University of MassachusettsECRT

Effort Coordinator TrainingFebruary 2009

Table of ContentsTable of Contents

ECRT Basic Information-------------------------------ECRT Basic Information------------------------------- 33Department Dashboard--------------------------------Department Dashboard-------------------------------- 1111Effort Certification Certifiers Perspective-------Effort Certification Certifiers Perspective------- 2020Additional tools for the Certifier-------------------- 27Additional tools for the Certifier-------------------- 27Manage Effort Tasks------------------------------------Manage Effort Tasks------------------------------------ 3737Assign Proxy Functionality---------------------------Assign Proxy Functionality--------------------------- 4848On Hold Functionality----------------------------------On Hold Functionality---------------------------------- 5353Adding a Commitment---------------------------------Adding a Commitment--------------------------------- 5858Adding Cost Sharing------------------------------------Adding Cost Sharing------------------------------------6161Effort Recertification & Viewing Historical Effort Recertification & Viewing Historical Effort Statements----------------------------------------Effort Statements---------------------------------------- 6464ECRT Reports---------------------------------------------ECRT Reports--------------------------------------------- 6868ECRT Project Information-----------------------------ECRT Project Information----------------------------- 8181Glossary/Definitions------------------------------------Glossary/Definitions------------------------------------ 8484

ECRT Basic InformationECRT Basic Information

4

Data loadingEffort Coordinator

Set up effort cards

Self Certifier

Certify effort

Primary Effort Coordinator

Process Effort Card

Certification Complete

All Okay

Probl

em

Send Back to correct

certification

Notes

ECRT Basic InformationCertification Workflow

• During the period of performance (the semester), data is loaded into ECRT. This is done close to real-time, so effort cards will be up to date at all times.

• Once the semester ends, the effort coordinators have some time (at least a month) to process any adjustments, set up cost sharing, and otherwise review the effort cards.

• Once the certification period begins, the self certifiers (PI’s and other key personnel on sponsored awards) log into ECRT and certify their effort. PI’s additionally have to certify the effort of their lower level research staff.

• Once the effort cards are certified, the effort coordinator will have to process them. This gives the Effort Coordinator (“EC”) a chance to see if cost transfers or other adjustments are necessary. The EC can either complete the processing, or send the card back to the certifier to make changes.

5

ECRT Basic InformationSystem Navigation

To access ECRT please utilize the following URL:

https://ecertprd.umassadmin.net/ecrt_prod/initLogin.do

6

ECRT Basic InformationHome Page

This screen serves as an entry point to all system functions, provides an overview of the effort reporting process for administrators, and offers links to a variety of resources to assist users with effort reporting.

The “Effort Lifecycle” image shows three main sections of the system, with navigational links appropriate to the user’s role.

7

ECRT Basic InformationEffort Lifecycle Links

Section Link Description

Data & Workflow

Manage Effort TasksDisplays a list of all outstanding Tasks for the effort coordinator. These include processing certifications, sponsor letter notices, and cost transfers.

Department DashboardDisplays the active department, and all the associated individuals and accounts. Main entry point for effort coordinators.

Add CommitmentAt UMass – this function will be used to add a new line to an effort statement.

Add Cost Share Displays a form to add a new cost sharing entry

View ReportsDisplays the standard reports menu, allowing the running or exporting of built in reports.

IQ ToolDisplays the special reports that have been designed at UMass to supplement standard reports.

Effort statements on HoldAllows user to place multiple effort statements On Hold at once. Displays all effort statements that are currently On Hold - related to that Effort Coordinator.

Certification

Certify / View My EffortDisplays the current effort statement of the individual logged into the system

View My Historical EffortDisplays the historical effort statements for the individual logged into the system

Effort RecertificationUsed to re-open an effort statement that has been certified and as an entry point to historical effort statements.

Administration Manage UsersUsed to review demographic information about users, as well as to assign a proxy for a user.

8

ECRT Basic InformationOnline Help

Most screens contain a help icon available in the upper right, under the Logout option.

Clicking this button will bring up a separate window containing help on the portion of the system currently being worked in.

9

ECRT Basic InformationSearch Boxes

At various points in the application, a data entry box is presented. The system will search on the character string that is entered, and return all items that include the string entered. The user can then select from among the choices by clicking on a selected choice. All search boxes use this methodology.

