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Questions are divided into 2 categories:
- General FAQs
- Cost FAQs
General FAQs
Q: How do I request services for the NGN?
A: If you want new lines (which work just like they did in the past), fill out a Customer Service Request (CSR) and pay for it. If you want your building to be upgraded prior to establishing new lines, you must first request a building upgrade prioritization.
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Q: How can I benefit the most from NGN?
A: You can learn more about the benefits of NGN by reading the NGN Overview.
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Q: How do you assure quality of service and control costs?
A: A number of committees were formed to provide oversight and monitoring to the Next Generation Network. These include a broad swath of campus organizations that include, among others:
- Oversight from the DCCG, ACTPC, and vice chancellors. (See 2007/2008 Next Generation Network Advisory Committee.)
- A policy committee to review and approve implementation policy, including rebate policy, upgrade priority planning policy, Communication User policy, and definition of high bandwidth/excessive service.
- A Communication User committee to determine what title codes should be classified as communication users. (This committee will include representatives from all vice chancellor areas.)
- An upgrade prioritization committee to develop policy regarding the order of hardware upgrades on the campus network, including developing recommendations to DCCG for technical approval and concurrence, obtaining approval from the above-mentioned policy committee, managing schedules, and communicating priority to campus constituents.
- A rebate committee to develop and administer rebates for distribution equipment.
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Q: What's the impact of the model on contracts and grants?
A: Communication User charges will follow payroll charges. This is part of the plan to bring us into compliance with federal cost accounting standards. In general, these charges may change the impact on a contract or grant in the following way:
- If a Communication User is paid fully or partially by a grant, and his or her data and phone charges were previously paid by nongrant funds, this type of charge must now be paid by the grant (proportional to the amount of salary which is paid by the grant).
- If a Communication User is paid primarily by nongrant charges, but his or her data and phone charges were previously paid by grant funds, communication charges must now be paid by the same nongrant source as salary (proportional to the amount of salary which is paid by nongrant sources).
Because of the central funding to reduce impact, during the first 5 years of the model the campus expects to see an overall slight decrease in the amount of data and voice charges which are allocated to grants as compared to what is paid currently. This will help soften the impact on grantees during the first 5 years so that full costs can be written into future grant proposals and renewals. Contact Sheryl Gerbracht in ACT at ngn@ucsd.edu for help assessing the impact on your particular grant situation.
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Q: Who was involved in developing the model and in approving it?
A: The model has been developed over 3.5 years of intensive modeling, projections, and technical and financial study. A joint project of Administrative Computing and Telecommunications (ACT) and Academic Computing Services (ACS), and originally the brainchild of then-ACS/Network Operations Manager Jim Madden and then-ACT/Telecommunications Director David Walker, the planning group has included the following members and advisers:
- Planning group
- Academic Computing (now at ACT):
- Jim Madden and Valerie Polichar
- Administrative Computing and Telecom:
- Sheryl Gerbracht, Kathy Jones (emeritus), Eddie Mardon, Don McLaughlin, Bob Clay (emeritus), and David Walker (emeritus)
- Advisors
- Steve Relyea, Vice Chancellor, Business Affairs
- Elazar Harel, Business Affairs, Director of ACT
- David Miller, Associate Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs
- Tony Wood, Academic Affairs, Director of ACS
- Gerald Lowell (emeritus), Academic Affairs, Campus Librarian
The model has also been the beneficiary of helpful advice from many campus representatives, including those on the ACTPC, representatives of all vice chancellor offices, Resource Management, Internal Audit, and many campus departments.
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Q: How will the projected campus growth affect the funding model?
A: The model has been carefully designed to grow naturally with the campus. As new employees are hired, they will be assessed Communication User fees; the increased fees should support the increased staff, equipment, and bandwidth which will be needed by these employees.
New buildings will pay for their first generation of equipment; afterwards, the model will supply any needed repair, replacement, or upgrades.
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Q: When was the NGN model implemented?
A: The funding model was implemented on July 1, 2001, and installation of equipment took place over the subsequent 5 years and is still ongoing.
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Cost FAQs
Q: Our research group is spread between different physical locations, and between different funding sources. How do I determine which monthly rate charge applies?
