Effort Reporting September 7, 2006

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Effort ReportingSeptember 7, 2006

• Eric Cottington
• Associate Vice President for Research

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Agenda

• Background
• Regulations
• Challenge
• Progress to Date
• Changes to Effort Report Form and Process
• QA

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Background

• Effort is the proportion of time spent on
  professional activities such as research,
  teaching, administration, service.
• Effort Reporting is the method of
  documenting the proportion of time devoted to
  these professional activities as a percentage of
  total professional activity.
• Effort not necessarily calculated on a
  40-hour workweek.
• Payroll and effort distributions are not the
  same thing.

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Effort Reporting per OMB Circular A-21 (Section
J Part 8)

• Most universities use after-the-fact
  activity record systems
• Distribution of salaries and wages are
  supported by activity reports that
• show the percentage distribution of activity of
  employee
• are signed by the employee, principal
  investigator, or responsible official(s) using
  suitable means of verification that the work was
  performed
• reflect activity applicable to each sponsored
  project
• are prepared each academic term, but no less
  frequently than every six months.

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Challenge

• Reporting is complicated and time-consuming.
• Federal policy interpretations lack flexibility
  to accommodate diverse university activities and
  compensation arrangements.
• Blurred lines among researchers activities
• Research versus patient care
• Multiple funding sources for research with
  overlapping purposes
• Policies that discourage or prohibit accurate
  calculation of institutional base salaries when
  compensation comes from outside of the
  institution
• Recent governmental enforcement
• Northwestern University 5.5 Million settlement
• Johns Hopkins University 2.6 Million settlement
• Harvard University 3.3 Million settlement
• University of Alabama-Birmingham 3.9 Million
  settlement
• NIH has specific requirements for including
  clinical practice compensation as part of base
  salary for effort reporting purposes

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NIH requirements regarding clinical practice
compensation

• Clinical practice compensation must be set
  by the university
• Clinical practice activity must be shown on
  the universitys payroll or salary appointment
  forms and records approved by the institution
• Clinical practice compensation must be paid
  through or at the direction of the university
• Clinical practice activity must be included
  and accounted for in the institutions effort
  reporting and/or payroll distribution system
• University must assure that all financial
  reports and supporting documents associated with
  the combined institutional base salary and
  resulting charges to NIH grants are retained and
  made available to federal officials

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Effort Reporting Progress-To-Date

• Revised effort reporting process for faculty
  initiated in February 2006
• To date effort reports have been completed by
  faculty for the following periods
• - Summer Semester 2005 (faculty with nine month
  appts.)
• - Fall Semester 2005 (faculty with nine month
  appts.)
• - Second-half 2005 (faculty with twelve month
  appts.)
• Compliance has been close to 100
• Discrepancies between certified effort and
  charged effort are currently being reconciled
• Form and process are being revised based on
  feedback from initial implementation
• Effort reporting process for Spring 2006 and
  first half of 2006 set to begin by mid-September

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Effort Certification Process

• Department Administrator Review
• E-mail sent to dept. admin. with link to on-line
  worksheets and attached spreadsheet of Case
  Payroll Data for reporting period
• Dept. admin. reviews effort certification
  worksheets for faculty in department based on
  most recent form completed and Case payroll data
• Dept. admin. makes any adjustments, as necessary,
  and either clicks Ready to Certify button or
  creates printable version
• Faculty Member Review and Sign-off
• Faculty member either receives e-mail with link
  to his or her on-line form or receives paper
  version of form
• Faculty member reviews on-line or paper form and
  either signs it or discusses changes with dept.
  admin and then signs revised form
• Once form has been certified by faculty member,
  it can not be changed unless it is recertified by
  the faculty member
• Faculty members can not create their own form

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On-Line Effort Certification E-mail to Dept.
Admin.(School of Medicine Only)

• Subject Effort Reporting January 1 June 30,
  2006
• As you know, Case has revised its effort
  reporting procedures.  In order for Case to
  remain in
• compliance
• To this end, your assistance is requested in
  reviewing and completing effort report worksheets
  for faculty in your department or division. The
  attached spreadsheet provides the salary
  allocation detail in PeopleSoft for faculty in
  your department or division who have charged
  salary to sponsored projects and/or other
  activities from January 1, 2006 through June 30,
  2006.
• To review and complete the effort report
  worksheets that will then generate effort report
  forms for the faculty member to review and sign
  (either electronically or on paper), go to the
  following website and enter your Case network ID
  and password.  Select Effort Reporting from the
  menu.  Click on your department or division name.
  You will then see the names of the faculty who
  need to certify their effort.   Click on their
  name to prepare their form. 
• https//addison.ra.cwru.edu/spiderweb/
• The effort report worksheets for these faculty
  have been pre-populated with percentages derived
  from the most recent effort report form completed
  by the faculty member. Data from the attached,
  current PeopleSoft salary distribution will also
  be displayed in blue on the worksheet.  Also
  displayed on the worksheet are sponsored projects
  that were on the most recently completed effort
  report form, but that are not on the current
  worksheet. These can be imported to the effort
  worksheet as necessary.

