Effort Commitments

The information provided below defines tracked effort commitments and outlines the process for consistently applying this designation across all active, sponsored awards at Emory University.

Defining Effort Commitments

Effort Commitment is defined as the level of effort proposed in a proposal application for external funding. Once awarded, the sponsor determines which of these proposed commitments must be maintained and tracked accordingly, and which of these commitments can be adjusted as appropriate, without sponsor prior approval.


Tracked Commitments are those that the sponsor is requiring to maintain a specific level of effort, as proposed. Any reduction beyond the terms and conditions of the award would require prior approval. In the case of NIH, this would be anyone specifically named in the Notice of Grant Award or other award document from the sponsor. They would need prior approval to reduce effort more than 24.99% from what was proposed and approved by NIH via the award.


All Other Commitments are those that were listed in the proposed budget or added after-the-fact, but that do not require sponsor approval to adjust as appropriate.


Designated Project Roles

Individuals with ‘Tracked Commitments’ will have one of the following five roles designated at award stage. Since this is unknown at Pre-Award Stage, RGC will review the award and identify the appropriate role during the award setup process and list it accordingly in the V102 record:

  1. Principal Investigator
  2. MPI – Multiple Principal Investigator
  3. Named Investigator*
  4. COPI – Co-PI
  5. CPI – Co-PI

All other roles designated will list the effort in the ‘Other Commitments’ category.
*This role will also be used for staff, should the award specifically name them and list a tracked commitment.

This update will allow for users to clearly identify tracked vs non-tracked commitments to assist PIs in decisions related to their effort and project spending. This will also enhance the accuracy of the effort certification process, as only the awards with the 5 roles designated above will have commitments pulled over into the Effort Reporting System (ERS).


OSP Responsibilities

If a revised budget is included as part of the JIT process, the OSP analyst will note this in the Award Setup record for RGC to ensure the proper effort is noted in the V102 record.


RGC Responsibilities

  1. Review all new sponsored awards received by OSP and assign appropriate roles and effort as listed for each project personnel in the V102 record.
  2. Review all continuations or modifications to sponsored agreements and update project team roles accordingly in the V102 record.
  3. Any changes needed to the original effort of the designated roles listed above must be approved through an amended agreement via OSP or an approved prior approval request from the sponsor.
  4. Review personnel on the eNOA for accuracy before disseminating on OnBase.
  5. Salesforce tickets will be reviewed, and RGC will make Compass changes, as appropriate within 10 business days (sooner, where feasible).
School/Unit Responsibilities

Pre-Award

  1. NIH Specific:
    a. Route RPPRs with the appropriate effort commitments (as proposed) for the upcoming year.
    b. Select the project role in EPEX that is appropriate per the existing award (i.e., those named in the NOA).
        i. For instances where RPPR Investigator is appropriate to streamline routing, RGC will need to update the V102 record when the new budget year amendment comes through.
    c. If prior approval to reduce effort is being requested via the RPPR, clearly state this in the comments and list the effort appropriately on the EPEX routing.
  2. Other Agencies:
    a. If we receive an award that we did not previously route a proposal for, identify the appropriate role on the EPEX routing with the award.
    b. If we are routing an amendment, review how the initial award was setup and route EPEX the same, should it be correct. If not correct, note this in the routing for OSP/RGC to review.

Post-Award

  1. Review all awards setup and within 1 week of award distribution notify RGC via salesforce if any adjustments are needed to project roles or effort commitments.
  2. In order to clean up current active awards already in progress, as awards are reconciled, submit salesforce tickets with corrections to project roles and effort commitments.
    a. NOTE: We will not be updating effort commitments in Compass listed under “Other Commitments”. These will remain as proposed.