Administration & Finance

Guidance on the use of gift cards at Boston University

 IRS Treatment of Gift Cards

Gift cards are cash equivalents and, therefore, a form of payment. Per IRS Regulations, gift cards are taxable to the recipient and must be reported as income to the IRS—as outlined below.

• Employees and student workers who receive gift cards will have the value of the gift card reflected on their W-2.
• Non-employees who receive gift cards may receive a 1099-MISC form recognizing the value of the gift card as payment. This may include individuals engaging in activities such as guest lecturing, providing a keynote at a conference or event, and participating in research studies.
• Because gift cards are equivalent to cash, cash (in the form of ACH or other funds transfer) is preferred over gift cards for guest lecturers and other non-employees who provide services to the University.

Purchasing Gift Cards

1. If the source of funding for a gift card purchase is a grant, submit your request to your grant’s GFA. If the funding source is a designated account (research account, discretionary account, departmental account, et cetera), submit your request via your academic department or your center/institute leadership.
2. Gift cards must be purchased via the Blackhawk Network catalog in Guided BUying by approved individuals who have Guided BUying access. In Guided BUying, locate the Blackhawk Network and then select the “Buy from Supplier” option. Follow this guide to complete the requisition: https://www.bu.edu/sourcing/wdyn/giftcards/
3. Gift card requisitions for distribution to students or employees must include a list of recipient names and BUID numbers within the purchase requisition.
4. Requisitions for gift cards for human subject payments should include a comment in the PR to the effect of “for human subject payments”.
5. All final approvals of gift card requisitions are made at the University level.

Gifts or Awards to Recognize Employees or non-Employees

Gift cards should not be given as a gift or award to employees or non-employees. Gift Cards in any amount are subject to taxation per IRS regulations.

Gift Cards as Payments to Human Subjects

1. When using gift cards as a form of payment to human subjects, University best practices for Human Subject Payments must be followed.
2. Specifically, a log of payments must be maintained and reconciled per the steps outlined here. For confidential studies, tracking logs can be deidentified (e.g. you may assign a number to each participant and use that on the log in lieu of their name or any other identifying information).

Additional Resources

• Gift Card Policy
• Taxability of Gifts, Prizes, and Awards to Employees, Non-employees, and Students policy
• Sourcing and Procurement Gift Card Guide
• Human Subjects Payments Best Practices
• Blackhawk Marketplace Catalog Announcement

Faculty Purchase Request form

This form is for BU Wheelock faculty members within the Teaching & Learning department to request purchases of equipment, supplies, or services necessary for their teaching or administrative duties.

For assistance with booking travel, please contact your department administrative coordinator.

Purchases related to centers and institutes using non-sponsored funds should be handled by the administration of the center/institute. For research-related purchases using sponsored funds, please speak to your Shared Services team or email the BU Wheelock Research Office.

To ensure timeliness of response, we recommend the following lead times for your submission:

• Supplies and gift cards: Four weeks in advance of desired delivery date
• Travel: Three months before travel dates
• Honoraria and guest lecture payments: Two months before desired payment date

Please be as thorough as possible when submitting the requested information. By providing comprehensive information in all fields, you enable our administrative coordinators to offer you the best possible support and partnership. Please note that incomplete forms or those missing critical information may require follow-up or resubmission, which could result in delays.

• Open Access
  • Monday–Friday: 7 am–10 pm
  • Saturday: 7 am–7 pm
• Restricted Access for Students (Faculty, staff & BU Wheelock PhD students can enter the building(s) w/ swipe access):
  • Monday–Friday: 5–7 am and 10–11 pm
  • Saturday: 5–7 am and 7–9 pm
  • Sunday: 7 am–9 pm
• For BU observed holidays and Intersession, all exterior card reader door schedules will be shunted for students only. Faculty, staff & BU Wheelock PhD students can enter the building(s) with swipe access.

If you have any trouble accessing the building during restricted access, contact BU Facilities Hotline at 617-353-2105.

To maintain the updated and professional look of BU Wheelock common areas, all faculty, staff, visitors, and student organizations are asked to follow these guidelines. To discuss any specific needs, proposals for temporary displays or items, and questions about where/how to post promotional materials properly, contact the Administration & Finance team at wheops@bu.edu.

Hanging/Displaying Items

• Do not hang, tape, nail, or otherwise affix any items to the walls, doors, ceilings, or architectural surfaces in common areas without prior approval from the Operations Team. This includes pictures, artwork, signs, decorations, flyers, posters, etc.