The user types in a minimum of three characters (letters or numbers) from the intended result, and then pauses for a few seconds. The program will query the database, and download a list of matches to the search text, which appears in a blue box under the search box.

10

ECRT Basic InformationSearch Boxes

The user puts the cursor on the intended result, and clicks the mouse or hits the enter key. If the list contains more than a few choices, arrows will appear at the top and bottom of the list. Clicking the arrows will scroll through the list of choices.

If a longer search string is entered, a shorter list of options is presented. The system works faster with a number search – so a department number, or employee number, or segment of a number may produce a faster search result.

Department DashboardDepartment Dashboard

12 12

Department DashboardHome Page

To access the Department Summary page, select the ‘Department/Division Dashboard’ link.

If you have only one department for which you are an Effort Coordinator, you will be taken directly to the Department Summary page for that department.

13 13

Department Dashboard

The Department Summary page presents all of the information that an Effort Coordinator needs to manage the effort certification process for a department.

The first section of the screen shows a summary chart of the status of the Department’s Certification Forms.

For each status, it shows the number of individuals in the status, and percentage of total in each status.

Every effort statement in the system is tagged with a particular status, which changes as it moves through the system.

Note: These totals reflect the most recent certification period. When a new certification period starts, the totals are reset.

14

Department DashboardStatus Icon Descriptions

In Progress For Certification This status indicates the effort card is not yet ready for certification. This occurs during the effort reporting period, while payroll and profile data are being loaded, and during the pre-review period just prior to the certification period.

Not Certified, Not Processed This is the status for a card that is ready to be certified

Certified, Not Processed Once a card has been certified, the status changes to this. The effort card now needs to be processed by the Effort Coordinator.

Certified, Processed This is the status for a certified and processed statement. All certified cards should be in this status by the end of the certification period.

Auto Completed Alternative indicator of a certified and processed card. Used for cards that are processed automatically by the system, because the employee does not have any effort or payroll on a sponsored account, or the employee certifies at exactly the same percentages calculated by ePARS, and does not leave a note in the effort statement.

Certified, Processed, PCT Pending This status occurs if a Certified, Processed card receives an additional payroll charge after processing. Central office staff will review. No additional steps necessary by effort coordinator if GL pay is not greater than revised pay.

Error StatusesDefault, Incorrect This status indicates a serious error with the card at the system level. This status

should never be seen by a user. Report this as an issue to central administrators.

Re-Opened To change a card that has been certified and processed, its status must be reset to “Re-opened” by central office staff. This status indicates that the card was reset after

Re-Opened by PCT This status indicates that a payroll adjustment was received after a card was certified and processed, and that the payroll adjustment changed the card significantly

Most Common Statuses

Less Common, More Specialized Statuses

Certified, Processed, Payroll Pending

Not Certified, Not Processed, Reopened

15

Department DashboardManaging Effort Coordinators

The next section on the Department Dashboard page displays the department’s Primary and Secondary Effort Coordinators.

Effort Coordinators can be added and removed from the department in the Department Dashboard page.

The “Add” button is used to add a new effort coordinator for a department. A new window appears requesting the name of the new coordinator.

16

Department DashboardManaging Effort Coordinators

Next to all effort coordinators except the primary, in the “Actions” column, are three buttons. The left button, shaped like a yellow highlighter, will change the primary effort coordinator for the department, signaled by a change in the yellow highlighted row. The new primary effort coordinator will assume all the responsibilities of this role.

The middle button, a red “x”, will remove the individual from the list of effort coordinators for the department. The right button, a magnifying glass, is available only to system administrators.

17 17

Department DashboardManaging Department Certifiers

The bottom of the Department Dashboard page shows the sub-departments that are associated with the department, if any. In ECRT these sub-departments are called Child Departments.

Below the sub-department list is the list of Certifiers associated to this Department. The Certifiers are subdivided into two groups – those employees that have Sponsored Activity, those with only Non-Sponsored Activity.

The third column, with the header ‘Statements’, will show previous periods’ certification statements. To review the certification statement, you will select the icon in the ‘Statements’ column.

18

Department DashboardDepartment Account List

The final portion of the Department Dashboard page is the awards section. This contains a list of all active and inactive accounts in the department. Similar to the Certifier list, the Award list is sub-divided into two groups: Active and Inactive. The system categorizes the awards by comparing the project end date to the current date.

