February 2022

Table of Contents

• Global Education Office
• Updates to VCU-Sanctioned International Travel Guidelines
• Business Services
• VCUDine
• Controller’s Office
• ARMICS Certification Deadlines
• Grants and Contracts
• Effort Reporting- Certification Reminder & Upcoming Effort Periods
• Procurement Services
• Revised Vendor Guidelines for Work on Campus
• Classroom Training
• RealSource User Access Changes

Global Education Office

Updates to VCU-Sanctioned International Travel Guidelines

As a reminder, depending on the U.S. Department of State travel advisory level for the destination, employees and students traveling internationally may need to first submit a petition to VCU’s International Travel Advisory Committee (ITAC) before travel should be approved in Chrome River or any travel is purchased by the university (or traveler).

VCU recently updated its guidelines on university-sanctioned international travel. These changes were made at the end of the fall semester. Remember to consult the university-sanctioned travel and student international travel planning sections of the One VCU: Better Together website for the most up-to-date information. The changes better align VCU with its institutional peers in regard to international travel restrictions, and are summarized as follows:

Please contact itac@vcu.edu with any questions.

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Business Services

VCUDine

VCU Dining Services will be opening two new dining locations this spring; Steak ‘n Shake and Za’atar. Located in the Student Commons, these locations will replace the former Taco Bell and Freshii. Za’atar, the first Halal-certified restaurant on-campus featuring Mediterranean cuisine, will open this month. Steak ‘n Shake is expected to open later this semester. Additionally, a new Starbucks is now open on the MCV Campus on the ground floor of the Gateway building. For menus, hours and updates, please visit vcu.campusdish.com or follow @VCU_Dining on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

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Controller’s Office

ARMICS Certification Deadlines

ARMICS Certifications will be due in the spring.

For additional resources and the ARMICS Database please reference the ARMICS Webpage.Training opportunities are offered, please register here. VCUHS employees can email Helen Sennett, sennetthc@vcu.edu, to register.

Please Contact sennetthc@vcu.edu with any questions.

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Grants and Contracts

Effort Reporting- Certification Reminder & Upcoming Effort Periods

We are grateful for the feedback and support we have received during the launch of our new effort reporting system, ECC. Effort Coordinators, if you haven’t already done so, please log into ECC to complete the pre-review for your department. Faculty, please log into ECC to complete your certifications (effort and project statements). Effort and project statements released during the launch for the MCV Campus (Semi-Annual) are due 02.28.2022, and Monroe Park (Semester) statements are due on 02.08.2022.

Lastly, the pre-review period for the Fall Semester (Monroe Park Campus) is now open in ECC. Effort Coordinators will have the entire month of February to pre-review the statements for the Monroe Park Campus before the certification period opens in March. Please log into ECC and pre-review your statements as soon as possible to avoid delays in certification.

Please contact effortreport@vcu.edu with any questions.

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Procurement Services

Revised Vendor Guidelines for Work on Campus

In response to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Directive No. 2, Virginia Commonwealth University has revised its Vendor Guidelines for Work on Campus to align with the governor’s executive order. As part of this revision, VCU is no longer requiring contractors/vendors to submit a certification prior to working on campus or performing public-facing duties on behalf of VCU. All vendors, temporary employees, and independent contractors were sent the Revised Vendor Guidelines for Work on Campus in Response to COVID-19 (“Guidelines”), on Friday, February 4, 2022.

To ensure a safe and healthy environment for all students, faculty and staff, VCU employees who manage or request on-campus vendors/workers can and should hold vendors accountable to these Guidelines while on campus.

Classroom Training

P-Card will offer “classroom” training in March and April. This training will be offered virtually via Zoom. To enroll, please visit training.vcu.edu and use the keyword search “pcard.”

Please note: attending a classroom training, does not grant an exemption from the Canvas training(s) and test(s).

Please contact Corpcard@vcu.edu with any questions.

RealSource User Access Changes

Since RealSource feeds the university’s financial system, the university’s obligated to verify users have a bona fide business purpose, are operating in the appropriate department and role (Shopper, Requester or Approver) and have not separated from the university. Based on recent state and VCU audit recommendations, Procurement Services has worked with Human Resources and Identity Management to shore-up user access protocols.

Starting mid-February, a RealSource User Request form must be submitted by departments to obtain access for any new users who are hourly employees, student workers, contractors, affiliates or other university non-benefitted workers, regardless of their RealSource user role. Departments will also be required to periodically verify the employment status of these users to maintain access.

Departments are reminded to promptly submit the RealSource User Request form when any user in their department separates from the university or moves to another VCU department. This activity is included in Human Resource’s separation forms for both faculty/staff and non-benefited employees.

Also, users who have not used RealSource for more than 6 months will be automatically inactivated. Users can avoid this inconvenience by periodically logging into or transacting in the system.

Departments are highly encouraged to periodically peruse the list of RealSource users in their departments and promptly report any changes via the RealSource User Request form. Procurement Services posts a full list of active users by department in the Quick Links area on the RealSource homepage.

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