Placing Items in Common Areas

• Do not place freestanding items like furniture, plants, equipment, boxes, etc., in hallways, lobbies, lounges, or other common areas.
• Common areas must remain clear of obstructions and clutter for safety reasons and to maintain an organized, clean appearance.
• Any unauthorized items left in common spaces will be removed and discarded.

Designated Areas for Flyers/Postings

There are designated areas for posting flyers and promotional materials for events/clubs/activities: bulletin boards in front of the auditorium and in the student lounge at 2 Silber Way.  These locations were chosen as high-traffic areas to maximize visibility for students. Unauthorized postings or those outside the designated areas will be removed and discarded.

• Do not post on walls, doors, windows, inside the elevators, or other common area surfaces
• Refrain from using tape, as it can damage surfaces and leave behind difficult-to-remove residue
• If you need pushpins to post on the boards, please stop by the  front desk in the lobby of 2 Silber Way

Furniture Arrangement

• For events where the facilities team did not move furniture based on an approved facility service request (FSR), event organizers are responsible for restoring the common area furniture to its pre-event arrangement after the event concludes.
• For events where the facilities team moved furniture based on an approved FSR, the facilities team will return the furniture to its original layout.

Keys are monitored by Finance &  Operations. If you need an extra key (replacement or spare) to your office, contact Brenda Gutierrez.

• If you have locked yourself out of your office, contact the BU Facilities Hotline at 617-353-2105.
• If someone needs to get into your office while you are out, please make arrangements directly by giving them a key yourself. Staff will let a person in your office/lab with your written authorization as a one-time occurrence, but they cannot do so repeatedly.

If you need a key for a shared space with multiple people, the Administration & Finance team will provide you with a Master Lock to house the key. Once you have programmed a code for the lockbox, please share the code with the Administration & Finance team so they can track it on their end.

When sharing the new code with your team, it’s important that everyone is following the correct procedure. Team members should not remove the circular tag from the key or change the code.

Kitchens at 2 Silber Way and 621 Commonwealth Ave. are for faculty and staff use only. Faculty and staff provide their own dishes, mugs, and silverware.

2 Silber Way

• 1st Floor, Room 104: microwave, toaster, mini fridge, and sink are available
• 2nd Floor, Room 251: microwave, toaster, fridge, coffee machine, tea, water cooler, and sink are available

621 Commonwealth Ave.

• 2nd Floor
  • Water cooler is available to the right of the elevator
  • Fridge and microwave are available by room 203
• 3rd Floor
  • Water cooler is available to the right of the elevator
• 4th Floor
  • A microwave, mini fridge, and coffee machine are available in room 417

Faculty and staff mailboxes are located on the 3.5 floor at 2 Silber Way, across from room 342.

The executive assistant to the dean manages faculty and staff mailboxes for BU Wheelock. If one has not been created for you, email the executive assistant to the dean to request one and use the subject line “Requesting Mailbox for Faculty.” Please remember to regularly check your mailbox.

To report an issue with BU Wheelock facilities, first call the BU facilities hotline at 617-353-2105. Following this, email the Administration & Finance team at wheops@bu.edu to notify them of the problem so that the team can track the requests and follow up with facilities as needed. Only contact Administration & Finance after reporting the issue to BU facilities.

BU Wheelock faculty and staff can reserve rooms at 2 Silber Way or 621 Commonwealth Ave., using Outlook. Students who need assistance can reach out to a faculty member or departmental administrative coordinator. For questions about reserving rooms for non-academic use, email roomres@bu.edu.

• Priority is given to academic courses. Space requests submitted before the start of the academic semester will be approved after class locations and times have been confirmed.
• Space is limited. We encourage that you submit room reservations requests five business days before an event.
• Hosts are responsible for restoring the furniture to its original configuration and cleaning up before the end of the reservation.

For step-by-step instructions on how to reserve BU Wheelock rooms, visit How to Reserve a BU Wheelock Room.

For details about BU Wheelock rooms available to be reserved, visit Room Descriptions.

Academic Use

If you are reserving a room for academic purposes and have questions, email BU’s Office of the Registrar at schedule@bu.edu. If the classroom is locked on Saturday morning, please call the facilities hotline at 617-353-2105.

The following items are available on a first-come, first-served basis. To reserve, email your department’s administrative coordinator or Brenda Gutierrez at bgutier@bu.edu.

• 2 folding tables
• 2 dollies
  • Convertible Hand Truck and Dolly, 700 lb
  • Lift Table Cart, 330 lbs
• Easels

For other event needs, visit Event Planning at BU Wheelock.

