What is Effort?
Effort is defined as the proportion of time spent on any activity expressed as a percentage of the total institutional activities for which an individual is compensated by the University, regardless of part-time or full-time status and/or number of hours worked.
Accordingly, Total Effort is always 100% whether a person is employed on a full-time basis by the University (Full-Time Equivalent or FTE of 1.00) or on a part-time basis (FTE less than 1.00).
Compensation is based on an individual’s total Institutional Base Salary (IBS), as denoted in the University’s payroll system.
For University’s faculty, total institutional effort/activity (100%) is not defined as a single, standard number of hours or days per week, since it will likely be different for each individual during the year. The number of hours in an individual faculty member’s “100%” must be reasonable and supportable to department, school, university and external reviewers, if requested.
Go to: Ten Things That Every Faculty Member Should Know About Effort
What is Effort Reporting?
Effort reporting is the process by which the University confirms and documents that the salaries charged are reasonable in relation to the actual effort expended on sponsored projects during each effort reporting period. The methodology used by the University is an “after the fact” certification process based upon an individual’s institutional base salary.
Faculty and non-faculty are required to review, adjust as necessary and certify their effort, via the Workday Effort Certification process, the proportion of effort devoted to sponsored projects, instruction/teaching, department administration, patient care, and other activities, expressed as a percentage of Total Effort.
When an employee certifies his or her effort for a reporting period, they are creating a legal document that states that the effort certified for the period is a reasonable approximation of the effort actually spent on the projects/activities during the period.
When and where do I certify effort?
Effort is certified twice per year in the Workday system, usually in January and July, based on actual amounts paid to workers with earnings expensed to grants in whole or in part.
Where can I find how-to guides on certifying effort?
- For more guidance on effort reporting, especially on sponsored projects, visit the WU Financial Services website on Effort Reporting.
Effort Reporting – Sponsored Projects
Policies and procedures for reporting effort on sponsored projects
- For more guidance on certifying effort via the Workday system, visit the Workday reference guide, Effort Certification for Faculty and Staff.
Review Effort for One Award Split Across Multiple Lines
Workday guide for effort split on multiple grant lines
Reviewing and Certifying Your Effort
Workday guide to reviewing and certifying your university effort
Ten Things That Every Faculty Member Should Know about Effort
- Effort is your work on a project, whether the sponsor pays your salary or not.
- When you write yourself into a grant proposal, you are committing your effort to the sponsor.
- If you reduce your effort, paid or unpaid on a federal grant by 25% of your committed effort, you must have agency pre-approval. If you reduce your paid effort you may choose to document cost-sharing so that the total effort does not decrease.
Presenter: Jamie Caldwell, Assoc. Vice Chancellor for Research Administration, Univ. of Kansas Medical Center; Hosted by the National Council of University Research Administrators.
4. Many activities cannot be charged to a federally sponsored project. For example, the time you spend on the following activities cannot be charged to a grant:
- Writing a proposal
- Serving on an IRB, IACUC, or other research committee.
- Serving on a departmental or university service committee.
5. If you work on a sponsored project, you must certify your effort.
6. Certifying effort is not the same as certifying payroll.
7. Certification must reasonably reflect all the effort for all the activities that are covered by your university compensation.
8. Effort is not based on a 40-hour work week. It is not based on hours at all but rather the portion of your 100% effort.
9. Effort must be certified by someone with suitable means of verifying that the work was performed.
10. Auditors look for indications that certification was based on factors other than actual, justifiable effort.
Resource: Caldwell, Jamie. “Top Ten Things About Effort That Every Faculty Member Should Know.” YouTube Tuesday. National Council for University Research Administrators. 13 Sept. 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa1BAwZiFzo.
Resource List
Effort Reporting – Sponsored Projects
Policies and procedures for reporting effort on sponsored projects
Review Effort for One Award Split Across Multiple Lines
Workday guide for effort split on multiple grant lines
Reviewing and Certifying Your Effort
Workday guide to reviewing and certifying your university effort