Important Message from WVU's CFO on updated spending guidelines

Following the first six months of this fiscal year, our projections of revenues and expenses for Fiscal Year 2023 indicate we are facing a several-million-dollar deficit. We are waiting for information from a few key areas that may relieve some of the pressures, but it will not address the total deficit. Once we have finalized those numbers, we will share them with you.

Though no one wants to manage a deficit, it is manageable if we make some short-term adjustments as a University. The priority is to limit spending Systemwide throughout FY 2023 and into FY 2024. we will continually evaluate and provide updates throughout the year when spending limitations can be adjusted. Our next update will be in late April.
Prioritize spending on those items and programs that will most help us achieve our critical goals as a University system and lead to a return on investment. Those items or programs that contribute to the recruitment and retention of students, as well as the quality of the student experience, would be considered a high priority. We will need to implement a suspension of hiring, purchasing, hospitality and travel. Please see below for details. *The guidelines below do not apply to grant funded expenditures. Grant funded hospitality, travel, and purchases may proceed as long as they are permitted within the grant.

Hospitality:

• Employee only hospitality events should cease immediately, this includes food and beverage for internal meetings, trainings, and retreats. This includes both WVU and RC non-grant funding.
• Student focused hospitality events are allowable, but must comply with the University’s hospitality policy.
• Hospitality events with outside parties should be limited and must comply with the University’s hospitality policy and be approved by the vice president and/or dean prior to the event unless funded by a WVU Foundation account.
• If your event is allowable per above, any agreement required by the location of the event that must be sent to pcps@mail.wvu.edu for approval. Employees outside of Procurement are not permitted to sign supplier agreements on behalf of the university. If your event is an approved event, departments are encouraged to utilize the Erickson Alumni Center event space.

Travel:

• Non-grant funded travel should be limited to mission-critical travel only. Mission critical is defined as activities that cannot be delayed or eliminated without an adverse effect on WVU’s land-grant mission and commitments in the areas of education, healthcare, research, and economic development.
• For faculty, mission critical could include attending conferences where they have had academic papers accepted. This would be of particular importance to faculty who need to present their work for tenure and promotion purposes. There should be limits on the amount of travel allowed at the college and department levels. There are a few limited exceptions:
  • If an employee has already paid for and arranged to attend an upcoming conference, the travel would be permitted if it is too late to receive a refund.
  • If an employee is presenting at a conference, the travel would be allowed following vice president or dean approval. However, there should be limits on the amount of travel allowed at the college and department levels.
• If non-grant travel has been determined mission critical:
  • Before any travel, determine whether a virtual attendance option is available and if so, whether it will be more effective and efficient compared to in-person attendance.
  • Please provide an explanation as part of the MyExpenses approval process (virtual option unavailable, presenting at the conference, required for tenure/promotion etc.).
  • Travel must be approved by the unit vice president or dean (or the approved delegate) of the college/school prior to expending funds for it. The emailed approval and justification must be attached to the expense report in MyExpenses for the PCard and/or reimbursement expenses related to the trip.
• Travel on externally funded grants, sponsored projects and Foundation back-bill accounts should follow existing approval processes as detailed in the University’s Travel Manual. Any travel expenses charged to sponsored awards should comply with the award terms and conditions and be allocable to the sponsored award.
• • MyTravel is required for all air and rental car reservations, regardless of the funding source, unless the travel falls under the exceptions listed in the University's Travel Manual. All travel expenses, including allowable mileage reimbursements and other travel costs for remote/hybrid employees, must comply with the University's Travel Manual.

Purchases:

• Effective immediately, spending for supplies, contracts and other items should be suspended unless there is a critical need.
• All purchases (except travel and hospitality) greater than $5,000 must be approved by the vice presidents and/or deans of the colleges/schools. The vice president or dean may elect to delegate the approval authority to their respective business officer or strategic business advisor. As part of the decision to delegate, the college dean, unit vice president or business officer should reach out to Mark Gavin (in the case of academic units) and Paula Congelio (in the case of non-academic units) for a discussion.
• If a purchase is approved, please follow these guidelines:
  • Mountaineer Marketplace catalogs should be used whenever possible to order goods. If items aren’t available in a catalog, submit a non-catalog order form before the goods and services are provided.
  • The PCard should be used for specific types of small dollar orders of goods per the Purchasing and Payment Guidelines.
  • Office supplies, furniture and computer supplies should be delayed. If they must be purchased, they should be purchased through Mountaineer Marketplace and not on the PCard. Small dollar supplies needed in case of emergency (example –laptop charger) are permitted on the PCard.
  • Confirming orders should not be happening unless in an emergency. A confirming order occurs when goods or services are delivered and invoiced without a purchase order having been issued and cannot be paid for with a PCard or submitted on the Utilities, Leases, or Direct Pay forms in Mountaineer Marketplace. Inappropriate use of confirming orders not only negates the effect of budgetary approval, but also removes the ability to properly track budget encumbrances and hinders the ability to forecast cash flow.
  • Confirming orders should be reserved for emergencies only or certain specific contract invoices. Confirming orders for goods and services that were not emergencies or on contract should not be paid with University funds, and the employee may be held responsible for the payment.
  • Confirming orders should be replaced with a non-catalog order form before the goods or services are ordered/delivered or on PCard (if allowable within the Purchasing and Payment Guidelines). A blanket purchase order may be appropriate if you are spending off an existing contract and you know you will be spending with that supplier several times throughout the year but are uncertain of the quantity. An example would be for professional services where you have a blanket purchase order not to exceed a certain dollar amount within the fiscal year. Please contact pcps@mail.wvu.edu for assistance.

Other Spend:

• Digital publications are strongly encouraged over mailing printed publications. If you have questions, please reach out to University Relations for recommendations.
• Association dues and professional memberships: please review your association dues and professional memberships to ensure that they are truly needed. Cancel longstanding membership dues that are no longer used.
• Computer software: please review your software acquisition spend to ensure that it is truly needed. Cancel longstanding software expenditures that are no longer used and delay these expenditures, if possible.
• Employee training and development: critically assess the training needs of your employees and encourage virtual training over in-person that requires overnight travel.

Update April 24, 2023

In November and again in January, new spending guidelines were distributed in order to help navigate the challenging financial period we are in.  This was also further explained at the April Campus Conversation by President Gee and Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Rob Alsop.

 

Despite the necessity to follow the revised spend guidelines, Finance has not seen a reduction in spending since the date of those communications through the current date. At the time, we had instituted a mandatory approval of all expenses over $5,000 by the Dean/VP. We are lowering that threshold to $2,500 effective immediately for all non-externally grant funded purchases/expenses. In addition, the approval workflows in Mountaineer Marketplace will be updated and transactions above that threshold will be routed to the Dean/VP/delegate. PCard expenses $2,500 or greater will continue to require the Dean/VP/delegate’s approval attached to the expense report in MyExpenses.  It is imperative that we closely scrutinize expenses and do not proceed with any purchases that are not critical in nature.   

 

Guidelines for all approved purchases:

 

• Mountaineer Marketplace catalogs should be used whenever possible to order

goods. If items are not available in a catalog, submit a non-catalog order form

before the goods and services are purchased.

• PCards should be used for specific types of small dollar orders of goods per

the Purchasing and Payment Guidelines.

• Office supplies, furniture, and computer supplies should be delayed. If they must

be purchased, they should be purchased through Mountaineer Marketplace and

not on a PCard. Small dollar supplies needed in case of emergency (example –

laptop charger) are permitted on a PCard.

• Confirming orders should not be occurring unless in an emergency. A separate e-mail will be sent regarding confirming orders.
• All WVU-related purchases made, whether on PCard, Mountaineer Marketplace

or otherwise, and whether for the State, Foundation or Research Corporation: (1) must be for a legitimate and justifiable business purpose, (2) must be in accordance with WVU’s purchasing, PCard, hospitality and travel and expense guidelines, and (3) are subject to audit.

 

Exceptions to the above guidelines must be approved in writing by WVU’s vice president of finance and/or WVU’s chief procurement officer, and where appropriate the WVU Office of the Provost.

While we know this is a challenge, I do want to stress that it is manageable if we work together to make these adjustments. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or send an email to budgetsupport@mail.wvu.edu. We will be monitoring this email and will reply as soon as possible. Thank you for your continued support.