University of California Davis Self-Supporting Recharge Operations - Authorization and Governance

All self-supporting recharge activities require some level of formal approval to be created and/or renewed.  At a minimum, rates must be reviewed annually and approved by your Dean (D)/Vice Provost (VP)/Vice Chancellor (VC) office to adjust for increased salary and benefits expenses.  Additional levels of review are outlined below under Authorization.  Recharge activities must follow the policies and procedures as provided in the Policy and Procedure Manual 340: Rates, Recharges, and Sales Activities as well as guidelines published throughout the Self-Support Recharge Operations webpages.

 Contents

• Authorization
• Recharge Rate Team
• Recharge Rate Committee
• Committee Charge
• Committee Schedule
• Committee Representatives

Authorization

The Recharge Activity Table (PDF) below illustrates which office has final approval authority for establishing new recharge operations or modifying existing activity.  Reviews completed by Costing Policy and Analysis (CP&A) or Budget and Institutional Analysis (BIA) will ultimately seek final approval from the Associate Vice Chancellor – BIA. 

The Recharge Rate Committee will advise BIA and CP&A on mandated or widely consumed rates with annual recharge activity >$250,000 every 3-5 years with ultimate approval from the Associate Vice Chancellor – BIA.    

All Recharge Operations are subject to annual compliance reporting based upon Statement of Operations Self-Supporting Compliance Report (FIS193) generated information or similar metrics as allowed by CP&A and BIA.  The annual compliance reporting process is now incorporated into the Guidelines for Deficit Management and Monitoring in Campus Units, however recharge operation rate reviews may be called at any time by BIA or CP&A.  The Dean, Vice Provost or Vice Chancellor (D/VP/VC) also have authority to request a review.  For more information on compliance please click here.

Footnotes:

1. Mandated Activities – services that campus customers, including Auxiliaries, are obligated to utilize (e.g., Custodial, Utilities, Design & Construction Management)
2. Widely Consumed Activities – typically these are services utilized by a majority of campus units.  (e.g., Scientific Stores, Reprographics, Application Development)
3. Budget Planning Guidelines – assumptions and parameters for budget planning as defined on the Finance & Business Website Budget Process page: https://financeandbusiness.ucdavis.edu/bia/budget/process
4. External Only (mostly external) Approvals - Approval level resides with Dean/VC even if there are small amounts of internal recharges as long as extramural does not exceed $50k annually or total internal recharges exceeding $250k.  These rate based activities must still follow standard recharge policies and calculation methodologies, ensuring full cost recovery including charging Non-University Differential.

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Recharge Rate Team 

The recharge rate team is comprised of BIA, General Accounting and Costing Policy and Analysis team members who conduct the reviews and respond to all inquiries that are sent to recharge@ucdavis.edu.  

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Recharge Rate Committee

The Recharge Rate Committee consists of a representative from each D/VC/VP office.  This committee routinely reviews activities that represent a higher level of risk to the campus and advises BIA on the extent to which the activities comply with relevant policies and procedures. 

The group serves in an advisory capacity to individual Vice Chancellors on establishment of charges for services rendered by campus departments. All rates, fines and fees, and establishment of service activity proposals will be referred to this body for recommendation.

1. Rate Reviews should focus on the proper establishment of rates and review of cost components as they relate to competitive pricing, working capital requirements, and demand based fluctuations ensuring a break-even operation while conforming to campus policy (PPM 340-25) and federal costing principles (CFR Title 2, Subtitle A, Chapter II, Part 200, Subpart E) as appropriate.
2. The group will act on fines and fees by judging the basic rationale and reasonableness of assessments to ensure conformance with policy.
3. Proposals for origination of service activities on campus will be appraised for their ability to:
   • Meet an identifiable need that cannot be effectively met by non-University sources;
   • Fulfill educational, research, public service or patient care functions; and
   • Achieve cost effective savings through use of the service.

After reviewing proposals and additional analyses by the budget staff, the group will transmit its recommendation to the appropriate Vice Chancellor for action.

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Justification/Committee Charge

Rates, and to a lesser extent fines and fees, have important budgetary and operational implications both in financing the activities which charge for such services and to their customers who have a need for services. Proper establishment of rates has become especially important in the management of Federal Contracts and Grants. Systemwide Direct costing Policy (Business and Finance Bulletin A-47) defines the role of service activities and speaks to the legitimacy of direct costing practices for these services as governed by sound budgetary and accounting principles. The campus is charged with establishment of service activities and subsequent review of operations for conformance with policy as outlined in Policy and Procedure Manual Section 340-25. The charge entails approval of rate and price schedules as they are developed as well as an annual cost review incumbent to the budget process. Such reviews include consideration of:

1. competitive pricing;
2. expansion or contraction of the service unit;
3. working capital requirements; and
4. use of outside vendors.

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Recharge Committee Schedule

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List of Representatives

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