Operations
Manual
Welcome to the ASC one-stop resource for everything you need to work smarter! Access templates, forms, policies, procedures, and step-by-step processes to make your day flow efficiently. Explore, search, and get what you need in just a few clicks! Problems, questions, or suggestions? Just shoot Kendra a message to get it straightened out.
Our Mission
Providing outstanding support and infrastructure for community-based learning rooted in Puna
Our Values
Access to Education
Diversity & Cultural Infusion
Stewardship of the Natural & Constructed Environment
Community Partnerships & Economic Impact
Administration
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Company Info
Employer Identification Number: 51-0447374
Contact Information
Phone: 808-965-3730 ext 102
Fax: 808-965-3733
Mailing address: PO Box 2091, Pahoa, HI, 96778
Physical address and alternate mailing address: 15-1397 Post Office Rd, Pahoa HI 96778 (formerly or sometimes known as Homestead Road)
Tax Map Key Numbers:
3-1-5-006-012-0000 (3.714 acres) is where the ASC office is
3-1-5-006-026-0000 (6.645 acres) has macadamia nut orchard and middle school campus
3-1-5-006-012 (13.926 acres) is currently undeveloped
Unique Entity ID: R885S883GH34
Development
Receiving Donations
When a donation of any type is made, record the donation in the Donation Intake Form. This stores the donation in a spreadsheet, but also generates a Mahalo Letter serving as a donation receipt if the Donor would like one. To retrieve the letter, check the Donation Receipt Letters folder in the Development drive under Donation Tracking. These are automatically created upon submission of the Donation Intake Form in pdf format. Confirm there are no errors before printing for Gail to sign.
In-Kind Donations
When someone reaches out wanting to make an in-kind donation, follow these steps:
Add the contact to Mailchimp/CRM
Connect with the donor to discuss the donation, get more information about it, and bring it to the Executive Committee to review
If ASC does not want the donation, consider asking HAAS if they want it
If ASC accepts the donation, Engagement follows up with the donor and proceeds to the Receiving Donations process above
Engagement
Letterhead template
Hubspot CRM
Video introducing Hubspot Contacts
Importing lists of contacts into Hubspot
Begin by preparing your data in the Hubspot Import Template spreadsheet and review these tips:
If your data has put First and Last Names together in the same cells, separate them easily by highlighting the cells, and going to Data > Split Text to Columns > Choose “Space” as the Separator
Not every field must be filled, except for the Email field. Hubspot requires every Contact have an email address.
Phone numbers must be formatted as +18081234567 but in a Spreadsheet, starting with a plus sign (+) will trigger a formula. Insert an apostrophe first to turn this trigger off. So phone numbers will look like ‘+18081234567
Contact Type, Program, and Origin must match predetermined options configured in Hubspot. You can do this before or during the import.
When your spreadsheet looks good, download it as a CSV file. Now you’re ready to import! Time to navigate to Hubspot.
On the Hubspot Contacts page, click on the Import button in the upper right corner.
Choose the “Import a file” option then “Start import” then “Contacts”
Click the orange “Next” button on the bottom right
Upload the file and select “Create and Update Contacts” from the dropdown menu
Click the “Next” button on the bottom again
There are some additional steps here to finalize it and troubleshoot as needed but I can’t capture it in real time since I’m not actually importing anything! Ask Kendra for help!
When you’ve successfully imported your data, remember to go clear off the Hubspot Import Template spreadsheet so it’s ready for the next person.
Finance
Funds Requests
Anyone is welcome to request funds from the Arts & Sciences Center for a purchase related to its operations, programs, or mission. This includes employees, contractors, HAAS staff, volunteers, participants, partners, and more.
If the purchase is related to an existing bill or invoice for a contractor we’ve already engaged with, proceed to Invoices below.
If the purchase has already been made and you are seeking reimbursement, proceed to Reimbursements below.
To request a purchase be made or for all other funds requests, follow these steps:
Complete this form (this link can be shared publicly); be sure to include documentation in the form of a quote or invoice
Operations is notified of new requests and shares them with relevant ASC staff for review, follow-up, and approval
When a request is approved, ASC notifies the requester and processes the card payment or cuts a check
Invoices
Here is a template in Google document format or here is a fillable pdf to create an invoice or help a contractor create an invoice.
Paying Invoices: Here is the process to get an invoice paid:
A Contractor working with ASC should have a designated primary point of contact within Staff that is overseeing their engagement and work.
When the Contractor provides an Invoice, it should go to their point of contact.
The ASC staff member who receives the Invoice is to review it for accuracy in accordance with the Contractor’s agreement and services or product provided. If the invoice is approved, the staff member sends it to Finance for processing.
Finance reviews the invoice for errors or questions and confirms a W9 is on file for the Contractor. If a W9 is needed, a fillable PDF is available at this link and the point of contact will be asked to get a completed form before payment is proceesed.
Note for Finance: Invoices are uploaded into the Administration drive and named corresponding to the invoice date. If the invoice is for services provided within the previous month but dated the following month, the file is named to reflect the last day of the month of services provided.
