NewsLink Articles
Greetings Administrative System Users!
NewsLink provides news and information affecting users of Ohio State's Administrative Systems. Updates are collected twice a month, or more frequently as needed, and pushed out to system users by direct email. Bookmark and check this page frequently for the latest information. The next NewsLink email updates are scheduled for Monday, February 11 and Monday, February 25.
Key dates:
GFA Deadlines
February GL Monthly Close Deadlines
February PCard Reallocation Deadlines
The following link accesses system training information for Financials, eReports, HR and SIS. Separate Fiscal policy training is also available and offered by the Office of the Controller.
eSignature Course Updated in BuckeyeLearn
On Friday, February 15, eSignature training within BuckeyeLearn will be replaced with an updated eSignature training course.
The updated course will include separate overview, sender and author modules. The overview course will provide information regarding permitted use and policies while the sender and author courses will include instructions on how to use each. If you are currently "in progress" for the Sender or Author course, you either need to complete the current training by this date or you will need to restart when the new version is released. See the full article for more details.
PCard Renewal 2019 Reminder
PCards that were issued in 2016 will expire in April 2019.
The replacement cards will be bundled by each College/VP Area and made available for pick-up by your Senior Fiscal Officer or a designee. It's estimated that these cards will arrive by the second week of April. A separate notice with more specific information regarding the pick-up dates and location will be sent to your college's SFO and Service Center Manager in the coming weeks. If you have questions, please contact the PCard Office at 292-9290 or pcard@osu.edu.
See full article for more details.
February 2019 PCard Reallocation
The reallocation deadline for February 2019 is Wednesday, February 27.
February GL Monthly Close
The February General Ledger monthly close deadlines are as follows...
2/16 Finance System Maintenance affects eMat, eRequest, eTravel and eReports/Data Warehouse
OCIO technicians will be performing maintenance on the Finance System from 7 p.m. on Saturday, February 16 until midnight on Sunday, February 17, which will affect eRequest, eTravel and eReports/Data Warehouse. Those services will be unavailable during the maintenance period. In addition, the Wexner Medical Center's eMaterials (eMat) service will also be unavailable during the same maintenance window.
Any updates to this work will be posted to the OCIO System Status page.
Questions regarding this planned maintenance should be directed to the IT Service Desk at 614-688-4357 or through Self Service. Please reference change numbers CHG0039914 (eMat) and CHG0039919 (Finance).
Vendor Setup Form Updated
The Vendor Setup Form has recently been updated. It's recommended to reference the link to ensure you're using the latest version, instead of saving the form to your desktop.
What's new in the form?
- New email fields have been added to help clarify supplier contacts.
- Internal language was added to remind all Ohio State departments to securely send communication containing sensitive information. Read more on University Email Service Encryption.
If you are requesting any action to a university vendor, who does not have forms on file, you may be requested to provide additional information. Incomplete or missing information may delay processing time. See the University Vendor Maintenance Request Instructions for more information on what forms are required.
Any questions regarding vendor maintenance, or the vendor setup form should be directed to the Vendor Maintenance team at BF-PRSM-Webform@osu.edu.
Visual Compliance Incorporated into Vendor Maintenance
Vendor Maintenance has incorporated the use of visual compliance as part of the vendor review process. This step is now taken for all new, reactivated and update types of Vendor Maintenance requests.
Visual Compliance software allows subscribed users to submit names to be screened automatically against a mandatory Restricted and Denied Parties list to ensure compliance with federal export control regulations and national/international areas of concern.
Checking Visual Compliance prior to creating or updating a vendor in our database helps protect the university by ruling out any conflicts of interest and helps organizations fulfill their screening requirements. Additionally, Visual Compliance prevents business dealings with parties (individuals and organizations) deemed as blocked, restricted or denied by governments, world organizations and law enforcement agencies.
Common impacts to your vendor maintenance requests may include delays in seeking out additional information from the original requester (such as middle initial for an Individual request). Please provide all requested information to help prevent this. If there is a conflict, the request is escalated to OSP Export Control for further evaluation, which can also cause an additional delay.
Please email BF-PRSM-Webform@osu.edu with any questions.
Restricted Data in Attachments
When using any of Ohio States online eApplications systems (eTravel, eRequest, HR Action, etc.) that allow for the attachment of files, it is important to remember to remove any restricted data from the attachments.
Restricted data requires the highest level of protection due to legal, regulatory, administrative, contractual, rule or policy requirements. Access to and management of restricted data is strictly limited as unauthorized use or disclosure could substantially ormaterially impact the university's mission, operations, reputation, finances or result in identity theft.
Restricted data includes items such as Social Security Numbers, medical information and full credit card numbers. Restricted data elements should NEVER be included in any attachment.
For additional guidance, check out the Enterprise Security Institutional Data Policy page.
January GL Monthly Close
The January General Ledger monthly close deadlines are as follows...