A: The rate charged is based on the location of the employee rather than the funding source or vice chancellor area association. The monthly fee is assessed in accordance with the payroll funding percentages for each employee. If some faculty and staff are located at a Medical Center facility, for instance, they are assessed at the $22 rate.
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Q: We have several recharges on our ledgers each month, in addition to the AT&T bills we receive, because we are off campus. Will NGN affect only the recharge portion?
A: Yes. NGN affected the recharges you previously received from UCSD Telecommunications for your telephone lines and broadband charges as well as recharges from Network Operations for Internet recharges. Since your off-campus facilities receive services from outside vendors, your NGN communication fee for staff at those locations is reduced.
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Q: We track expenditures for labor and salary separately by index from nonsalary operating expenses. Will there be a way to change the monthly billing index to the desired nonsalary index we designate?
A: Indexes will be allowed to switch from the original to the alternate index (for anyone incurring NGN changes). Send an e-mail to Cyndi Humphrey or Alison Kibble Koshi to request this redirection of NGN charges. For grant indexes, e-mail OPAFS first to get their approval and then forward that e-mail to Cyndi Humphrey or Alison Kibble Koshi requesting the redirection
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Q: Is the monthly billing proportionate to the start and end dates of the employee's appointment?
A: Since the NGN charge is based on actual measured time worked, it is inherently prorated by actual service, across title/index categories. If a monthly-based person is terminated on the fourth working day out of a typical month containing 22 working days, she would only be charged $60 x ( 4 / 22 ), or $10.91. You should also note, however, that the FTE is calculated based on the hours worked divided by the "total hours in accounting month." In the case of a monthly-based person, this is 160, 168, 176, or 184 hours, depending on the month. In the case of a biweekly-based person, this is either 160 (for 10 months of the year) or 240 (for the 2 months of the year which necessarily contain 3 biweekly periods). This is the same definition used for leave accrual determinations.
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Q: Are long-distance charges included in our rates?
A: Domestic long distance calls (any call made from your desk phone within the U.S.) is included in your NGN rates. International long distance and calling card calls, however, will continue to be recharged on a per-minute basis.
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Q: Are telephone instruments included in our rates?
A: No. The selection of telephone instruments (or, indeed, no instrument at all) provides departments a way to manage costs where, at present, voice service is not deemed necessary. Monthly charges for phone instruments are determined by the costs to the campus of the instruments themselves.
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Q: How are computer labs charged?
A: ACS undergraduate student labs, library workstations, and other public computer labs are assessed a different charge on a per-machine basis.
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Q: What about areas that don't get voice service from UCSD?
A: In areas that can't make use of University-provided voice services because of their location, we assess a reduced charge, still per-Communication User, that represents only the data portion of costs. This reduced charge will persist until or unless complete communications become providable. Some areas that are likely to be subject to this type of reduced charge include (but are not limited to) portions of the UCSD Medical Center, the VA Hospital, and University Extension's Rancho Bernardo facility.
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Q: What do you mean when you say you "bill by Communication User"?
A: Each month, a fixed charge is levied against the vice chancellor (VC) division or department for each employee of that VC area, division, or department who qualifies as a "Communication User," as determined by the title code of the employee. The recharge statement lists the names of the individuals who were in the Communication User category for that month. Toll charges, phone instrument charges, and installation charges appear on separate recharge statements.
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Q: What makes the Communication User model a fair one?
A: There are 2 reasons that we believe a Communication User model is a fair model for communications charges. One is that we believe it is a close approximation to the actual list of individuals who make use of voice and data services as part of their employment. Collection of an actual precise list, and maintenance of this list, would raise charges to an unacceptable degree. An estimate made in this manner should assess departments at roughly the same charge as an exact list, but without the overhead of individual bills.
Secondly, data communications are becoming increasingly important to all university personnel. As the gap between voice and data grows smaller, and the need for computing services in most jobs becomes unavoidable, such services move more into the realm of being a utility service (such as electricity and water). The Communication User model is a good bridging model between individual charges and overall, overhead service charges, appropriate for the period we are now in.
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Q: Did the costs of phone instruments and voice mail change?
A: Yes, the costs of phone instruments were decreased. Rates for voice mail have been reduced twice in the past 5 years.
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Questions? E-mail Cyndi Humphrey or Alison Kibble Koshi.
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