- 1. ARC Briefing January 2007 Presented by the DCP - DCCPS ARC
National Institutes of Health DHHS
2.
- ARC Briefings areusuallyheld the 2 ndThursday of every
month.
- We encourage agenda submissions and active participation.If you
have a topic for next months meeting, email Eric Graves in the DCP
ARC.
- Previous meeting presentations may be downloaded at
http://www3.cancer.gov/prevention/arc/presentations.html
Welcome! 3. AGENDA
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- Continuing Resolution Information
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- Procedures when there is a Change in cost to a PSO
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- Micro-Purchase Threshold has Increased
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- Widely Attended Gatherings & Free Attendance
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- Monday Returns from Travel & Annual Leave Issues
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- NBS Travel & DELPRO Shutdown
- Information for Employees
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- W2s Now Available for 2006
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- Closure of NIH Facilities Information
4. Welcome New Staff
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- Joseph transferred from the DCTD DEAS to the DCP-DCCPS ARC as
an Admin Tech and has now been with us for more than 4 months.Prior
to joining the Federal Government, Joseph was employed as a Dean of
Students in the District of Columbia Public School System.Joseph is
sitting at the greeting station at the EPN 3053 suite
entrance.
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- Marilyn is the DCCPS ARCs newest Admin Officer. Marilyn comes
to us from the private sector where she owned a Marketing and PR
business.Prior to that, she was the Director of Marketing and PR at
Hughes Network Systems.She has traveled extensively and speaks
several foreign languages.
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- Angela just started with the DCP ARC this week as an Admin
Tech.She is teamed with Vanessa Day and sits in the cubicle next to
Antoinette Wills.
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- Amanda has joined the DCP DEAS from the private sector and will
report Thursday 1/11.Amanda sits on the 3 rdfloor of EPN by Dr.
Bergs office.
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- LTonya is the new DCCPS DEAS Task Leader for EGRP.
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- Joan is new to the DCCPS DEAS and is supporting BRP.
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- Miquel is new to the DCCPS DEAS and is supporting SRP.
5. General Information 6. Continuing Resolution (CR)
- The President has signed a Continuing Resolution (CR) bill
which will cover travel throughThursday, February 15, 2007 .
- To address ticket reservations that may need to be issued
subsequent to the above CR termination date, OFM is authorizing our
Travel Management Center, OMEGA, to release refundable tickets to
travelers departing throughMonday, February 19, 2007 .
- Travelers may pick up their tickets, but must be advised that
these tickets may not be used absent a new CR or appropriations
bill extending funding beyondFebruary 15, 2007 . This policy is
applicable to all travel including sponsored travel and trips
covered by funds other than annual appropriations. Each Travel
Authorization should be annotated to read, "Pending Availability of
FY 07 Funds.
- If it is at all possible, please try to minimize the number of
trips that take place between the dates of February 16 and February
19.Especially if they are for conferences, meetings, etc., that can
be postponed for a couple of days, or for invitational travelers.
This would help reduce the chances of your travelers encountering
travel arrangement problems.
7. 2007 Payroll Calendar
- A 2007 Payroll Calendar is attached to your slides.
- This calendar shows all Federal Holidays, Paydays, and Pay
Period Numbers.
8. 2007 Pay Increase
- A 2.64% pay increase for GS employees was approved and is
effective the first full pay period in January 2007.
- The 2007 Salary Table for the Washington-Baltimore area is
attached to your handouts.
- You may also access the new 2007 Salary Tables online
at:https://www.opm.gov/oca/07tables/index.asp
9. Procurement 10. Change in Cost to a Professional Service
Order (PSO)
- A PSO may be received and funds released if costs end up being
LESS than the original price.
- However, if any of the 3 line items in a PSO end up being
higher than projected, the PSO must be re-approved by the ARC:
- When the priceincreasesfrom your original calculations on a PSO
for:
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- Per Diem (hotel cost changes)
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- Travel (for example, airfare),
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- a reason for the changeand
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- a copy of the ticket or receipt .
- Please remember your Admin Officer must approve this increase
in funds.
11. Change in Cost to a Professional Service Order (PSO)
continued
- What to do when any of the 3 line items on a PSO have
increased:
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- Mark the changes on the vendors copy of the original PSO.