Finance shall communicate with the staff member if there is any further discussion needed regarding the expense.
Finance enters the invoice into the corresponding spreadsheet and sends it to Bookkeeping for a check to be printed and distributed.
Reimbursements
Anyone who incurs personal expenses related to ASC operations is eligible for reimbursement.
ASC employees may request reimbursement by completing the Employee Reimbursement form. Payment will be issued on their next Altres paycheck via this process:
Upon form submission, Operations is notified of the request and moves the provided receipt into the Human Resources drive, and updates the status of the form entry line in the corresponding spreadsheet as “Ready for Review.”
If no receipt is provided or if more information is needed, the status is updated to “Receipt Needed” or “Follow-Up Needed”, respectively, with notes captured as needed.
When the request is Ready for Review, Operations seeks approval from either Gail or Development and updates the status to “Approved”. A Fund Class is also selected at this point, and any notes or memos regarding the request or its status are captured.
Operations adds the reimbursement to the employee’s upcoming paycheck within the Altres admin portal and adds the date entered to the corresponding line in the spreadsheet.
Where reimbursement is added in Altres: Payroll > Timesheet Approval > Employee > Other Pay, with Qty = 1 and Rate = the amount of the reimbursement, as well as an added note with a description of the reimbursement. Save before closing out.
After the corresponding payday, Operations adds the check number and check date to the spreadsheet.
The paystub showing the reimbursement is filed in the Human Resources drive along with the receipt for ASC records, and the final data is entered into the spreadsheet as a last step in this process.
Note: To view Reimbursement data in a report from Altres, refer to the actual mailed invoice or the Department Allocation Cost Report for the best views of Reimbursement data. This will NOT show up properly in the Invoice Detail Batch report.
Contractors, volunteers, participants, and others may also request reimbursement for ASC expenses they incur via this similar but different process.
Here is an email template to explain this process to non-ASC staff. Find a tutorial on saving email templates in Gmail under Administration.
”I understand you are seeking a reimbursement from the Arts & Sciences Center. In order to effectively help you complete a reimbursement request, please provide the following information:
Full name of who the payment is payable to
Description of the purchase
Dollar amount of the purchase
Mailing address of who the payment is for
Finally, a hard-copy receipt must be provided to complete the request.
Let me know if you have any questions,”
With the above information provided, the employee either uses the receipt scanner in the office or their phone’s camera to produce a legible picture of the receipt(s). If using the scanner for multiple receipts, they can all go onto one PDF file. The hard copy receipt(s) is/are placed into the small purple accordion file in the shared desk space.
The employee then completes the Non-Employee Reimbursement form with information provided by the requester and the picture(s) of the receipt(s).
Upon form submission, Finance is notified of the request and moves the receipt picture(s) into a folder in the Administration drive, and updates the status of the form entry line in the corresponding spreadsheet as “Ready for Review.”
If no receipt is provided or if more information is needed, the status is updated to “Receipt Needed” or “Follow-Up Needed”, respectively. Finance communicates with the employee who filed the request to troubleshoot the request as needed.
Gail, Operations, or Development may approve the request and update the status to “Approved”. A Fund Class is also selected at this point, as well as any relevant memo regarding the request.
Bookkeeping cuts a check and inputs the check number and check date as the final data in the spreadsheet.
When the checks are signed, they also go into the purple accordion file.
Programs organizes the checks along with their respective receipts, marks them as “PAID", and distributes them back to the requesters.
Human Resources
Gifts
An Honorarium is a one-time cash or non-cash payment to an employee or non-employee for services which they usually do not bill or are not paid for.
A Stipend is a fixed amount that can be paid over a long period of time, to an employee, alongside their regular payroll. A Stipends is an allowance (fixed amount) to help with a specific type of expense like a cell phone bill, fuel, meal reimbursement, etc. They are either Non-taxable or Taxable. Employers can offer up to $5,250.00 per year per employee as a tax-free benefit. (My previous employer used this a lot in lieu of providing health insurance!)
Time Off Request
At this time, ASC does not offer paid time off. Requesting unpaid time off is done in the Altres HR Symphony platform by following these steps:
Log in to your Altres HR Symphony account, and select My Time Off Requests from the Payroll menu (click here for photo)
Here you can view other standing time off requests, or click the blue button to create a new one.
You’ll be taken to a form that looks like this. Select Unpaid Leave as the Time Off Type.
Fill out the form with other information as it is instructed. When you are complete, click Submit for Approval at the bottom.
You will be notified when your request is approved, or your Supervisor will follow up with you directly about any issues that arise.
Hiring
The Hiring process below references an Applicant Tracking Spreadsheet, stored within the Human Resources shared drive. This drive and the files within it are restricted for confidentiality. This process also utilizes the Administrator portal of Altres, which also has restricted access. Within the Altres Admin portal is an Applicant Tracking System where open positions can be advertised and Applicants can be tracked, graded, and communicated with. This streamlines the process of onboarding and converting an Applicant into a New Hire.
