The Budget Office is responsible for maintaining the budget on positions and the tracking of positions within the University. Positions may be permanent or temporary, full-time or part-time, filled or vacant. When an employee leaves one job for another at Eastern, his/her position number changes.

The Personnel Authorization Request (PAR) initiates all transactions related to positions. A PAR is required to establish a new position, delete a position or modify an existing position (for ASP, Faculty or Administrative Personnel), (Civil Service Position). Examples of modifying a position include changing the source of funding, changing the percentage split for an employee’s position allocated from more than one organization, or adding money to a position as a result of a desk audit, temporary upgrade, or stipend. A PAR is also required to establish a temporary help position.

The PAR must be approved by the fiscal agent who is in charge of funding the position. In addition, vice presidential approval is required to change a position’s title, source of funding (appropriated, revenue bond), work department or budget department, or to upgrade a position as a result of a desk audit. Presidential approval is required to establish a new position, change its category (e.g., civil service to administration) or to provide a salary/equity/market increase outside of the regular annual salary increase process.

Position control data is maintained in the Human Resource module of Banner. Personal services dollars are budgeted in the pooled accounts 61000 (Salary and Wages) and 61310 (Student Regular Salary).

Positions are further classified as “individual” or “group.” Only one employee’s salary can be budgeted in an individual position while one or more employees’ salaries can be budgeted to a group position. Examples of group positions include graduate assistantships and student help.

Several tools are available for financial managers to monitor budgeted accounts and positions each month. The Year-To-Date Financial Transactions (with FOS-Fund Organization Security) and Banner Self-Serv reports provide information on the budgets, expenditures, commitments and fund balances on personal services (61XXX) and direct expenditures (71XXX) accounts of an organization for the fiscal year. The OrBIT and OrBIT Lite reports also provide financial managers information on the personal services of their organizations for the fiscal year and a specific payroll (monthly or bi-weekly), respectively.

Please contact the Budget Office at 581-3428 or email wvweber@eiu.edu with questions concerning budgets, expenditures and commitments on personal services.