This is a comprehensive list that contains both sponsored and non-sponsored accounts. To view more information about an award, select the award’s name.

19

Department DashboardAccount Summary Screen

Clicking on the name of any account in the list brings up a summary screen for the account. The summary page lists general information about the award including Name, Account Number, Sponsor Number, Sponsor Name, Sponsor Award Number, PI, Start and end dates. The middle section lists the department that the account is assigned to.

The bottom of the screen displays a list of all people with either effort commitments or payroll charges on the selected account. (The label “Certifier Name” is misleading.) Note that people from more than one home department may be linked to an specific account, and that the list includes both faculty and supporting individuals.

Effort CertificationEffort CertificationCertifier’s PerspectiveCertifier’s Perspective

21

Effort CertificationHome Page

A certifier has a limited number of links on the Home Page when logged into ECRT. They can see reports and queries related to their project and department, view any historical effort statements that they have certified, or they can start the effort certification process for the current period by clicking on the link to View/Certify My Effort.

22

Effort CertificationCertify My Effort

The certifier is brought to the Effort Certification screen. The effort statement must be reviewed by the certifier, updated if necessary, and certified by the user.

The top of the effort statement contains information about the certifier and his/her respective department, including the department name and number, certifier’s email address, effort coordinator, and certification period.

23

Effort CertificationEffort Statement Columns

• Accounts – includes the effort category, account title (as it appears in the profile), PI name, Purpose and Title, and Agency Number.

• Payroll – amount of effort calculated based on the payroll data for the period.• Cost Share – contains the percentage of wages that were paid during the period and classified as cost sharing. • Commitment – column that shows committed effort to the sponsor. This column can have various names including

required effort and average effort.• Computed Effort – the sum of the payroll and cost share columns.• Certified Effort – text box where users enter the percentage of effort that was actually expended on the projects

associated with the accounts listed at left.• Certify Checkboxes – the award being certified when the certify button is clicked.

24

Effort CertificationEffort Statement Summary

The body of the effort statement displays the effort category and awards which the researcher worked on in the previous period. There are subtotals for each effort category listed on the researcher’s statement.

The total in the Payroll % or $ column may add to more than 100% because of rounding. This will have no adverse effect on the certification process or statement.

The text box at the bottom allows certifiers to enter comments and notes.

Note that the % of Effort is shown in whole numbers, any changes that are made must be in whole numbers.

25

Effort CertificationCertifying Effort

To complete an effort certification, the certifier reviews the effort percentages and adjusts as necessary.

The certifier will see an error message if the total certified effort in the % of Effort column is either less 99% or greater than 101%.

When all effort has been accounted for, the researcher clicks the “Certify” button below the totals.

26

Effort CertificationCertifying Effort

The researcher is then presented with a certification message reminding them what they are certifying to.

After a final review of the information on the page and the certification statement at the top, the certifier will click the “I Agree” button under the message.

After this, the user is returned to the Home Page.

The effort statement is sent on to the EC for processing, along with any entered notes, as applicable.

Additional ToolsAdditional ToolsFor the CertifierFor the Certifier

28

Effort CertificationEffort Statement Notes

A notes box on the bottom of the effort statement is available to facilitate communication among people who share access to a statement – effort coordinator and certifier.

If an effort note is added to a statement, the department effort coordinator is required to perform the processing step. This ensures that the effort coordinator is aware of any note that may require action.

29

Effort CertificationShow Dollar Value

By clicking the Show Dollar Value link on the effort statement, the certifier can switch the view of the Payroll column, to show the total $ associated with the award.

30

Effort CertificationEffort Calculator

The effort calculator link on the effort statement brings up a worksheet with all the individual’s accounts and the revised effort from the effort statement. The worksheet can be used to translate between hours vs. % of effort.

One can enter data in hours/week, and see the result in percentage and person months; enter percentage data and see the result in hours and person months.

31

Effort CertificationEffort Calculator

First, it is necessary to enter the average number of hours worked per week during the period. This number will vary for each individual. Next, decide whether to convert hours worked to percentages, or percentages to hours worked. Select the appropriate radio button.

Enter average hours per week

Estimate average percentage. The calculator computes average hours

worked per week.

