Frequently Asked Questions about Effort Reporting
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Why can't a departmental administrator certify my effort for me?
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What is ECRT, and what is its relationship to Effort Reporting?
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Is training in effort reporting required, and if so, how will it be made available?
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Is there a maximum level of effort that can be charged to sponsored projects?
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Can administrative staff be directly charged to my sponsored project?
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Is the time that I devote to writing grant proposals chargeable to sponsored projects?
Answer: Effort reporting is the federally-mandated process. The purpose of the process is twofold:
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To document that the salary charged to a sponsored project is reasonable in relation to the effort expended on that project
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To ensure that commitments to the sponsored projects are fulfilled.
Discussion: During the course of the year, the University charges salaries to sponsored projects and other accounts based on allocation instructions (i.e., the percentage of salary to be charged to one or more sponsored projects or other accounts based on committed effort) provided by administrative department personnel acting upon instructions from Principal Investigators and/or others who oversee those sponsored projects. Federal regulations require that throughout the course of the year, these charges be monitored to ensure that any significant change in effort or workload results in a change of the salary distribution. Certification is required twice a year. The certification periods are January-June and July-December.
Q: How precise must my certification be?
Answer: Federal regulations clearly acknowledge that precise determinations are not expected, and that reasonable estimates are acceptable. To quote directly from OMB Circular A-21, "it is recognized that, in an academic setting, teaching, research, service and administration are often inextricably intermingled. A precise assessment of factors that contribute to costs is not always feasible, nor is it expected. Reliance, therefore, is placed on estimates in which a degree of tolerance is appropriate." Consistent with the Federal regulations, you are obliged to use your best judgment in your certification, taking into consideration all of the activities that you were engaged in during the course of the reporting period.
Q: Why can't a departmental administrator certify my effort for me?
Answer: University policy requires faculty to certify for themselves and their project staff. As noted above, Federal regulations require a certification that the salary charged is reasonable in relation to the effort expended. The regulations further require that the certification be signed by the principal investigator, responsible official or employee, using suitable means of verification. In the past, following the broad Federal requirement, the University has permitted a variety of individuals to certify effort, as long as they have the requisite knowledge to do so. The University with input from UTSystem has determined that best practices dictate that faculty self certify their effort. In addition, a principal investigator is now required to certify the effort of others charged to his/her sponsored project.
Q: Who is required to certify?
Answer: All faculty members who receive any portion of their salary from a sponsored project, or otherwise provide effort on a sponsored project, must self certify their effort. In addition, a principal investigator is required to certify the effort of most other staff who devote effort to his/her sponsored project.
Q: How often must I certify my effort?
Answer: Certification is required twice a year. The certification periods are January-June and July-December. There is a limited period of time during which the certification process may be done; each year, you will be notified when the certification period begins and the date by which the certification must be completed.
Q: Are there any other obligations related to Effort Reporting that I am obligated to fulfill in addition to certifying annually?
Answer: Yes, you should monitor your salary allocation, via ECRT or through your monthly statements of account, to ensure that adjustments are made timely.
Q: What is ECRT, and what is its relationship to Effort Reporting?
Answer: ECRT (Effort Certification Reporting Technology) is an online tool that facilitates both annual effort certification and monitoring requirements.
Q: Is training in effort reporting required, and if so, how will it be made available?
Answer: There are two types of training: one concerning the policies and processes of effort reporting and the other on how to use the ECRT tool. For faculty, support staff and administrators who are involved in research, the online effort reporting policy and process training module through HR MyTRC is mandatory. In addition, training resources about the ECRT tool also are available in this website. For more information, see the section marked “Training”.
Q: What happens if I don't complete the certification?
Answer: All faculty members are required to certify, within a timeframe mandated by the University. Failure to satisfy this requirement will be subject to the escalation schedule and corrective action plan that the university developed and implemented on June 1, 2010.
Q: My effort on the various projects which I work on varies during the year. Is it necessary for me to change the way my salary is funded to reflect short-term fluctuations?
Answer: No. The Federal regulations specifically acknowledge that this occurs, and state that short term fluctuations (such as one or two months) need not be considered as long as the distribution is reasonable over the reporting period (six months).
Q: I didn't know about these effort rules when I filled out my grant application. Is it too late to fix the problem now?
Answer: No. If you have concerns about your grant application, contact the Office of Sponsored Projects.
Q: Is there a maximum level of effort that can be charged to sponsored projects?
Answer: The required maximum level of committed effort for a university primary individual who has effort commitments on sponsored projects is as follows:
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Faculty Position |
Max Effort |
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Executive Leadership (Presidents, Vice Presidents, Deans, Institute Directors) |
70% |
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Academic Leadership (Department Chairs, Division Directors ) |
80% |
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Tenured and Tenure-track Faculty |
90% |
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Non Tenure-track Faculty |
95% |
There are rare occasions for a primary individual to be appointed 100% on sponsored projects. These occasions are rare due to the likelihood the primary individual will perform other activities whose costs are not allowable under OMB A-21.
The required minimum level of committed effort listed for a university primary individual is 2% on every sponsored project he or she is involved in. Exceptions to this minimum level of effort are granted for equipment and instrumentation grants, doctoral dissertation grants, and augmentation grants. The minimum level and the primary individual’s actual effort should be commensurate with his or her responsibilities on that sponsored project.
Exceptions to these minimum and maximum levels require review and approval by the respective Dean and the Executive Vice President for Academic and Research Affairs, by submitting a waiver to effort@uth.tmc.edu with all the required signatures.
Q: Can administrative staff be directly charged to my sponsored project?
Answer: Generally, administrative staff may not be charged to sponsored projects. There are, however, two major exceptions to that rule:
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where the nature of the administrative work relates directly to the science itself, or
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where the extent of administrative work required by the project is very significant (for example, a Program Project grant).
For further guidance, contact the Office of Sponsored Projects.
Q: Is the time that I devote to writing grant proposals chargeable to sponsored projects?
Answer: If the proposal writing relates to providing budget, technical and other materials on a continuing project (i.e., a non-competing renewal of an existing project), that time is part of the effort devoted to that project. For new proposals, if a portion of the proposal is a summary of work done on another sponsored project, that time may be charged to the other sponsored project. However, all other effort devoted to writing grant proposals for either new awards or competitive renewals of existing awards may not be charged to sponsored projects.
Discussion: This is a requirement set forth by Federal regulations. As a general rule, a portion of a faculty member's time devoted to writing proposals should be charged to non-sponsored sources, as is the case for time devoted to teaching and administration.
Q: If I conclude that I need to reduce the effort on (and therefore the salary charged to) my sponsored project, where will the funding for that non-sponsored effort come from?
Answer: Funding for non-sponsored activities such as teaching, administrative activities (including proposal writing as described above), as well as cost sharing on sponsored activities must be charged to non-sponsored sources (i.e., departmental funds). Under no circumstances may the costs associated with these activities be charged to sponsored projects; funding for these activities is a departmental and/or university issue and you should discuss this with your Chair and/or Dean.
Answer: Committed effort, also referred to as commitments, is the amount of effort proposed in a grant or other project application that is accepted by a sponsor, regardless of whether salary support is requested for the effort.
Commitments are specific and quantified, and are generally expressed in terms of a percentage of your time worked over a given project period.
A commitment is an obligation that the University must fulfill.
Q: Who must certify their Committed Effort?
Answer: All faculty at UTHealth including instructors and faculty associates must certify their committed effort.
