The Controller’s Office is publishing new comprehensive guidance to assist departments in the processing of certain payments to students. A Student Payment Guidelines document is now available which will help ensure the University maintains compliance with federal laws surrounding financial aid eligibility and taxation. As a result, several different processes used to pay students today are being consolidated into one single point of entry—the new Departmental Student Payments form.

What is changing?

Payments that are made to students that are not compensation for hours worked, payments for student research participants, or scholarships processed through the FS4U system, will now be submitted via the Departmental Student Payment form. This form, and accompanying Excel addendum for larger populations, will allow departments to specify to whom a payment is being made and how the payment should be recorded in the ledger. The form also contains an internal routing workflow for payments that require authorization from the FSU Foundation, Sponsored Research Accounting, or the Research Foundation.

This form will replace many of the payments that are currently submitted to Accounts Payable via an ePRF, to Student Business Services via a Departmental Billing (Student Fee Payment Authorization) form, or to Payroll Services via an NRA Payment Request form. Departments who submit the ePRF, Departmental Billing, or NRA Payment Request form for Spring 2021 payment will be asked to submit the Departmental Student Payment form instead.

Expenditure Guidelines on the Controller’s Office website have been updated to reflect these changes.

What is not changing?

The following payment processes will not be affected by this change:

When are these changes effective?

Any payment made toward the Spring 2021 semester after 9/18/2020, will be affected by these changes.

What happens once a Departmental Student Payment form is submitted?

Once submitted, the Departmental Student Payment form will be reviewed by university experts in taxation, compensation, and student financial aid to determine the appropriate method of payment. This committee may reach out to departments for clarification on the payment’s purpose before a decision is made.

Where can I find more information?

In addition to the Student Payment Guidelines themselves, the new Student Payments website contains Frequently Asked Questions, a decision tree, detailed information on stipends, and a flyer to assist in informing students impacted by these changes.

Who can I contact if I have questions?

Please direct questions to CTL-StudentPayment@fsu.edu