Enter either hours to compute percent or percent to compute hours.

32

Effort CertificationHover over Data

When the user “hovers” over the Account links with the mouse, a popup window appears which displays commitment data and the PI name, phone number, and email address.

33

Effort CertificationPrinting an Effort statement

If you would like to print a paper version of the effort statement, select the Effort statement PDF Icon from the top right of the View/Certify My Effort page.

34

Effort CertificationGroup View Certification

The effort certification group view presents the effort cards of non-self certifiers for the Principal Investigator to certify.

To Certify in Group View the PI must click on “Certify My Researchers – Group View”.

35

Effort CertificationGroup View Certification

The effort certification group view presents effort cards for all of the PI’s researchers. The PI will only be able to certify effort for the accounts that he is responsible for, all others will be grayed out.

By clicking certify all, all effort with checked boxes will be certified.

Once all researchers are certified, their cards will no longer be visible.

36

Effort CertificationView Historical Effort

To review a certification statement from a prior period, select the View My Historical Effort link from the ECRT home page. This will take you to a page that will display any effort statements that you have previously certified in ECRT.

Manage Effort TasksManage Effort TasksPrimary Effort CoordinatorPrimary Effort Coordinator

38

Manage Effort TasksHome Page

There is only one difference between a primary and secondary effort coordinator. Primary effort coordinators are responsible for the various tasks in the system.

Tasks are created based on actions taken in the system.

These tasks include processing certifications and reviewing payroll adjustments to closed effort statements

In ECRT, these processes are tracked in the Manage Effort Tasks screens.

39

Manage Effort TasksManage Tasks Page

Manage effort tasks is separated into several different tabs.

The four available tabs are:

1. Effort Processing Work Items

2. Cost Transfer Notification

3. Sponsored Activity Notification

4. Payroll Reconciliation

The tabs will only appear if

there is a task in that category.

40

Manage Effort TasksProcessing an Effort Statement

ECRT will automatically process any effort statements that are certified with minimal changes to the effort percentages and no effort notes created by the certifier.

To make sure that all effort cards being processed are brought to the attention of the effort coordinator, these cards will still appear as tasks. However, those cards will be preceded by a double asterisk (**), and when clicked, the task will be removed.

If a certifier substantially changes the percentages in the effort statement, or leaves an effort note, the Effort Coordinator will need to review and process the effort statement, by selecting the link to the item in the Effort Processing Work Items list.

41

Manage Effort TasksProcessing Certifications

If the researcher certifies to a percentage that is different than the computed percentages, ECRT calculates the dollars related to the changes and shows them to the right of the changed lines.

It is the EC’s responsibility to review the appropriateness of the cost transfers and effort that has been certified. After review, the EC clicks the “Process” button at bottom of the page.

After processing, the item is removed from the task list and the status is set to “Certified Processed”.

42

Manage Effort TasksProcessing Certifications

If after reviewing the certification the Effort Coordinator believes the values entered are not appropriate, he/she should indicate the reason why there is a problem in the notes box and click the “Return to Certifier” button at the bottom of the screen.

This action causes an email to automatically be sent to the researcher telling him/her that the certification needs further review and to contact the EC. It also changes the status of the certification from “Certified” back to “Not Certified”.

The researcher would then reopen the certification, review the notes, take appropriate action as needed, and resubmit for processing.

43

Manage Effort TasksProcessing Certifications When Certified Effort is Significantly Less Than Required Effort

If an activity is above or below the configurable threshold, currently set at 25%, then the activity will be highlighted in yellow. This highlighting is meant to alert a user that there is a large discrepancy between the sponsor commitment in ECRT and certified effort.

44

Manage Effort TasksSponsored Activity Notification

The next tab of the Manage Effort Tasks page is Sponsored Activity Notification. Items appear here when an effort coordinator processes an effort card with a certified effort percentage significantly less than the sponsored required effort.

45

Manage Effort TasksCost Transfer Notification

The Cost Transfer tab is contains a list of all effort cards that have cost transfers calculated during their processing.

Clicking on the notification will display the effort card as it was processed.

To find the dollar value of the calculated cost transfer, it will be necessary to run the cost transfer report.

46

Manage Effort TasksPayroll Adjustment Work Items

The next tab of the Manage Tasks page is Payroll Adjustment Work Items. Items appear here when a cost transfer is loaded into the system after an effort statement is certified and processed.

