Author: Gayle Hamasaki

Legal Professional Services Awards – Fiscal Year 2022

*NOTE: This posting was edited on July 8, 2021 to add the award to provide legal services related to employment, to the RCUH Corporate Office.
Project TitleTo provide legal services related to maritime/admiralty, to the RCUH Corporate Office.
Selected ConsultantMichael J. Nakano, Esq. (Cox Wootton Lerner Griffin & Hansen)
Contract Amount$20,000.00
Date of AwardJune 30, 2021
Consultants Considered (ranked candidates only)No other submissions.
Appointing OfficerLeonard R. Gouveia, Jr.
Project TitleTo provide legal services related to immigration, to the RCUH Corporate Office.
Selected ConsultantNewton J. Chu, Esq. (Torkildson Katz Hetherington Harris & Knorek)
Contract Amount$15,000.00
Date of AwardJune 30, 2021
Consultants Considered (ranked candidates only)Vaughn G.T. Cook (Torkildson Katz Hetherington Harris & Knorek)
Appointing OfficerLeonard R. Gouveia, Jr.
Project TitleTo provide legal services related to employee benefits/taxes, to the RCUH Corporate Office.
Selected ConsultantJoseph D’Amato, Esq. (D’Amato & Maloney)
Contract Amount$40,000.00
Date of AwardJuly 6, 2021
Consultants Considered (ranked candidates only)No other applicants in the specialty area of employee benefits.  Other applicants in the general employment field included:  Barry W. Marr, Esq. (Marr Jones & Wang); Andrew L. Pepper (Jackson Lewis); Richard M. Rand (Marr Jones & Wang); Sarah O. Wang (Marr Jones & Wang); Christopher J. Cole (Marr Jones & Wang); Patrick H. Jones (Marr Jones & Wang); Kristi O’Heron (Marr Jones & Wang); Newton J. Chu (Torkildson Katz Hetherington Harris & Knorek); Christopher S.Y. Yeh (Marr Jones & Wang); Eileen C. Zorc (Marr Jones & Wang); Megumi Sakae (Marr Jones & Wang); Cecily D.M. Kaya (Marr Jones & Wang); Andrea L. Miyashita (Marr Jones & Wang); Ronald Tang (Marr Jones & Wang).
Appointing OfficerLeonard R. Gouveia, Jr.
Project TitleTo provide legal services related to taxes and payroll, to the RCUH Corporate Office.
Selected ConsultantVaughn G.T. Cook (Torkildson Katz Hetherington Harris & Knorek)
Contract Amount$15,000.00
Date of AwardJuly 6, 2021
Consultants Considered (ranked candidates only)John J. D’Amato (D’Amato & Maloney) (employee benefits tax only)
Appointing OfficerLeonard R. Gouveia, Jr.
Project TitleTo provide legal services related to employment, to the RCUH Corporate Office.
Selected Consultant Barry W. Marr, Esq. (Marr Jones & Wang)
Contract Amount$50,000.00
Date of AwardJuly 8, 2021
Consultants Considered (ranked candidates only) Andrew L. Pepper (Jackson Lewis); Richard M. Rand (Marr Jones & Wang); Sarah O. Wang (Marr Jones & Wang); Christopher J. Cole (Marr Jones & Wang); Patrick H. Jones (Marr Jones & Wang); Kristi O’Heron (Marr Jones & Wang); Newton J. Chu (Torkildson Katz Hetherington Harris & Knorek); Christopher S.Y. Yeh (Marr Jones & Wang); Eileen C. Zorc (Marr Jones & Wang); Megumi Sakae (Marr Jones & Wang); Cecily D.M. Kaya (Marr Jones & Wang); Andrea L. Miyashita (Marr Jones & Wang); Ronald Tang (Marr Jones & Wang).
Appointing OfficerLeonard R. Gouveia, Jr.

FINANCIAL SYSTEM PROCESSING NOW AVAILABLE

The RCUH fiscal year-end processing has been completed. Fiscal Administrators may now approve online purchasing, payment, and travel transactions in the Financial Portal. The first check run for Fiscal Year 2022 will be on Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at 4:00 PM.

