UCARE Program Financial FAQs for UCARE

 

Contents

What is the UCARE Program?

UCARE provides funding for undergraduates to participate in the research and/or creative activities of the faculty and in projects under the direction of a faculty sponsor. Ideally UCARE is organized as a two-year program. During the first year, the student works as a research assistant for a faculty member on the faculty member's ongoing research or creative activity project(s). During this first year, the student engages in "learning by doing" -- learning why and how the faculty member does research and creative activities by assisting the faculty member in completing research tasks. The student may learn such skills as how to conduct library literature reviews, code or retrieve data, work in a research laboratory, undertake research techniques specific to a project or discipline, assist with an experiment, work in a studio, and so on.

In the second year, the student advances to a project proposed by the student and sponsored by the faculty mentor with whom the student worked during the first year. Ordinarily it would be expected that the project would be an extension of or related to the student's first year UCARE experience, but the key factor is that the faculty member sponsors and serves as a mentor for the project which the student will have primary responsibility for completing.

UCARE applications are accepted once per year; the application deadline is mid-February. There are two different sources of funds for UCARE awards: the majority of the awards are on fund cycle one (Pepsi), which runs on an extended academic year (funds are available from JUNE 1 until JULY 31 of the next year). A very few students are on Office of Research funds, which runs on a traditional fiscal year (funds are available from JULY 1 through JUNE 30 of the next year).

Occasionally in the fall some additional UCARE awards are made.   This is not an “official” award period and happens on an ad hoc basis.

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Please explain the two different funds for UCARE students.

There are two funds for UCARE: 1) The Pepsi Endowment Fund (Foundation Funds: WBS number begins with 26-) and 2) the Office of Research funds (State Funds: Cost Center number begins with 21-).   The two funds operate slightly differently.

The Pepsi fund runs from June 1-July 31 of the next year.  The latest UCARE Pepsi funds can be used is July 31.

New WBS numbers are assigned to the Pepsi funds EVERY year.   Please be sure to CHANGE the WBS number. For 2010-11 the 020 and 021 extension numbers will CLOSE. The continuing UCARE students (Year 2 students) will be under a WBS number with a 023 extension and the new students (Year 1 students) will have an 022 extension. The award period will be from June 1, 2011 through July 31, 2012.

The Office of Research funding will run from July 1-June 30 of the next year (fiscal year).   For 2011-12, this time period is July 1, 2011-June 30, 2012. This cost center number does not change.  

Student names, account numbers, award amount, etc. will be sent to department financial contacts in early May prior to the beginning of the new academic year.


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How do you fill out a UCARE PAF?

PAFs will be completed for each UCARE student under the Job Class Title of student worker. Instructions for completing Student Worker PAFs can be found on Sapphire. Because of the guidelines set forth by the funding sources, we ask that you use the information highlighted on the examples and hope that the explanations below will give you a better understanding of UCARE students. UCARE students must be full-time, registered students.

EFFECTIVE DATES OF ACTION
  • The dates provided for Pepsi- and PoE-funded students are the funding periods. Dates differ; be sure to select the right PAF according to the student's funding source.
    • Pepsi = From 06-01-20XX To 07-31-20XY
    • Office of Research = From 07-01-20XX To 06-30-20XY
  • The “From” date provided reflects the earliest a student can be funded. Change the “From” date to reflect the start date of the student.
  • The “To” date will remain the same on all students' PAF (according to source): 12-31-9999.
  • HOURS WORKED PER WEEK
  • All UCARE student PAFs will reflect 10 hours per week.
  • There may be an occasion when a student will work more than 10 hours and this is acceptable. We encourage students to work up to and no more than 10 hours per week to allow the student time to focus on academics. We discourage students working over 20 hours per week.
  • Time sheets should be completed by the student on a weekly basis and signed by the faculty sponsor. Activity will be monitored on a monthly basis to eliminate students playing time sheet catch-up at the end of the year. If there is no activity within the month, the student will be contacted.

BASIC PAY

  • All students will be paid $8.00 per hour. Students must have a United States Social Security Number to be paid for work completed. Note: UCARE students are paid through payroll and their combined hours working for UNL cannot exceed 39 hours/week. UCARE will NOT pay overtime.

COST CENTER/WBS Number

  • Cost centers or WBS numbers are assigned to each department from which the UCARE students are paid. Staff responsible for completing PAFs will be sent an email prior to the beginning of the funding period indicating the cost center or WBS number. Please be sure to use the correct cost center or WBS number in completing the PAF.
  • Do not charge UCARE salaries against another departmental cost center and then transfer money out of the UCARE account at the end of the year to cover the salary.

PAID APPOINTMENTS

  • Typically, Year 1 students will be awarded $2,000 and Year 2 students will be awarded $2,400, although a lesser amount can be requested. Staff responsible for completing PAFs will be sent an email prior to the beginning of the funding period stating how much money is awarded each student. Please confirm the amount to be paid stated in the email.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS OR EXCEPTIONS

  • The suggested comment clarifies where the money is coming from and how the money is to be used. Within the parentheses, insert the salary which was stated in the email.

EXAMPLES of PAFs:

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Can UCARE funds be used for anything other than payroll?

The primary use of the UCARE funds should be for the student's pay. Occasionally exceptions to this arise and students can arrange with the department to take modest funds from the UCARE amount for expenses; that will just decrease the amount that will be available for pay.

ANY USE OF FUNDS outside of pay requires prior APPROVAL from the Director of Undergraduate Research. These are fillable PDFs and should not be handwritten.:



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Who is responsible for tracking the UCARE Funds?

<p >Ideally, the faculty sponsor, the UCARE student and the financial support staff in the department should all be tracking the student's use of their UCARE funds. However, in the past many problems have arisen because there has not been enough oversight of the UCARE funds by the individuals involved or on the departmental level.   As a result, the UCARE Office will ALSO be monitoring financial activity on a bi-weekly basis. (It is still expected that departments/faculty sponsors and students will still be keeping track of their UCARE hours and funds.)   If your department overspends the award amount, the department is responsible for that money not covered by the award.

Reminders:
  • Please keep track of your department's student hours/funds (Remember: If your department overspends the award amount, the department is responsible for that money not covered by the award.)
  • Please request that your students submit timecards regularly (weekly). We will be running bi-weekly reports on UCARE students.   If SAP repeatedly shows no financial activity, our office will contact the student and faculty sponsor and ask for an explanation.   (If this continues, we will ask for the funds to be returned.)
  • If the student is on other funding sources in addition to UCARE, please USE the UCARE money first, and then switch the student to the other account.


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Can UCARE Faculty Sponsors change/substitute UCARE students?

Only first year UCARE students can be replaced by another student. Sometimes the working relationship does not work out, or the student is overwhelmed with schoolwork and cannot commit as much time to the project as originally planned.   However, if there are changes of this sort, they should be made EARLY in the UCARE experience. (For example, if the research pair started in August, the faculty sponsor should not be substituting another student after the end of October.)

Can UCARE students change/substitute Faculty sponsors?

No, not usually.   In very rare instances, we have allowed students to change faculty sponsors.   The UCARE award is given to the student, the faculty sponsor and the department JOINTLY.

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Can students who have graduated from the University still be paid UCARE Funds?

NO.

Can UCARE students work overtime?

NO.

Can UCARE students work during the summer?

Yes, the student can work in the summer and work more than 10 hours/week.   In the summer FICA charges can be charged and will come from the student's UCARE awarded amount.

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UCARE Financial Information