47

Manage Effort TasksPayroll Adjustment Item

Selecting a link from the Payroll Adjustment Work Item list will display the individual payroll adjustment that has been made. From this screen the user can select to Post Adjustment or Ignore Adjustment. A checkbox allows you to determine whether the effort card will need to be certified again after the adjustment is posted.

Note: Ignore Adjustment is rarely utilized, as the user will either want to accept the adjustment and select Post Adjustment, OR accept the adjustment and Re-Open the card for additional review or changes.

Assign Proxy FunctionalityAssign Proxy Functionality

49

Assign ProxyHome Page

To assign a proxy to a certifier, an Effort Coordinator will select the Manage Users link on the ECRT home page, then enter the individual who they would like to assign a proxy to.

50

Assign ProxyManage Users Page

At the bottom of the individual’s page, the Effort Coordinator will be able to enter a Proxy for the selected user, as shown to the left. When a proxy is assigned, the user will also need to chose a reason for why the proxy is being assigned. If the pre-defined reason “Other” is selected, the user will be prompted for an additional explanation in a short text box.

When a proxy has been assigned, the bottom of the individual’s manage users page will display the Proxy name and reason, as shown to the left. Both the proxy and certifier will be sent an email notifying them that the designation has been made. Similar emails will be sent if a proxy assignment is transferred or terminated.

51

Assign ProxyComplete Proxy Certifications

When a Proxy logs on to ECRT, if they have users they are designated for, they will see a link for “Complete Proxy Certifications”

By clicking the Complete Proxy Certifications link, the Proxy can see a list of all of the certifiers he/she is responsible for. The Proxy can select “View Current” for each certifier, which will take them to Effort statement, where he/she can certify the statement.

52

Assign ProxyComplete Proxy Certifications

When a Proxy certifies an effort statement, the attestation statement states that the Proxy must have suitable means of verification that the work that was performed.

Proxy Assignment Rules:1. Once a proxy has been assigned only the proxy can certify the certifier’s statement2. If a certifier has been assigned a proxy, when he/she goes into the effort statement,

he/she will be able to see the statement in View Only mode. 3. Each certifier can only have one proxy4. If Certifier A has been assigned as a proxy for Certifier B, the system will enforce the

following rules at selection time:o Certifier B cannot be assigned as a proxy for another certifier.o Certifier A cannot have a proxy assigned for them.

On Hold FunctionalityOn Hold Functionality

54

On Hold Placing a Single statement On Hold

Effort Coordinators have the ability to place a certifier’s effort statement On Hold. There are two ways to put an effort statement On Hold – one at a time or multiple statements at a time. To place an individual effort statement On Hold, an Effort Coordinator can navigate to the certifier’s effort statement, and select the On Hold check box, as shown to the left.

55

On Hold Placing Multiple statements On Hold

To place multiple statements On Hold, the Effort Coordinator can go to the Effort Cards on Hold link on the ECRT home page.

56

On Hold Placing Multiple statements On Hold

Once in the Effort statements on Hold page, the Effort Coordinator will be able to select multiple certifiers and then place them all On Hold at one time. When the save button is pressed, each of the effort statements will be listed at the bottom screen as On Hold.

In order to take an effort statement off, the effort coordinators will have to go to the individual’s effort statement and uncheck the “On Hold” checkbox. Effort Coordinators are able to navigate to the individual’s effort statement from the Effort Cards on Hold page, by selecting the magnifying glass icon in the Statements column, shown to the left.

57

On Hold Monitoring Effort statements on Hold

The Effort Coordinators will be able to reference the total number of effort statements On Hold by reviewing Certification Summary on the Manage Department Page. This page can be viewed by selecting the Manage Department link from the ECRT home page, and scrolling down to view the Certification Summary statistics, shown to the left.

Adding a CommitmentAdding a Commitment

59

Add CommitmentHome Page

If it is necessary to add a line on the effort card because effort was expended on the award without pay, or payroll charges are not yet posted on an account, the effort coordinator selects the ‘Add Commitment’ link on the Home Page or from the drop down menu on any

screen.

60

Add CommitmentAdding a line to the Effort Card

On this screen, the coordinator will enter the data necessary to create a commitment, the certifier’s name, and the account to be added. The user can select from both active and inactive accounts.

