Important Dates:

Online payment and purchasing transactions must be approved by Fiscal Administrators by 12:00 noon on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, to be included in FY 2020. The last check run for the fiscal year will be on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Pending transactions will remain in the RCUH financial system and will not be automatically deleted or disapproved.

From July 1 through July 5 online payment and purchasing transactions can be initiated, but Fiscal Administrators will not have the ability to approve transactions. Transactions will not be posted to project accounts until the financial system is reopened for FY 2021. The RCUH financial system is scheduled to reopen on Monday, July 6, 2020. The first check run for FY 2021 is scheduled for Monday, July 6, 2020, at 4:00 PM.

On an emergency basis only, manual checks can be issued during this period. Fiscal Administrators should contact RCUH Disbursing at [email protected].

Project reports will be accessible on the RCUH website. However, report balances will only reflect transactions posted through June 30, 2020 until processing resumes on July 6.

Please contact Maile Brooks at 988-8340 or [email protected] if you have any questions.

• Performance evaluations and pay adjustments for RCUH employees have been postponed. The new submittal date will be in mid-September.  Additional information regarding the above will be forthcoming in August 2020.
• In response to the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the state’s economy, a pay cut for Hawai‘i’s public employees has been discussed.  Although the discussions are still preliminary, you may be wondering how the RCUH employees on your project may be affected if a pay reduction or other cost-cutting action is implemented.

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Advisory #3 focuses on personnel actions relating to potential negative effects of COVID-19 on your RCUH employees. The information is largely based on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) which was enacted by Congress on March 19, 2020, and which was amended by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) which was signed into law on March 27, 2020. The aforementioned is effective from April 1 through December 31, 2020. RCUH is continuing to provide the finance and personnel services needed by your projects. Please refer to previous advisories (see Advisories 1 and 2) for changes to our operating procedures and other information. RCUH is dedicated to assisting you and your project—please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance.

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This second advisory (see first RCUH advisory here) presents changes to RCUH’s operating procedures due to the escalating impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Our central focus in making the changes was to protect the health and economic well-being of RCUH employees. RCUH will continue to provide the services needed by your projects, recognizing that the cessation of services will jeopardize your work and, possibly, the job security of your staff, which may cause financial hardship to them and their families.

To safeguard the health of the RCUH core staff, we have modified internal operating procedures to include remote work, social distancing, staggered work hours that extend into evenings and weekends, and other practices. These actions may result in longer processing time and, perhaps, some changes in the way you interact with RCUH. We appreciate your understanding and thank you for accommodating the following changes, which will be effective starting Wednesday, March 25, 2020.

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Due to health concerns about the COVID-19 virus, the Hawai‘i State Ethics Commission will be canceling all ethics training sessions for state employees through April 10, 2020.  Additional cancellations for sessions scheduled after April 10, 2020, may be announced at a later date.

RCUH employees can still complete ethics training online in the RCUH Training Portal.  Click here to log in or request a new account. Additional information about the State ethics laws can also be found on the Commission’s website:  http://ethics.hawaii.gov/

Employees with questions about the ethics laws are encouraged to contact the Commission’s office at (808) 587-0460 or [email protected].  The entire Commission staff is available to assist you via phone or email at any time.

This advisory provides a guiding framework for principal investigators (PIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. RCUH will continue its finance and personnel services to assist PIs in successfully managing their research and training projects and protecting the health and safety of their staff. Some of the items below will be immediately applicable, while others provide information that will be useful at a later date. All of the advisories presented under the subheadings RCUH Financial Transactions and RCUH Personnel Transactions can be implemented immediately, which RCUH recommends. However, because there is a wide variety of projects served by RCUH, the timing of when to implement these actions is left to the PI’s best judgement. Note that increasing numbers of governmental agencies and private businesses are suspending operations, requiring employees to work
remotely, and/or functioning only with essential workers. RCUH is closely monitoring the rapidly evolving COVID-19 outbreak and will issue advisory updates as necessary.

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Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the East-West Center announced that effective immediately, visitor access to Burns Hall will be restricted. Until this restriction is lifted, RCUH mail/checks can be dropped off/picked up at the Manoa Innovation Center (2800 Woodlawn Drive, Suite 200, Honolulu, HI 96822), Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to  4:30 p.m.

Please share this announcement with appropriate individuals in your project/department.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call RCUH Corporate Services at (808) 988-8314/8315 or email [email protected].

We appreciate your understanding.

Given the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation and to safeguard against the spread of the coronavirus, RCUH is postponing its April 7, 2020 forum. Because of its importance, the topic of Foreign Intrusion into Academic Research and Training will continue to be the focus of the forum when it is rescheduled. Thank you for your understanding of the action we are taking.

When questions regarding travel arise as the COVID-19 situation plays out, Principal Investigators (PIs) with grant-funded or extramurally-funded travel should check with their sponsoring agency program/contracts officer and follow the directives issued by the agency.  PIs should also consult the following for additional information:

• State Department’s Travel Advisories website for guidance about foreign travel;
• the University of Hawai‘i for UH-sponsored travel by employees and students; and/or
• the state agency/private organization to which they belong.

Join us for the 2020 RCUH Annual Forum: Foreign Intrusion into Academic Research & Training. Learn about undue foreign influences and what universities are doing to protect their technology, talent, and intellectual property.  This annual forum is recommended for faculty engaged in research and/or training with foreign colleagues/students.