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- Attach a copy of the ticket and/or invoice documenting the
reason for the change.
- After the ARC makes the changes to the PSO in the ADB, the ARC
will print you a new copy of the PSO for the vendor to sign.
12. Micro-purchase Threshold has Increased
- The micro-purchase threshold has increased from $2,500 to
$3,000.
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- No longer need Sole Source justifications for items or services
less than $3,000 (for example, laptops or PSOs).
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- No longer need documents on Price Reasonableness for items less
than $3,000.
13. Travel 14. Widely Attended Gatherings (WAG) and Free
Attendance
- A "Widely Attended Gathering" is a meeting, conference, or
other event which is attended by either a large number of people
from throughout an industry or profession, or by those representing
a wide range of interests.
- The Ethics Office must become involved in those instances when
an employee is invited to a Widely Attended Gathering (WAG) and
offered free attendance. An offer of free attendance is considered
a gift. The WAG exception to the gift prohibition permits free
attendance at certain widely attended gatherings. Obtaining
permission to accept these gifts protects the employee from
possible accusations of accepting inappropriate gifts.
- Attached is a print out from the NCI Ethics Website which
provides more detail.
15. Charging Employees for Annual Leave on Monday Returns from
Travel
- If a traveler completes his/her official business on Friday or
Saturday the traveler cant use Monday as a travel day because the
traveler chose to stay over the weekend on non-duty leave.
- The traveler must either take annual leave on Monday or report
to work at least day.This rule applies only to Monday
returns.*
- *The relevant policies can be found in the NIH and HHS travel
manuals:
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- NIH policy is that employees are required to return by
the"first available flight" upon completion of duties, even if this
entails travel during the weekend. 1500-04-05 Leave Taken While in
Travel Status
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- Under no circumstances should a supervisor waive the annual
leave requirement if the amount of time missed is more than half of
the employee's regular daily tour of duty hours.( For additional
information, see HHS Travel Manual Chapter 4-00-90.)
16. NBS Travel & DELPRO Shutdown
- Travel system shut down: NO orders/vouchers can be entered,
certified, reviewed, or approved during this period.
- No cash advances or travel reimbursements can be issued during
this period by OFM.
- No new travelers can be entered in the system (guests,
interviewees).
- DELPRO will be shut down too.
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- We will not be able to order paper or other stock items during
this period.
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- Self Service Stores will be open for walk in use.
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- Standing orders from Warehouse & Stock will continue to be
shipped.
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- We will not be able to enter Purchase Orders or Professional
Service Orders
6pm Friday, Feb 9Through 7am Monday, Feb 20 17. NBS Travel &
DELPRO Shutdown(continued)
- NCI will issue a contingency plan for the down time.The target
date is January 29, 2007.
- This plan will address Travel, DELPRO orders, and OFMs plans
for conducting business.
- Please plan ahead and make sure your customers are aware that
the system will be unavailable during this time period.
6pm Friday, Feb 9Through 7am Monday, Feb 20 18. Ethics Office
Deadlines
- It will be much more difficult for the Ethics Office to process
late packages (for example, sponsored travel).
- Please keep this in mind when preparing packages for the Ethics
Office.
- Work closely with your ARC the moment your travelers alert you
that they have a trip or activity requiring approval from the
Ethics Office.
19. Information for Employees 20. W2s for 2006 Now Available
- W2s for 2006 are now available on line in
myPay,https://mypay.dfas.mil/mypay.aspx
- DFAS will also mail a copy of W2s to all employees beginning
1/11/2007.
- There is a function in myPay to turn off the mailed copy for
anyone not desiring to receive a mailed copy at their home
address.
- Everyone is encouraged to verify their address in myPay to
ensure it is correct.The Post Office will not forward W2s.
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- Select Correspondence Address
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- If your address is incorrect, make the change and select
Save.
- Please note:This year you will only receive 1 W2.You may recall
last year you received 2 W2s due to the switch over to myPay.
21. Closure of NIH Facilities
- If an emergency closure or dismissal occurs, the updated status
will be posted on OPMs website,http://www.opm.gov/and a recorded
message will be provided by OPMs Office of Communications on(202)
606-1900
- (see attached handout for more detailed information)
22. 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!