Once all of this information has been entered, the user will select the ‘Add Entry’ button. When the button is selected, the user will see a confirmation screen. If the information that has been entered is correct, the user will select ‘Add Entry’ and receive a confirmation that the commitment was added.

Adding Cost SharingAdding Cost Sharing

62

Add Cost SharingHome Page

To add cost sharing over the life of an award, the add cost sharing link can be used.

This method will have the same basic effect of adding the cost sharing in PeopleSoft directly.

63

Add Cost SharingAdding cost sharing to the Effort Card

On this screen, the coordinator will enter the data necessary to add cost sharing; the employees name, the sponsored account receiving the cost shared effort (To Account), the non-sponsored funding source providing the effort (From Account), the cost share % or the dollar amount, the start and end dates and an optional justification for the cost share that will to be added. The user can select from both active and inactive accounts.

Once all of this information has been entered, the user will select the ‘Add Entry’ button. When the button is selected, the user will see a confirmation screen. If the information that has been entered is correct, the user will select ‘Add Entry’ and receive a confirmation that the cost share was added.

Effort RecertificationEffort Recertification&&

Viewing Historical Effort StatementsViewing Historical Effort Statements

65

Effort Recertification

The Effort Recertification link on the ECRT home page allows an Effort Coordinator to view previous effort statements for members of their departments, as well as to re-open effort statements if the current certification period is still open.

66

Effort Recertification

Enter the name of the certifier in the search box.

67

Effort Recertification

The Administrator should select the period desired and click the button at the bottom right to “Open for Recertification”. This will cause an email to be sent to the researcher saying she needs to recertify her time for that period.

Effort Coordinators can re-open a card for certification if the certification period is still open. After the certification period is closed, only Central Administrator can re-open an effort card.

ECRT ReportsECRT Reports

69

Certification Payroll Report

The Certification Payroll Report shows the GL payroll transaction entries for a specific individual or a department and date range. It summarizes these entries in two formats -- by account or by pay period.

The report for an individual will show the pay that was charged to each account during each pay period within the certification period, the total amounts charged to each account during the period, and the percent of total pay during the period for each account

70

Certification Payroll Report – Alternate View

71

Sponsored Project Employee Summary Report

The Sponsored Project Employee Summary (SPES) report lists all of the employees and amounts associated with effort on a specific account, for the effort reporting period. It shows the amounts both as percent and dollar amounts.

72

Commitment Listing Report

The Commitment Listing Report allows a user to view the details of a Commitment and status as indicated by the Commitment icon. There are multiple criteria for narrowing or expanding searches. This report can be downloaded to PDF for easy printing of effort statements for auditors.

73

Monthly Commitment Summary Report

The Monthly Commitment Summary Report allows the user to view a twelve (12) month summary of Commitment. Use the fields provided to search for Commitment threshold entries.

74

External Audit Report

Because it can be run for a whole department, it is also a useful tool for department effort coordinators to make a printed file copy of all effort statements for their department for a given quarter.

The External Audit Report lists all individuals that have effort statements in a specified status. There are multiple criteria for narrowing or expanding searches. This report can be downloaded to PDF for easy printing of effort statements for auditors.

75

Certifier Salary Activity Report

The Certifier Salary Activity Report displays the salary information for all supporting individuals charging the selected Certifier’s awards.

The effort coordinator selects the Certifier and then a Month and Year to return payroll information, by month from the time selected for the subsequent 12 months.

76

Certification Status Report

The Certification Status Report allows the user to search for a status of a certification statement for a specified group of certifiers. The report shows the current status for each certifier of a specific employee type for a period of performance

77

Cost Transfer Report

The Cost Transfer Report displays all of the cost transfers that have taken place for a particular Department, period, and certifier type. Only cost transfers for Awards in the Department selected will be displayed.

78

ECRT Created Cost Transfer Report

The ECRT Created Cost Transfer Report displays all cost transfers generated in ECRT along with the payroll data from the Certification Payroll Report. The combination of data shows the detail history or payroll transactions on the certification statement.

79

Department Award Report

The Department Award report displays all active and inactive Awards for the selected Department.