This process utilizes several templates, linked here for your convenience:
Job Ad (WIP)
These are also available in the Operations drive, within the Human Resources folder. Now, let’s check out the Hiring process!
Preparations: Confirm the Position Description is accurate and convert it into a Job Ad. Additionally, confirm who will sit on the Hiring Committee and have them prepare questions for the Interview Worksheet.
Post the Job Ad: Confirm the position is in Altres and post the job ad.
Receive Resumes: When a new applicant submits their resume, upload it to the Human Resources drive and enter them into the Applicant Tracking Spreadsheet.
Informal Background Check: Perform a Google search as a preliminary and informal background check to glean more information on the Applicant.
Resume Grading: Resumes are graded on demonstrated experience, skills, employment duration, education, and overall formatting. Refer to the Instructions tab of the Applicant Grading Spreadsheet for further details. To proceed, invite the Applicant to book a screening phone call via email template in Altres.
Phone Screening: The Applicant books a 15-minute phone call which is graded on their motivation (why are they looking for a new position), familiarity with ASC, perception of the position and their ability to successfully fill it, cultural fit, and logistical fit. Refer to the Instructions tab of the Applicant Grading Spreadsheet for further details. To proceed, ask the Applicant to provide 3 professional references via email.
Reference Checks: Reference checks can be completed via email or phone, and are graded on how relevant their relationship to the Applicant is, their perception of the Applicant’s performance, any constructive criticism they’re able to offer, and their descriptions of the Applicant’s best-suited role and workplace.
Initial Determination: At this point, HR grades the Applicant as a whole per the rubric on the Instructions tab of the Applicant Grading Spreadsheet. HR decides whether to move the Applicant forward or bench them in favor of other more qualified applicants. If they are to proceed, the Hiring Committee is notified of the Applicant and reviews their information. They advise HR on whether the Applicant is to be benched, rejected, or progressed; in which case they are now considered a Candidate and are invited to come in to the office for an interview.
Interview: For the interview, print one copy of the candidates resume (and cover letter, if supplied), two copies of the position description, and enough copies of the Interview Worksheet so each Committee member has one. The Candidate receives a copy of the Position Description, and the Committee is provided with a copy of both the resume and the Position Description for reference. The Committee utilizes the Interview Worksheet during the interview, and immediately following it, discuss respective scores and determine a final score. A decision is made on how to proceed with the Candidate. If employment is to be offered, a start date and pay rate are chosen. This information is provided to HR to update the Applicant Grading Spreadsheet and compose an offer letter.
Onboarding
When a Candidate accepts an offer of employment, onboarding can begin. Since ASC employees are technically employees of Altres, the main onboarding actions take place within the Altres Administrator portal.
For the first time, HR communicates with the New Hire outside of Altres to welcome them to ASC. In this email, the New Hire is instructed to provide their social security number (for Altres onboarding) and is given a link to this Operations Manual to orient them to their onboarding tasks, including the HAAS Volunteer Clearance process, outlined below.
HR creates a folder within the Human Resources drive for the New Hire that contains their resume, interview worksheet, offer letter, and any other documentation they’ve provided.
Confirm the position is live in Altres.
Add the New Hire to the Staff Contact sheet and the Timesheet Due reminder event on Google Calendar, set to recur every other Monday.
HAAS Volunteer Clearance
Since ASC employees work in a space shared with DOE students at HAAS, this process is required per HAAS HR. Until this process is completed, the New Hire will need to check in at the HAAS front office each time they come to campus. The following files can also be found in the Operations drive under Human Resources > HAAS Volunteer Forms.
New Hires must complete the forms above, in addition to providing the following:
A photo or copy of a valid government ID with a photo
A recent photo clearly showing their face
A TB Clearance Certificate from the Public Health Nurse’s Office (808-974-6025 or click here for more info)
A FERPA 101 Certificate from this website
Click on “Click here to access this course”
You will be prompted to create an account
Select “FERPA 101: Local Education Agencies” from the list of available videos; watch the video.
Complete the subsequent quiz
Print or save a PDF of the Certificate of Completion
Notice of their scheduled fingerprinting appointment, available via this website
The New Hire will need to sign up as a new user by using the code FPHIAASPubChSchoolVol and selecting HIPCS as the department
When the fingerprinting background check is cleared, HAAS HR will be notified and the New Hire no longer needs to check in with the front office upon their arrival to campus.
Outreach
Email Signature
This process can only be completed once you have provided a headshot to Jill; she will give you a URL to use to create your signature.
Website Requests
Programs
New Programs
Programs at ASC are varied both in their own style as well as ASC’s degree of involvement. Program requests come to ASC through the Engagement department. The first step in vetting in a new program is having the person or organization proposing the program complete this form which is submitted to the Engagement email address (info@hiasc.org). The data provided on the form will provide Engagement with the information needed to determine the following:
What type of program is this? Refer to the Program Definer infographic for help
How involved is ASC in this program? Refer to the Partnership Definer flowchart here
With a clear idea of what program is being proposed, and what is being asked of ASC, Engagement then brings the proposal to the Executive Committee for discussion and to determine next steps.