated by someone with direct knowledge of the activities of the employee which could include a principal investigator, a supervisor, or the department head. As part of on-going account management activities and effort reporting processes, these estimates are evaluated and any adjustments to cost distribution are documented within the department. For faculty and staff that have salary charged to sponsored programs funds, their effort and corresponding salary charges are confirmed for each academic period on the effort report, which is prepared and certified after the close of the academic period.

Merging concurrent appointments in the legacy system involves evaluating an individual’s appointment and determining which position code and department best reflects the overall appointment. The decision rules referenced above assist in that assessment. Since these appointments cross departments and even organizational units, preparing payroll changes and managing the cost distribution for these staff require a high level of coordination among the affected departments.

Initial Implementation Process

For theinitial merging of concurrent appointments, each department will forward payroll changes withaccompanying Business Office Forms 1422M, Payroll Distribution-Merging Concurrent Appointments. These distribution forms will account for the faculty/staff with merged appointments that will be retained in the department.All funding sources for each faculty/staff member’s payroll charges will be listed on the Form 1422M. The affected department head(s) signature(s) on the payroll change signifies agreement to the merging action, as well as a certification of their respective department’s payroll charge estimates that have been included in the description section of the payroll change. The department business officer can approve the Form 1422M, noting that approval by all department head(s) are on the payroll change.

The payroll office will establish any required recharge relationships in the payroll system. This will ensure that payroll costs can be distributed in accordance with the payroll charges documented on the payroll changes and Form 1422Ms. The Costing Office will enter the cost distribution for the merged appointments upon final approval of the payroll change.

On-Going Management of New Appointments or Cost Distribution Changes

After the initial implementation, new concurrent appointments will need to be coordinated by employing departments in accordance with the guidelines for merging appointments. In addition, cost distribution changes for all merged appointments will need to be made to reflect new projects or changes in effort relative to the initial distribution.

Each Director of Financial Affairs or Fiscal Director should identify individuals within their academic school or organizational unit that will serve as cost distribution administrators to facilitate distribution changes in the PAIS system for faculty or staff with merged appointments. It is the expectation that these administrators receive a copy of a Form 1422C, Payroll Distribution-Concurrent Appointments, to document their authorization to adjust cost distribution within their organizational unit and across organizational units.

The department that holds the budgeted appointment should serve as the coordinator for payroll change preparation and cost distribution changes. In the event a cost distribution change requires the establishment of an additional recharge relationship, a memo requesting the new relationship should be submitted to the Payroll Office at least one week prior to the generation of the PAIS error listing. The memo should include:

  • Home department number and name in which the appointment of the affected faculty or staff is recorded.
  • Department name and number to be charged a portion of the faculty or staff member’s salary.

To record the new cost distribution, perform the following steps:

  • Document need for the change in cost distribution.
  • Document concurrence from affected departments of the cost distribution change.
  • Complete a Form 1422C, Payroll Certification and Distribution-Concurrent Appointments, that reflects:
  • Individual’s Name.
  • Effective pay period and date of the distribution change.
  • Departments and account numbers for distribution.
  • Distribution %.

Note: Distribution will remain in effect until a subsequent form authorizes a change to the distribution.

  • Obtain authorized signature(s) on the Form 1422C.
  • Route the Form 1422C to your school or unit cost distribution administrator for processing.

Sample Documents

  • Appendix A-Criteria for Merging Concurrent Appointments
  • Payroll Changes-Initial Implementation
  • Payroll Distribution-Merging Concurrent Employment Worksheet
  • Current Payroll Screen Shots
  • Form 1422M-Payroll Distribution-Merging Concurrent Appointments.
  • Payroll Changes-New Appointment
  • Request to Establish New Recharge Relationship Sample Memo
  • Form 1422C-Payroll Distribution Change-Concurrent Appointments