80

Grant Without Principal Investigator ReportThe Grant Without Principal Investigator report will produce a list of Grants that do not have an assigned principal investigator. The report results are displayed in a table format and can be exported to an Excel file, a PDF document, a Microsoft Word document, or an XML file. Press the Run Report button to launch the report.

ECRT Project InformationECRT Project Information

82

CONTACT INFORMATION

Campus Effort Administrators

- XXX XXXXX - ### - ### - #### - xxxxxxxxx@UMass.edu

- XXX XXXXX - ### - ### - #### - xxxxxxxxx@UMass.edu

- XXX XXXXX - ### - ### - #### - xxxxxxxxx@UMass.edu

Huron Consulting Group

-Daniel Lodes – 636-795-0101 – dlodes@huronconsultinggroup.com

-Stephen Kosciolek – 312-731-6840 – skosciolek@huronconsultinggroup.com

QUESTIONS?QUESTIONS?

Glossary/DefinitionsGlossary/Definitions

85

Glossary/Definitions

• Certifier / Covered Individual: Primary Individual who has responsibility for certifying his or her effort.

• Certified Effort: Effort that has been certified by the individual who performed the work, or a proxy.

• Certified Effort Column on Effort statement: The time, stated as a percentage of total professional time, that an individual actually devoted to a particular Sponsored Project or other activity during the effort reporting period.

• Certification Period: The period of time for which an individual’s effort is being certified.

• Cost Transfers: An expense that is transferred from one account to another when an error has occurred in the amount initially charged to the account. A retroactive salary distribution form is the mechanism for initiating a cost transfer.

• Effort Coordinator: The person responsible for coordination between faculty and research staff to facilitate administration of the salary distribution reports, and the effort certification process. The Effort Coordinator in each department is charged with monitoring completion and processing the Effort statements for the department.

86

Glossary/Definitions

• Effort: The proportion of time spent on any activity expressed as a percentage of total institutional activities for which an Individual is compensated by UMass. Total effort for an employee must always equal 100%, regardless of part-time or full-time status, and regardless of number of hours worked.

The effort on a sponsored project may be equal to or greater than the salary charged to the project, and may be the same or different than the planned effort. It is recognized that activities of individuals in an academic institutions are often inextricably intermingled so a precise accounting of time spent on various activities is not required.

• Effort statement: Screen portraying an individual’s salary and effort distribution for an effort reporting period that will be certified. It documents the proportion of total effort devoted by an individual to each account. When certified, the effort statement is the official verification of effort attributed to and salary paid by a sponsored project. Salary paid by a sponsored project may not be greater than effort, and is subject to sponsor-imposed salary caps. An effort statement must be completed by someone with suitable means of verification of the effort expended on a project. This may be the individual or it may be the direct supervisor.

87

Glossary/Definitions

• Effort Certification: A means of confirming the percentage of Effort spent in support of each sponsored project and all other institutional activities for a given period of time. Effort Certification requires that both effort paid by the sponsor, and effort paid by the institution be confirmed. Each Individual's Effort Certification must account for total effort (100%).

• Effort Reporting Periods: Either the period of time over which effort is reported at UMass. For the Boston, Dartmouth, and Lowell, this is based on semesters. Other campuses are certifying once a year.

• Institutional Base Salary (IBS): The annual compensation paid to an individual by UMass. IBS includes compensation for instruction, public service, organized research, patient care, department research, department administration, and/or other activities.

• Non-Sponsored Individuals: Individuals in a department who have effort and salary exclusively on non sponsored accounts. These people are not required to certify their effort. Effort statements are prepared by the system and are auto processed.

88

Glossary/Definitions

• Pre-Review Period: The period of time following the end of the effort reporting period, and before the beginning of the certification period, when the Effort Coordinator reviews compiled Effort statements, and enters any needed revisions in preparation for certifiers’ review.

• PI: A person listed as a principal investigator, project director, co-investigator, co-project director, or someone with comparable responsibilities on a sponsored project.

• Researcher: An employee who has allocated effort to a Sponsored Program, whether or not paid by the program.

• Sponsored Project: An internally or externally funded activity that is governed by specific terms and conditions. Sponsored Projects must be separately budgeted and accounted for subject to terms of the sponsoring organization or unit. Sponsored Projects may include grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements for research, instruction and training, and other public service activities.

• Central Effort Administrator: Individuals in charge of ECRT, who will be the contact for ECRT related questions and issues.