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Effort FAQs |
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General FAQs
- Who is required to have a certified Effort Report? Why do individuals without any sponsored program activity have to certify their effort?
- What pay is included on the QSD?
- What sponsored accounts show up automatically in an individual's Effort Report?
- Why are quarters prior to the 2 nd quarter of fiscal 2004 included in the QSD or Effort Report lists?
- What is the difference between the Effort Reporting menu and the Manager menu?
- When and how is the “% of earn sal” on the QSD calculated, and what is this used for?
- What does the “As Of Date” on the QSD (or on the list of QSDs for the department) mean?
- How do I reflect cost shared activity?
- What should the Comments section of the Effort Report be used for?
- The individual indicated that he/she certified his/her report, but the certification date is not showing up on my department's list of effort reports – why?
Summer Salary and Effort Certification
- Why is there a Summer Effort Report listed for someone during a quarter other than the 4 th quarter?
- How do Summer QSDs and Effort Reports work?
“Research Staff”
- Whose Effort Reports does a faculty member certify?
Graduate Students
- How does effort certification for graduate students work?
- Why aren't all the graduate students in my department listed?
- How do I change the faculty member to whom a graduate student or post-doc reports (i.e., the individual responsible for certifying that individual's report)?
- Why aren't graduate students and post-docs earnings and “% of earn sal” ever calculated?
NMFF and Other FSM-specific Questions
- Why is the system requiring that I (or one of my faculty) have some effort on the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation Activity line?
- Where is the effort related to Northwestern Memorial Hospital activity to be included?
- How is effort related to industry-sponsored clinical trials to be reported?
Miscellaneous Notes and Hints
Frequently Asked Questions
General
- Who is required to have a certified Effort Report? Why do individuals without any sponsored program activity have to certify their effort?
All exempt employees within a department that administers a sponsored program are required to complete effort reports.
Rationale: Currently, we cannot easily centrally define all individuals with commitments to sponsored programs. If we were to limit effort certification to just those individuals whose salary is charged all or partly to sponsors, we could potentially exclude individuals who have made commitments to research sponsors and are not charging their salary to the projects (for example, many faculty only charge summer salary to grants but work on grants, and are committed to do so, during the academic year).
In the next one to two years, we hope to have an effort commitment database in place to help us identify only those individuals with sponsored program commitments, so that we can reduce the number of individuals for whom an effort report is required. In the interim, we have identified a few classifications of exempt employees who historically have had very few, if any commitments to sponsored projects (e.g., Adjunct Lecturers) and we have excluded these individuals from the effort certification requirement.
- What pay is included on the QSD?
We have attempted to identify all pay associated with effort by selecting certain object codes and pay types that, as defined by HRIS and CUFS. Incentive pay should not be/is not included. Pay that is not associated with any services being provided (e.g., housing allowances) should not be/is not included.
- Pay charged to the following object codes is included:
- 0010 (Regular Faculty Salary)
- 0020 (Summer Salary)
- 0030 (Research Professional Salary)
- 0040 (Academic Occasional Pay)
- 0050 (Academic Professional Salary)
- 0060 (Administrative {Chair, Director} Salary)
- 0062/0063 (Internal Consulting and/or Teaching Overload)
- 0076 (Research Assistant Pay)
- 0100 (Professional Exempt Salary)
- 0801 (SDA Revenue)
- What sponsored accounts show up automatically in an individual's Effort Report?
All sponsored accounts to which salary was charged as of the date the Effort Reports were generated are displayed on the Effort Report. Note that if a journal entry charging salary to a sponsored project was processed after the Effort Reports were generated, the account number will not be displayed on the Effort Report (unless that sponsored project had already been charged during the quarter).
- Why are quarters prior to the 2nd quarter of fiscal 2004 included in the QSD or Effort Report lists?
Although we initiated the electronic effort certification during the 2nd quarter of fiscal 2004, there may have been journal entries that affected prior periods that were processed during or after the 2nd quarter. Once a journal entry has been made that affects a prior quarter, a QSD is generated for that quarter. Electronic effort certification is only necessary for quarters prior to the 2nd quarter of fiscal 2004 if (a) the journal entry affected a sponsored account, and (b) the previously-submitted paper effort report (PAR) is no longer valid due to the journal entry. We will notify you if this is the case.
- What is the difference between the Effort Reporting menu and the Manager menu?
The Effort Reporting menu is for completing only your own QSD and Effort Report (if one was required). Departmental effort coordinators should use the Manager menu for reviewing the status of their department's effort reports, for reviewing QSDs, and for completing Effort Reports other than their own (if this is being done).
- When and how is the “% of earn sal” on the QSD calculated, and what is this used for?
If an individual has only one contract period associated with his/her job(s), and that contract period is either 9 or 12, then the system is able to calculate the quarterly earnings for that individual. If salary was charged to a sponsored account, then the percentage of earned salary (% of earn sal) associated with that sponsored account is shown. This can be used as a starting point for determining effort on that sponsored account. Note that if an NIH-sponsored grant is charged and the individual earns more than the current NIH salary cap, the effort indicated on that grant should be greater than the “% of earn sal” in order to justify the charge.
- What does the “As Of Date” on the QSD (or on the list of QSDs for the department) mean?
This date reflects the most recent charge or journal entry that affected the particular quarter. If no journal entries have been made subsequent to a quarter affecting that quarter, the As Of Date will be the date all Effort Reports were originally generated for that quarter (e.g., for 2 nd quarter 2004: 5/11/2004). If a journal entry was made subsequent to the quarter affecting that quarter, the As Of Date will be the date the journal entry was processed.
- How do I reflect cost shared activity?
