Effort Certification Process

Effort certification is a collaborative process and requires the support of central research administration, schools/units, RGC, department administrators, chairs, and faculty. The timeline, communication, and responsibilities outlined below provide a framework for meeting effort requirements.

Timeline

Effort forms are certified twice a year for the periods of September-February and March-August. The following timeline lays out the steps and deadlines needed to achieve compliance.

  • Monthly
    • Pending effort report goes out to school/unit directors & CBOs
  • One month prior to new reporting period
    • Email sent to school/unit directors with a list of all pre-reviewers and department coordinators (DCs) informing them to make any necessary updates prior to creation of next set of forms
  • One week prior to new reporting period
    • Email sent to school/unit directors reminding them of deadlines for pre-review and certification along with links to the effort process website
  • Week 1
    • Initiation process
      • Occurs after payroll has processed for the month prior to the new reporting period
      • New set of effort forms are created
    • Emails sent out informing pre-reviewers that effort forms are available to review
    • A pending effort report, including all newly created forms, is sent to school/unit directors for distribution to their units. This list should be reviewed for any needed reassignments. Department coordinators reassign forms where available and notify Cost Studies of those they cannot reassign.
    • Email from RPA to school/unit directors to request that terminated employees that are pre-reviewers and sub department coordinators (subDCs) be reassigned
    • Email from RPA about reassignment of pre-reviewers to directors, DCs, and subDCs responsible for sponsored awards
    • Email from RPA to HR for schools/units about pre-reviewers who work on other departments (informational purposes only)
  • Week 4
    • The pending effort report goes out to school/unit directors along with a reminder that pre-review should be completed within 45 days
  • Day 45
    • Email sent to pre-reviewers informing them of the deadline and reminding them that all forms should now be pre-reviewed
    • Communication (along with pending effort and status reports) sent to CBOs and school/unit directors informing them of effort forms pending pre-review and pending certification
  • Day 60
    • Email sent out to all certifiers notifying them of the 90-day deadline
  • Day 80
    • The pending effort report is sent to CBOs and school/unit directors with a reminder of the 90-day deadline
  • Day 90
    • Effort certification deadline
  • Day 91
    • Email sent to certifiers advising them that all remaining forms are delinquent and out of compliance
    • The pending effort report is sent to Dr. Nobles, CBOs, & school/unit directors

Roles & Responsibilities

Cost Studies Team

The Cost Studies team manages the overall effort certification process.

  • Maintenance of effort system (ERS)
  • Creation of effort forms every six months
  • Assignment of department coordinators & and sub department coordinators
  • Reassignment of effort forms when not possible within units
  • Distribution of pending effort and delinquent reports
School/Unit Directors

School/unit directors are responsible for ensuring forms within their areas are reviewed and available for faculty/staff to certify by the deadline. These responsibilities may be designated to others in the school/unit.

  • Reviewing department coordinators and sub-department coordinators for departments that fall within their area and updating these when changes are needed
  • Reviewing and updating pre-reviewers assigned to departments in their areas
  • Running reports in ERS to determine the completion status of forms
School/Unit Staff

Post-award staff in the school/unit are assigned to pre-review forms within that unit. Those assigned as pre-reviewers are responsible for the following:

  • Reviewing of assigned forms within 45 days of the end of the effort period
  • Processing of any RSTs before review of effort form
  • Reviewing of effort form for any salary cap requirements
  • Recording of any cost-sharing required on the effort form
  • Identifying awards where the need for a PAN is anticipated and requested
RGC
  • Working with school/unit & OSP to ensure new awards are set up promptly so costs may be charged correctly and not delay RSTs and thus the effort certification process
  • Prompting set up of PANs when needed
  • Approving late RSTs adjusting effort amounts
Faculty/Staff

Employees paid for sponsored projects must certify the time on those projects. The Principal Investigator (PI) is responsible for ensuring all costs on their awards are appropriate and may be assigned effort forms for others working on their award.

  • Certifying forms to which they have been assigned
  • If an effort form reflects incorrect percentages, there are questions related to the form, or the employee feels that they are not the correct person to certify the form, the form should be sent back to the pre-reviewer with comments
  • If there are questions related to non-sponsored projects, employees should contact department administrators
CBOs
  • Working with department chairs and faculty to ensure that forms are certified by the deadline
Department Administrators (as applicable)
  • Working with school/unit staff to ensure charges are correct on non-sponsored funds
  • Ensuring cost-share amounts are correct
  • Working with department chairs and faculty to ensure that forms are certified by the deadline
  • May vary slightly by school