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Effort Reporting – A Faculty Perspective
Jeremy Forsberg, University of Texas at ArlingtonDavid Ngo, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Communication takes two - Perspective and Understanding• Faculty perspective on effort reporting• Understanding the intent of the requirements
for effort reporting and what should be communicated to faculty
• Convergence of reality, intent, and regulatory compliance
Faculty Perspective on Effort Reporting
Faculty/Institutional Responsibilities• Their Job Description: Research, Teaching,
and Service• Commonly split:
• 40% Research• 40% Teaching• 20% Service
• Faculty annual reviews are based on these expectations
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• Research Activities:• Sponsored Projects• Unfunded Projects• Scholarly activities • Human subject Research• Animal subject Research• Publications• Discoveries• Grant Writing (sometimes considered “research”)
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• Instructional Activities:• Courses taught
• Includes preparation time and meetings outside of class
• Service Activities:• Advising activities• Board Service / serving on committees• Administrative appointments (Chair/Dean etc.)• Paid consulting
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Faculty Survey for Time Allocation• Barry Bozeman, Georgia Tech, Albert Link, UNC Greensboro,
and Christopher Swann, UNC Greensboro’s paper “A Time Allocation Study of University Faculty” consisted of a survey of 150 Research Intensive Universities with 1,403 faculty respondents. The results of the percent of time faculty spent on institutional responsibilities were:
• Teaching 32%• Research 36%• Grant Writing 8%• Service 24%
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Faculty – Outside Activities or Activities not recorded for Effort Reporting Purposes• Allotted 1 day a week for outside consulting activities• Supplemental Pay• Travel Reimbursements• Fringe• Payments for Outside Board Service
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Faculty – Adding it up• Faculty activities are often intermingled (research,
teaching, service)• Research activities are much broader than the time spent
on projects that are funded or committed to• Much of their time on sponsored projects may be (in
their minds) voluntary uncommitted cost sharing (compare this to committed effort – just didn’t receive “pay” for the time contributed)
• The number of hours worked towards faculty activities still comprise of 100% effort.
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• Effort is based on percentages of time towards a sponsored project relative to a faculty member’s total activities (of their IBS) • For example, faculty member X works 80 hours a week and
faculty member Y works 40 hours a week. They both are committed to the same project and have the same IBS - $100k). The amount the sponsor pays faculty member Y can be higher than faculty member X for less hours worked towards the project!• Faculty member X expends 15% effort/$15k for 12 hrpw• Faculty member Y expends 20% effort /$20k for 8 hrpw
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The Haywire of Effort Reporting
• It’s busy work• Lots of unfunded work on
projects and voluntary uncommitted cost sharing
• Questions integrity to a very subjective compliance requirement
• Faculty with research funding often work more hours than their colleagues
• Do not get paid extra
Example Calculations of Effort• Sponsors may require or faculty may propose
salary in three common ways: # of months, % effort, and $.– If Professor Ty Webb has a 9 month academic year
salary of $90,000, what is his 12 month salary? – If Professor Webb commits 1.3 months of salary,
what is the total salary requested?– What is the % effort?
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Considerations of new activities:• The addition of a grant may affect effort on other grants.
• Example: If Professor Bridgett Jones currently has a NSF
grant paying 15% of her time and a NIH grant for 25%, what affect could a new private grant have where on her total effort on sponsored projects if she is paid another 20% time?
• If Bridgett continues to work a total 40 hours per week on average after receiving the new grant, what adjustments need to be made?
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Ineffective Communication
Understanding the Intent of Effort Reporting
The basic idea• In a grant proposal, we offer effort• At award time, we make a commitment of effort• Throughout the project, we charge salary to the
sponsor• Periodically, sponsors want to know:
– Have we devoted enough effort to justify the salary charges?
– Even in cases where we are not charging salary to the sponsor, have we fulfilled our commitments?