Cost sharing activity on a project should be identified to the sponsored account for the project. The “Spon Activity – Cost Sharing” account line should only be used for established companion cost sharing accounts (i.e., CUFS account specifically established to track cost sharing on an individual account; the fund starts with “C”).
If no salary was charged to the sponsored account during the quarter but effort was expended, the account will need to be added to the Effort Report. There may be some instances (especially in FSM departments/divisions) where the department/division cost sharing account is listed on the QSD. This is an indicator that the effort percentage on the Effort Report for one or more sponsored accounts should be greater than the percentage of salary charged to the account. Another indicator is the “NIH Salary Cap message” that is automatically generated on the QSD if the individual's salary is over the current NIH cap and an NIH-sponsored account was charged (note that this message is automatically generated only if the earnings for the period can be calculated).
- What should the Comments section of the Effort Report be used for?
As the comments that remain when the Effort Report is certified will become a part of the permanent Effort Report, and can be reviewed by auditors, this section should only be used to clarify or provide additional relevant detail related to the Effort Report. For example, some individuals receive salary support from NIH K, or other salary awards which allow for effort on other projects to count towards the commitment on the K/salary award. In these instances, the Effort Report can show the effort allocated to the K/salary award and the comments can indicate the specific sponsored projects on which the individual worked.
- The individual indicated that he/she certified his/her report, but the certification date is not showing up on my department's list of effort reports – why?
Check to make sure that the individual not only certified, but then also saved, his/her report.
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Summer Salary and Effort Certification
- Why is there a Summer Effort Report listed for someone during a quarter other than the 4 th quarter?
Summer salary QSDs and Effort Reports are generated when pay is charged to object 0020. Object code 0020 is intended to only capture summer (or research quarter) salary. If this object code was used for something other than summer/research quarter salary, please notify one of the contacts below so that we can appropriately eliminate the requirement for a separate certification.
- How do Summer QSDs and Effort Reports work?
Again, summer QSDs only reflect pay charged to object 0020. Most commonly, a summer QSD will be generated during the 4 th quarter. The summer Effort Report should only reflect activity related to the summer salary received. We will plan to issue additional guidance on summer effort certification and conduct specific training once the 4 th quarter Effort Reports have been generated.
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“Research Staff”
- Whose Effort Reports does a faculty member certify?
Faculty/PIs are responsible for signing their own Effort Reports, and those of the graduate students and post-docs that have been assigned to them (i.e., those working on the faculty member's grant(s)). All other individuals are responsible for certifying their own Effort Reports.
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Graduate Students
- How does effort certification for graduate students work?
Graduate students' Effort Reports are intended to only capture their effort related to sponsored research (not sponsored training) activity. The sponsored research activity that they perform becomes the basis for their 100% effort. Effort/time spent on classroom activities (i.e., studying, time spent in class, and Teaching Assistant activities) is not included. Training grant activities are also not included.
- Why aren't all the graduate students in my department listed?
If a graduate student did not receive pay from a sponsored program, no QSD or Effort Report should have been generated for him/her. If a graduate student did receive sponsored pay and no QSD or Effort Report is listed, please contact one of the individuals listed at the end of this guidance. Most commonly, this may occur if a journal entry was made after the quarter ended charging part of a graduate student's pay to a sponsored program.
- How do I change the faculty member to whom a graduate student or post-doc reports (i.e., the individual responsible for certifying that individual's report)?
You will soon have the ability to change this reporting responsibility by using the Effort Reports To Assignment function on the main Manager/Effort Reporting menu. Until then, please contact one of the names listed at the end of this document.
- Why aren't graduate students and post-docs earnings and “% of earn sal” ever calculated?
As described in the response to question #6, this field is calculated based on the individual's contract period(s). Due to the wide variety of contract periods that exist for graduate students, the system is unable to adequately calculate this field.
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NMFF and Other FSM-specific Questions
- Why is the system requiring that I (or one of my faculty) have some effort on the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation Activity line?
Although there are not currently many business rules built into this interim system, the designers thought it would be helpful to remind faculty with NMFF appointments that they should include their effort related to NMFF activity. If an individual has a NMFF appointment listed on the Current Jobs section of their QSD, some effort (>0%) must be reported on the Total Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation Activity line.
- Where is the effort related to Northwestern Memorial Hospital activity to be included?
For most departments within the Feinberg School of Medicine (FSM), activity related to NMH activities should be reported on the Total Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation Activity line. The exception would be those departments who receive reimbursement from NMH directly (as opposed to through NMFF). In these departments, NMH activity is reported on the NW-funded/NMFF Consulting line.
- How is effort related to industry-sponsored clinical trials to be reported?
If effort can be associated with an individual industry-sponsored clinical trial, and/or if salary was charged to a clinical trial account, the specific associated CUFS account should be identified on the “Ind Clin Trial-single account” line, along with the associated effort percentage. If effort was expended on multiple industry-sponsored clinical trials and the individual account numbers are not readily available, then the total effort expended on these trials can be indicated on the “Ind Clin Trial-multiple accounts” line.
Miscellaneous Notes/Hints
- If unsure about what department, fiscal quarter, or individual to access, hit “Search”, leaving all fields blank.
- Using Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator as your web browser appears to result in fewer system-related errors and a faster processing time due to the programming of this system (as is the case with all HRIS applications).
- CUFS account numbers need to be entered as follows:
FUND (space) AREA (space) ORG
- Sponsored activity categories are automatically determined based on the function assigned to the CUFS account. If you believe a category to be in error, please notify one of the following contacts.
Kathleen Doherty, Chicago Effort Coordinator: 312 503-0857
Tina Mete, Evanston Effort Coordinator: 847 491-6755
Jennifer Hubert, Effort Project Manager: 847 467-2473
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