Business and Financial Services News and Events

UCPath Progress Continues

The project team at UC Merced has nearly completed its revamp of the campus's UCPath website, which includes a collection of background information and updates most relevant to UC Merced employees regarding the implementation of the new payroll system. In addition to the information posted on the UCPath site, a recording of a Dec. 18 meeting hosted by the UCPath project team about the UCPath Shared Services Center is available for viewing.

Meanwhile, significant progress has been made on targeted design areas that include system gaps, business process maps and interfaces. Other aspects of the UCPath project, such as fee remission, have gained momentum and are being discussed by subject matter experts at each campus. Looking ahead, the UCPath management group will be assessing factors such as work effort required, resources and change management needs to garner the collective support of key stakeholders and maintain realistic scheduling requirements.

For further information or inquiries about UC Merced’s UCPath implementation, contact the UC Merced project team at ucpath@ucmerced.edu.

Upcoming Meetings and Training Opportunities

• Join the Campus Purchasing meeting on Feb. 6 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in KL 232 for vendor information and purchasing procedure updates and advice.

• There are two prerequisites to CatBuy training, but on Feb. 19, both can be done in one day. Purchasing training and the Full Accounting Units (FAU) course will be offered at the Mondo Building. More information is available on the training site.

• CatBuy/BruinBuy training offers a hands-on overview of how to use UC Merced’s purchasing system. Details about the session Feb. 20 session can be found on the training website.

• Visit training.ucmerced.edu to explore other upcoming opportunities for classes designed to help users with CatBuy, SharePoint and other systems and protocols used on the job.

Reminders from Payroll Services for Transitioning into 2013

Form W-2

• Electronic W-2 forms for 2012 earnings were made available last week on the At Your Service website for those who signed up for electronic access. Although the deadline for electronic access for this tax season has passed, employees interested in signing up for next year can find directions online on how to enroll.

• Hardcopy W-2 forms will be mailed to employee’s home address on file in the Payroll system starting this week.  Forms will be post marked by Jan. 31. Visit the At Your Service site for instructions for updating your home address.

Payroll Tax Changes Effective Jan. 1

• Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) withholding rate returned from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent.
• The taxable salary wage base for Social Security increased from $110,100 to $113,700.
• Medicare withholding remains at 1.45 percent (employees earning $200,000 or more experienced a 0.9 percent increase).

In-person Payroll Assistance Available on Fridays

Every Friday on campus, a payroll expert is stationed in KL 201 until 5 p.m. to meet or discuss concerns without making a formal appointment.

Questions regarding payroll information can be directed to payroll@ucmerced.edu or by calling 209-228-2729.