Accounting Services Section (ACT)
PROCEDURE 6
Effective Date: 05/16/2005
Last Modified Date: 06/24/2009
Procedure Overview
Eligible graduate students may be enrolled in the health insurance program or may be terminated from enrollment by completion and submission of the Enrollment and Change Form (see ACT Appendix 18 for an example of the electronic form). The form should be completed and authorized by the department(s) providing funding and submitted by the department(s) either with the EPA Personnel Action (Form PD-7) or separately.
Procedure Steps
Student Eligibility Verification
Graduate students are responsible to verify that they are eligible for participation in the health insurance plan. Have each student complete Attachment II, Verification of Student Eligibility; retain the form in department files. (Do not send a copy of the form to Accounting Services.) Do not enroll a graduate student in the Graduate Student Health Insurance Program until the student has completed the form and the department is satisfied that s/he meets the eligibility criteria specified.
Online Enrollment Process
The online enrollment process for the Graduate Student Health Insurance Program is available the first business day after July 14th each year. As soon as possible after that date and after the student has registered, enroll the student. The Enrollment and Change Form is available in the online enrollment system. This function can be accessed by choosing PRIQ-UNCCH Payroll from the Mainframe (FRS-Financial Reporting System) menu and then selecting 430GSHIP option. Departments unable to gain access to the function—and only those departments—may submit the information in hard copy by completing Attachment I.
The initial enrollment period is from the first business day after July 14th through September 14th, and the effective date of coverage for students enrolled during this time will be August 15th. Coverage for students enrolled after September 14 will begin on the most recent 15th of the month unless a retroactive enrollment is approved. (To request such approval, submit a written justification to the Cash Manager in Accounting Services.)
The online enrollment screen used to enter and maintain health insurance program data is keyed on the student's PID, so a student must have already been entered in the Student Information System before online enrollment is attempted. For returning students, some of the information will be supplied automatically and other data must be entered by the department each year. Full instructions are available at the Cash Management Web site.
Payments to Graduate Students
- Compensation through Payroll Services—An EPA Personnel Action should be processed in EPA Web for service appointments using standard procedures.
- Graduate students with a teaching assignment are paid either biweekly (object code 1318) or monthly (object code 1317). The rank code for a Teaching Assistant is 21.
- Graduate students with a research assignment are paid either biweekly (object code 1118) or monthly (object code 1117). The rank code for a Research Assistant is 22.
- Pre-doctoral fellow trainees are paid on the monthly payroll. The rank code is 23.
- Payment through Disbursement Services—Fellowship or traineeship payments for non-service awards to graduate students will continue to be paid through Disbursement Services using the Check Request form (which is explained in APY Procedure 1 of this Business Manual). As noted there, fellowship payments must include the following specific information in Section 5, Explanation of Charges, of the Check Request form (or in the Notepad of the online form):
- Description of payment (e.g., fellowship)
- Non-service award for degree-seeking candidate in and field of study
- Period of award, first and last months of payment, and number of payments desired
- Student's permanent address
- Indication if student is undergraduate or graduate
- Indication if student is or is not a U.S. citizen (non-U.S. citizens must attach the Foreign National Information Form, PR-100)
The expense object code for students enrolled in the insurance program should be one of the following:
- 6511—Appropriated Non-Service Scholarships
- 6512—Appropriated Non-Service Fellowships
- 6522—Minority Presence Graduate Grants
- 6551—Teachers Scholarship
- 6561—Minority Medical/Dental Grants
- 6571—Trainee Degree Stipends
- 6585—Incentive Scholarship Native American
- 6593—Other Non-Service Scholarships
- 6594—Other Non-Service Fellowships
- 6971—Science/Engineering Fellowships
Insurance Premium Payments
Hill, Chesson and Woody bills the University monthly for the insurance premium costs of the Graduate Student Health Insurance Program, announced with the annual Deans, Director, Department Head Memo before the plan year begins. The University pays the bill from a central clearing account, and Accounting Services processes a journal entry to distribute the premium expenses among the departments. The same sources of funds that provide financial support to the graduate student must also pay the proportionate cost of the health insurance premiums. A summary of the funding sources used and the premium payment process follows.
- Academic Affairs Budget Code
- Appropriations and general receipts supported: Premiums are charged to the departmental account—object 1836 when the payment to the graduate student represents a salary, and object 6596 when the payment to the graduate student represents a fellowship. Budget is automatically transferred from central budget code pool to the departmental account to fund expenses.
- Receipt supported: Premium expenses are charged to the departmental account, object 1836.
- Health Affairs Budget Code
- Appropriations and general receipts supported: Premiums are charged to the departmental account, object 1836. Expense is automatically reimbursed from central budget pool to the departmental account to fund expenses.
- Receipt supported: Premiums are charged to the departmental account, object 1836.
- Contracts, grants, overhead receipts, other institutional trust funds, and special funds: Premiums are charged to the departmental account—object 1836 when the payment to the graduate student represents a salary, and object 6596 when the payment to the graduate student represents a fellowship.
Premium expenses for a particular month are prorated among each student's salary, fellowship, and traineeship sources of the previous month. For example, the premium expenses for the enrollment month of March 15 through April 14 are posted in March and are prorated based on the student's salary (and/or fellowship/traineeship) sources for the calendar month of February. The initial enrollment information will be available in mid-September and then must be compiled and transmitted to Hill, Chesson and Woody. Therefore, the first premium expense posting for the new plan year will not occur until October and will represent the premiums paid for the 2-month period from August 15 through October 14. The student's salary, fellowship, and traineeship sources for the calendar months of August and September will be used to prorate the first premium.
Procedure Assistance
Please contact the following individuals with questions or comments.
ISSUE CONTACT PHONE Sponsored Research Kelly Musty 962-4675 kelly_musty@unc.edu Process Emily Coble 962-1601 emily_coble@unc.edu Process Tin Lay Nwes 843-8965 nwes@email.unc.edu Policy Elmira Mangum 962-1091 elmira_mangum@unc.edu Student Health Services Mary Covington, M.D. 966-9176 mcovngtn@email.unc.edu Online Process (Technical) Rodney Bishop 445-9431 rodney_bishop@unc.edu Online Process (Technical) John Stanley 445-9642 john_stanley@unc.edu Hill, Chesson & Woody Dan Hill or Dax Hill 967-5900 email@hillchesson.com Additional Information
See also:
ACT Appendix 17, Verification of Student Eligibility Form
ACT Appendix 18, Enrollment and Change Form
PAY Procedure 13, EPA Salaries and Wages, Non-Service Post-Doctoral Awards, and Other Practices
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