UH Project Fiscal Reports may reflect incorrect amounts and balances until KFS is opened for FY 2022.  Until KFS is opened for FY 2022, please use the Mass Printing Reports to access the UH Project Fiscal Reports as of June 2021 and earlier.

Reminder: Service dates are required for all payment transactions approved through August 31, 2021. For payments approved after July 30, 2021, $100,000 or greater, and with service dates of June 30 or earlier, please complete the attached RCUH AP Worksheet. Please include estimates or projections for invoices that have not been received as of July 30. Please email your worksheet to Staci Saito at [email protected] by Monday, August 2, 2021.  

Please refer to the Tuesday, June 8, 2021 General Announcement on Service Dates for more information.

Purchase Order Reminder

The University of Hawai‘i’s FY2020 Internal Control and Business Issues Report included a comment/observation related to the untimely execution of purchase orders (POs). Specifically, eight (8) POs were found to have been executed and approved subsequent to the receipt of goods or services from the vendor. 

An executed and approved PO serves as an indication that a formal agreement between the vendor and RCUH (for the benefit of UH), has been reached.  Failure to complete a PO prior to the receipt of goods or commencement of services from a vendor exposes RCUH/UH to undue risk related to the misuse of federal funds. 

This comment/observation has been identified previously, and efforts must be made to comply with the applicable RCUH and UH policies and procedures.  Please ensure that a PO is properly executed and approved prior to the receipt of goods or services from a vendor.

Should you have any questions, please contact Erin Yoda at [email protected].

Service Dates for Online Payments Processed During July 1 to August 31, 2021

The fiscal year-end cutoff for RCUH online payment transactions is 12:00 noon on Wednesday, June 30, 2021. All online payment transactions processed after Wednesday, June 30, 2021 through Tuesday, August 31, 2021, will require service dates. The service date format is MM/DD/YY.

For payments that will be processed or approved after Friday, July 30, 2021, are $100,000 or greater, and have service dates of June 30, 2021 or earlier, please complete the attached RCUH AP Worksheet. Please include estimates or projections for invoices that have not been received as of July 30. Please email your worksheet to Staci Saito at [email protected] by Monday, August 2, 2021. If there are no payments to report, please email Staci to report that there are no items by Monday, August 2, 2021.

A service date field is provided on all payment forms and is identified with the heading “S/D”. The service date is the date goods are received or services are performed. For certain types of payments including travel completions, petty cash reimbursements, extended services, etc., the service date entered should be the last day of the period covered by the payment. However, if the service period covers multiple fiscal years, allocate costs in each fiscal year incurred. For example, if the service period is from June 1, 2021 to July 31, 2021, record costs incurred from June 1 to June 30 with a 06/30/21 service date and costs incurred from July 1 to July 31 with a 07/31/21 service date.  

This information is needed to ensure that RCUH liabilities are properly reported as of June 30, 2021. Our auditors, N&K CPAs Inc., will be reviewing selected documents processed during this period as part of their audit procedures. Accordingly, please be advised that we may be requesting copies of payment documents for review. Please contact Maile Brooks at 988-8340 or [email protected] if you have any questions. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

RCUH Phones Temporarily Down at Mānoa Innovation Center Office

*P.M. UPDATE: The RCUH phones at the Mānoa Innovation Center are back in service.

RCUH phones are currently down at the Mānoa Innovation Center office location, affecting staff in Accounting, Project Administration, and Corporate Services. If you need to communicate with employees from any of these sections, please reach out via email.

If you’re unsure of who to contact, you may refer to the staff listing in the RCUH Financial Portal or Employee Self-Service, or you may contact [email protected] for assistance.

Procurement Policy Updates

In an effort to increase awareness of updates to RCUH’s policies and procedures, the following changes have been made on RCUH’s website:

Should you have any questions, please contact Erin Yoda at [email protected].