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On-Line Effort Certification E-mail to Dept.
Admin.(All Schools Other Than Medicine)

• Subject Effort Reporting Spring Semester 2006
• As you know, Case has revised its effort
  reporting procedures.  In order for Case to
  remain in
• compliance
• To this end, your assistance is requested in
  reviewing and completing effort report worksheets
  for faculty in your department or division. The
  attached spreadsheet provides the salary
  allocation detail in PeopleSoft for faculty in
  your department or division who have charged
  salary to sponsored projects and/or other
  activities for the Spring 2006 semester.
• To review and complete the effort report
  worksheets that will then generate effort report
  forms for the faculty member to review and sign
  (either electronically or on paper), go to the
  following website and enter your Case network ID
  and password.  Select Effort Reporting from the
  menu.  Click on your department or division name.
  You will then see the names of the faculty who
  need to certify their effort.   Click on their
  name to prepare their form. 
• https//addison.ra.cwru.edu/spiderweb/
• The effort report worksheets for these faculty
  have been pre-populated with percentages derived
  from the attached, current PeopleSoft salary
  distribution. However, data from the most recent
  effort report form completed by the faculty
  member will also be displayed in blue on the
  worksheet.  Also displayed on the worksheet are
  sponsored projects that were on the most recently
  completed effort report form, but that are not on
  the current worksheet. These can be imported to
  the effort worksheet as necessary.

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On-Line Effort Certification E-mail to Dept.
Admin.

• Please use the attached spreadsheet and any other
  information you may have to prepare the effort
  report worksheets.  Once you are satisfied that
  the worksheet is accurate, click on the Update
  button.
• Please then route the form to the affected
  faculty member for his/her certification.    You
  can route the form in one of two ways
• 1. electronically by clicking the Ready to
  Certify button or
• 2. via hard-copy by clicking the Printable
  button, printing the form, and asking the
  faculty member to review and sign the hard copy
  form.  You would then go back to their on-line
  form and click the Certified by Paper button.  
  You would keep a copy of the signed form for
  your records and send the original to Grants
  Accounting c/o Paul Frey.
• If you see errors (e.g., sponsored projects that
  should not be listed or effort percentages that
  are not correct), please feel free to make
  adjustments.  The form allows you to delete
  sponsored projects that may be displayed in error
  or to change the listed percent effort.    Please
  feel free to contact me or Patrick Coburn
  (pxc5_at_case.edu) if you have a question about how
  to use the form.
• These forms need to be reviewed and signed
  (either electronically or on paper) by the
  faculty in your department no later than October
  27, 2006.  Your assistance is greatly
  appreciated.  If you have any questions or
  concerns about this process or about the content
  of the forms, please do not hesitate to contact
  me directly.

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Sample PeopleSoft Payroll Spreadsheet
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On-Line Effort Certification Website
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On-Line Effort Certification Website
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On-Line Effort Certification Website
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On-Line Effort Certification Website
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On-Line Effort Certification Form
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On-Line Effort Certification Form
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On-Line Effort Certification Form
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On-Line Effort Certification Form
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On-Line Effort Certification Form
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On-Line Effort Certification Form
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On-Line Effort Certification Form
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On-Line Effort Certification Definitions
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On-Line Effort Certification Definitions
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On-Line Effort Certification Form
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On-Line Effort Certification Form
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On-Line Effort Certification Form
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On-Line Effort Certification Form
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On-Line Effort Certification Form
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On-Line Effort Certification Form
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On-Line Effort Certification E-mail to Faculty

• Subject Effort Certification Form for the
  period January 1, 2006 June 30, 2006
• On-Line Effort Certification Form
• Case has recently changed its procedures for
  effort certification. Each faculty member
  involved with sponsored projects must now certify
  his or her own effort for specific reporting
  periods. The purpose of this e-mail is to notify
  you that an On-Line Effort Certification Form has
  been prepared by your Department Administrator
  for you to review and certify. The form contains
  information about your effort for the January 1-
  June 30, 2006 period. Please go to the following
  URL to access your effort certification form
• https//addison.ra.cwru.edu/spiderweb/
• Enter your Case ID and password. Under the
  Compliance section, select Effort Reporting.
  This will bring up the latest Effort
  Certification Form for you to review and certify.
  If you have any questions about the data
  reported on the form, please contact your
  Department Administrator. Please do not make
  any changes without first consulting your
  Department Administrator. Please complete your
  review and certification no later than October
  27, 2006. More information about Effort Reporting
  including those to contact with questions can be
  found at the following URL
• http//addison.ra.cwru.edu/research/effort/index.c
  fm
• If you believe you have received this e-mail in
  error, please contact your Department
  Administrator.

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Next Steps

• Finalize the revised effort report worksheet
  and process
• Post additional educational materials in
  newsletter and on websites
• Beginning September 18, 2006, request effort
  certification for Spring 2006 and January 1-June
  30, 2006 (to be completed by October 27, 2006)
• Grants Accounting will continue to work with
  departments to reconcile or resolve discrepancies
  between charged effort and certified effort as
  they arise
• Office of Sponsored Projects Administration
  and SOM Office of Research Administration are
  available for assistance in answering questions
  or providing additional training