Services

The Director of Fiscal Affairs is Carol Cardwell (phone: 998-7565; email: carol.cardwell@nyu.edu). The office is comprised of two units: Fiscal Services and Payroll. To support the activities of Arts & Science, each unit deals with a wide spectrum of faculty and department administrators. It also works with administrative units on campus including academic appointments, human resources, university payroll, sponsored projects, accounting, and purchasing.

Fiscal Services

Currently, there are seven staff members in this unit. Three Financial Analysts provide divisional support and services to multiple departments and programs: the humanities (TBD), social sciences (Selena Emanuel; phone:998-8188; email: se52@nyu.edu), and school units and cultural houses. The other Analysts are assigned to the Center for Neural Science (Amala Ankolekar; phone: 998-7780; email: amala.ankolekar@nyu.edu), Physics (Kristen Seith; phone: 998-7703; email: seith@physics.nyu.edu), Chemistry (John Runowicz; phone: 998-8402; email: john.runowicz@nyu.edu), and Biology (TBD).

The Analyst's role is to:

• Exercise general financial control over department operating budgets and review all appointments to insure they fall within the financial parameters of departmental and restricted fund budgets.

Definitions of unrestricted and restricted funds: fund 10 - departmental operating budget (current unrestricted), fund 21 - expendable endowment income (unrestricted), fund 22 - university (restricted), fund 24 - non-government grant/contract (restricted), fund 25 - government grant/contract (restricted), fund 70 - cost-sharing for government grant/contract (restricted).

• Provide expertise regarding applicable sponsor, NYU and Arts & Science fiscal and administrative policies and procedures.
• Assist in resolving discrepancies with Organizational Budget Reports (OBRs) and other financial matters.
• Periodically review all operating and restricted accounts. Discuss questionable financial results with departmental administrators and coordinate correction via budget modifications, journal entries, or other procedures.
• Approve departmental expenditures that exceed the departmental level of authority ($2,500).
• Provide a point of contact for administrators with the Controllers Division.
• Offer initial training for new Department and Program Administrators.
• Coordinate the review and processing of financial reports for restricted accounts.
• Oversee the establishment and administration of all Faculty Research accounts and Fund 22 restricted accounts.
• Maintain and administer the Arts & Science Authorized Signature File.

Financial Analyst Functions & Duties
Financial Analysts in Arts & Science are responsible for providing a high level of financial services and expertise in order to support the activities of departments and programs. They review departmental budgets, post-award accounting, and provide expert knowledge on governing cost-principles. They also review transactions and requests to ensure compliance with applicable federal, sponsor and university requirements.

Examples of the services that Financial Analysts provide:

Transaction Functions

• Transaction approval on all funds up to $25,000.
• Pre-audit review of transactions to ensure compliance with applicable cost-principles, funding (budget), etc.
• Review and approve department payroll transactions.

Accounting/Analysis Functions

• Review accounts on a monthly basis.
• Coordinate the timely preparation of financial reports.
• Advise faculty and staff on all finance-related matters, such as grant terms or how to handle employee versus consulting arrangements.
• Provide an overview of departmental funding in order to leverage foundation and departmental operating funds for cost-sharing and other requirements.
• Anticipate problems by timely planning and review of accounts.

Other Functions

• Establish working relationships with faculty in order to understand fiscal needs.
• Authorize NYU ID cards for code 112s (adjunct faculty) and general IDs.
• Assist with proposal preparation and/or the budget development process.
• Provide back-up support in the case of turnover or long-term absences.
• Financial Analysts report to the school in order to avoid any conflict of interest and to satisfy the university and external auditors that there is sufficient segregation of approval authority.

Payroll

This unit is headed by Kathleen Fannin (phone: 998-8031; kpf1@nyu.edu), Payroll Supervisor, with the assistance of Senior Human Resource Assistants LaChonne Harper (phone: 998-8079; email: lh6@nyu.edu) and Jeraldine Bawar (phone: 998-3752, email: jeraldine.bawar@nyu.edu).

FAS Payroll is responsible for providing the following services:

• Processing all faculty, research staff, graduate student assistantships, adjuncts, graders, tutors and student worker appointments/changes.
• Review payroll requests from departments and programs for accuracy, completeness and proper documentation.
• Respond to questions and resolve problems with Academic Appointments and University Payroll to ensure timely payment of employees.
• Serve as a point of contact for administrators with University Payroll.
• Provide assistance with missing or misrouted paychecks to ensure receipt by the proper payee.
• Assist in resolving discrepancies between paychecks, Monthly Salary Expense Reports (MSERs) and the University Payroll System.
• Provide initial training for new Department and Program Administrators.
• Maintain an up-to-date FAS Payroll manual (hard-copy and on the web) and communicate changes with Departmental Administrators.

Payroll Supervisor Functions & Duties

• Ensure smooth operation of FAS Payroll and timely submission of payroll requests.
• Review payroll transactions for accuracy, completeness and appropriateness.
• Resolve problems and troubleshoot issues with Academic Appointments, Employment, University Payroll and departmental administrators.
• Review procedures and processes; identify problems and initiate changes to improve service.
• Resolve special cases and requests.
• Ensure timely and accurate completion of annual merit process (AMI upload).
• Develop and update FAS Payroll manuals and website.
• Organize training workshops and special projects.
• Review open transaction log and resolve problems in a timely manner.

Senior Human Resources Assistant Functions & Duties

• Process payroll transactions.
• Review and submit bi-weekly timesheets.
• Resolve bi-weekly timesheet problems with University Payroll.
• Respond to questions by departments and individuals.
• Check I-9, W-4, visa, and other documents for completeness.
• Acknowledge requests and identify problems or missing documents for departments.
• Coordinate with Departments, FAS Academic Appointments and Fiscal Analysts for missing documents and resolution of related problems.