Commitments
PaidEffort
Cost-Shared Effort
Non-Payroll Cost Sharing
Effort
Not Paid By Sponsor
Non-Effort
Paid by Sponsor
What is Effort Certification?• Effort certification (or effort reporting) is the means of
assuring sponsors that:– Salary charges are justified (or “they got what they paid
for”)– Researchers devoted the effort that was promised in the
proposal and agreed upon at the time of the award (or “they paid for that they got”)
• This is not “timekeeping” or “activity tracking”– Researchers are not required to report how they spent
their time
Who says we have to do this and who has to do this?• Certification is required for individuals who have paid
or committed effort on sponsored projects• Effort must be certified by a person who has “suitable
means of verifying” that the work was performed– Faculty, academic staff, and all PIs certify their own effort– PIs certify for graduate students, postdocs, and non-PI
classified staff who work on their projects
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It’s Not an Exact Science• Precision is not required• Sponsors recognize that research, teaching,
service, and administration are often inextricably intermingled
• Reasonable estimates are expected– But there are some rules to follow!
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The Rules Require us to:• Be careful about what we offer in a proposal• Be careful when making commitments at award time• Change commitments when needed, and document
the changes• Fulfill commitments• Charge salary in a way that’s congruent with actual
effort• Certify effort in a way that’s congruent with what
actually happened22
The Rules Also Require us to:• Not charge a grant for time that doesn’t pertain to
the grant• Not charge a grant for time spent writing a proposal
for a new project or a competing continuation– Time spent on these activities must be covered by
institutional or gift funds• Transfer salary charges off of a grant if the level of
effort does not justify the salary charges
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PROPOSAL: Commitments are Offered
AWARD: Commitments Become Obligations
Commitment Setup
Documentation & Reporting of Fulfillment
Commitments are Fulfilled
Tracking and Management
Life
cycl
e o
f a G
rant
We Do Want to Get this Right• The consequences of not getting this right can be
dire for the university• Effort reporting is the #1 target for federal auditors• Many universities have paid millions of dollars in
fines• Audits are underway at many research institutions• Problematic areas: SCT’s and Recerts
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Recent Effort Reporting Audits & Settlements
Effort Reporting Non-Compliance:
Significant Audits & Settlements
University of Michigan Effort Certification
Arizona State University Effort Reporting System
St. Louis University Overstatement of Effort$1 million
University of Notre DameSubrecipient monitoring and Effort Reporting
University of Nevada-Reno Effort Reporting System
Weill Cornell Medical College Committed Effort $2.6 million
University of Wisconsin – MadisonEffort Reporting System
Georgia Institute of TechnologyEffort Reporting System
Yale UniversityEffort Reporting and Cost Transfers $7.6 million
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University of Alaska-AnchorageEffort Reporting and Grants Management
University of DelawareEffort Reporting
Louisiana Board of RegentsEffort Reporting, Cost Sharing$1.9 million questioned costs
Ohio State UniversityCommitments and Cost Sharing$1.7 million in questioned costs
California State University - FresnoEffort Reporting Commitments and Cost Sharing
Fort Valley StateLack of an Effort Reporting System$500,000 settlement
Florida State UniversitySalary/Non-salary disallowances$3.0 million in requested refund
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Institution/Date SUNY Stony Brook
Aug-12
Florida State
July -12
Univ Notre Dame
Mar-12
Univ Alaska-
Anchorage
Aug-11
CSU – Fresno
Mar-11
Univ Delawar
e
Mar-10
Wash U
Feb-10
Fort Valley State
Jan-10
U Nevada-
Reno
Jan-10
UW Madison
Nov-09
Univ Michiga
n
Aug-09
ASU
Aug-09
Suitable means of verification X X XInappropriate charges, cost transfers
X X X XLack of salary documentation X X X X XInternal control weaknesses X X X X X X XEffort reporting training, policies X X X X X X X XCertification doesn’t include all activities
X X X XSalary above NSF cap X X XNo independent internal evaluation of system
X X X X X X XLate certifications X X XEffort reporting system weaknesses X X X X
• Effective Means of Communication– Policy considerations– Mechanisms for compliance– Education and Training programs
• Perspective and Understanding– One on One with Faculty– Department Chair Meetings– The broader university systems