1. 1. To obtain business cards, email the administrative coordinator for your department.
   2. The BU preferred vendor is Artcraft, which can be found in Ariba Guided Buying. The administrative coordinator will place the order and charge to the department account.
   3. Find templates at Business Cards and Stationery

To dispose of large items (e.g., bookcase, chair, desk) or large quantities of books, email the Administration & Finance team at wheops@bu.edu to request disposal. BU Wheelock custodians do not dispose of these items.

Boston University is a located in a busy city and is open to everyone during business hours. Please lock all valuables at all times. Office/lab doors should be locked anytime the area is empty. If you should work late/weekends in an office, please lock the door and use extra precautions.

Situations that require police services include any criminal incident, suspicious activity on campus, medical emergencies, fire emergencies, and possible bomb or weapon on campus. For information, protocols for reporting and responding, and more, visit the Boston University Safety Website.

Boston University encourages the prompt and accurate reporting of all criminal incidents and safety-related emergencies on university property to the Boston University Police Department. In case of emergencies, call 617-353-2121 (or call 911 if off campus).

Contacts

• Fire Safety
• BU Environmental Health & Safety Website
• Campus Safety
• Medical Emergencies (Student Health Services)
• Bomb Threats and/or Suspicious Packages
• BU Alert (Emergency Notification Systems)
• Sexual Misconduct
• Sexual Assault Response & Prevention Center (SARP)
• Helping Someone in Distress

In the event of a campus emergency, BU Alert contacts the entire campus community immediately through a variety of electronic means, including text messaging, email, and voice mail. The system transmits information describing the situation and providing instructions on what to do.

In the event that weather or other emergency conditions warrant the all-day closing, delayed opening or early closing of the university, closing information will be provided using the BU Alert Notification system and posted on the BU Homepage. Early release decisions are usually made by 3 pm.
For snow emergencies, call 617-353-SNOW (617-353-7669) to hear a recorded message regarding the closing or delayed opening of Boston University.

617-353-2105

The BU Physical Plant has a 24-hour emergency service line to address snow, ice, flood, or electrical emergencies, In the case of flooding, electrical power disruptions, hazardous snow, or ice accumulation, call the above number.

As a BU Travel Cardholder, you are expected to complete the training and familiarize yourself with the system before submitting a travel card application. To access the training, please visit Travel Services Training and Travel Card Training.

BU offers a University Travel Card for full-time faculty and staff who anticipate travel on behalf of the university. The University Travel Card is a corporate-liability Visa card, meaning that it is directly billed to and paid for by BU.

The travel card may be used only for appropriate and allocable expenses as defined by the Travel & Business Expense Policy. Faculty and staff are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Travel Card Policy.

The travel card is integrated with Concur, BU’s online travel and expense management system. All transactions made with the BU travel card will automatically appear on the cardholder’s Concur account. Travel card holders are responsible for allocating all expenses within 30 days of travel and submitting their report to the assistant dean of administration & finance for approval. 

All travel card applicants must complete two forms: the Travel Card Application and the Travel Card Cardholder Agreement. Applicants are required to complete the mandatory training outlined by the University. Once training is completed, both forms must be submitted to the assistant dean of administration & finance for verification and signature. If you have questions regarding training or forms, contact the finance manager.

To submit a reimbursement through Concur, BU Wheelock employees must:

1. Create an expense report, which must include the following: report name, trip purpose, start and end dates of your travel, cost center, expense type (i.e., grant number, start-up/research account information, discretionary account, etc.), traveler type, and destination. The comments section should include a description explaining the travel and expenses. If there is a discrepancy between your receipt and the amount requested, this information should be noted in the comments section. 
2. Add all travel card transactions related to trip expenses to the expense report and complete the report.
3. Submit the completed report. It will be reviewed and approved by the assistant dean of administration & finance. An e-check will be delivered to the employee’s bank account once approved.

Note: If a report is submitted incorrectly or information is missing, it will be sent back to you for corrections. All discrepancies will be noted by the assistant dean of administration & finance in the comments section of the report. It is the employee’s responsibility to correct the report and resubmit it promptly.

If after completing the travel card training, you need further assistance creating an expense report, contact the administrative coordinator for your department. If you are not a faculty member and need further assistance, or if you have questions concerning which cost center to charge your expenses, contact the finance manager.

• For any problems with the card (e.g., transactions are denied), contact US Bank via the phone number on the back of the card for assistance.
•  Contact the Desktop Services Specialist for technical support for the Concur website.