Electronic Effort Certification User Manual

Transcription

1 Electronic Effort Certification User Manual

2 Confidential Business Information This documentation is proprietary information of Ellucian and New Mexico State University (NMSU) and is not to be copied, reproduced, lent or disposed of, nor used for any purpose other than that for which it is specifically provided without the written permission of Ellucian or NMSU. Data Standards adapted from General Person Data Standards, Document Number GP001, by New Mexico State University s Institutional Analysis Department. All rights reserved. The unauthorized possession, use, reproduction, distribution, display, or disclosure of this material or the information contained herein is prohibited. Ellucian, Banner and the Banner logo are trademarks of Ellucian. Third-party hardware and software product names and trademarks are owned by their respective third-party owners/providers, and Ellucian makes no claim to such names or trademarks. Use of this material is solely for the support of Ellucian Banner products and New Mexico State University.

3 Table of Contents What is Effort Reporting?... 1 Effort Reporting Roles & Responsibilities... 2 NMSU Business Rules... 4 Certification Timeline... 5 Process Flow... 6 Logging on to Banner Self-Service... 7 PI Portal Access... 9 How to Locate Your Own EEC Report How to Locate Other Individuals EEC Reports Search by ID Advanced Search Advanced Search Option A: Advanced Search Option B: Overview of the EEC Report How to Review/Certify an EEC Report How to Verify Effort Percentages Appendix A: Helpful Cognos Reports Appendix B: Identifying Roles using Banner Forms FRAGRNT FTMFUND Appendix C: Adding Comments Appendix D: EEC Routing Queue Appendix E: How to Get Stuck Effort Reports Unstuck Glossary Buttons Glossary... 38

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5 What is Effort Reporting? Effort Reporting is a Federal compliance requirement. Federal Guidelines 2 CFR Part contains the Federal regulatory requirements for certifying time contributed to sponsored projects. New Mexico State University requires all individuals who receive Federal sponsored funding to comply with University policies and sponsoring agency regulations regarding the proposing, charging, reporting, and certifying of effort for those awards. University faculty and staff are required to certify effort in a timely manner for all sponsored awards commensurate with the actual effort contributed to all activities they perform. At New Mexico State University, our practice is to utilize an online Electronic Effort Certification (EEC) system to certify EEC reports. Certification occurs twice a year to verify that salaries charged, or cost shared, to sponsored awards are reasonable and consistent in relation to the actual work performed. Failure to meet Federal requirements could result in loss of funding, audit findings, settlements, and damage to our institution s reputation. SPA strongly encourages departments to verify expenses frequently for both restricted and unrestricted funds to identify any potential errors requiring Electronic Labor Redistributions. This will ensure that the labor percentages on the EEC reports are accurate and will result in timely certification. SPA also discourages individuals with an active role in the EEC process to share logins or delegate the certification role on their behalf. All effort reports are subject to audit examination and require that only individuals with direct knowledge certify effort. July 2017 v4.5 Page 1

6 Effort Reporting Roles & Responsibilities Reviewer: This required role is held by the fund s Research Administrators, Principal/Primary Investigators (PIs) and/or Department Heads. Reviewers are assigned using the New Fund Number Request Form. Action Required: Reviewers are required to verify all data on the EEC report before completing the Review Action. Reviewers should work with appropriate personnel to verify all data is correct and make any necessary changes prior to the Certification Period. Review Period o o (Spring: August 1st August 31 st -deadline) (Fall: February 1st February 28 th -deadline) Notifications - Reviewers will be notified via the 1st day of the Review Period and an notification will be sent every Tuesday thereafter and every day during the last week of the Review Period until the Review process has been completed. NOTE: Delinquent notices will follow every business day after the Review Period deadline until the Review process has been completed. Notices will include the Reviewer s supervisor, department head, and/or the dean of the college Certifier: This required role is held by any employee who charges a percentage of their time to sponsored grants and/or contracts and is required to complete an effort report according to the NMSU Business Rules (page 4). Certifiers are automatically determined within the Banner system through their payroll funding source(s). Action Required: Certifiers are required to verify all data on the EEC report before completing the Certify Action. Certification Period o o (Spring: September 1st September 30 th -deadline) (Fall: March 1st March 31 st -deadline) Notifications - Certifiers will be notified via the 1st day of the Certification Period and an notification will be sent every Tuesday thereafter and every day during the last week of the Certification Period until the Certification process has been completed. NOTE: Delinquent notices will follow every business day after the Certification Period deadline until the Certification process has been completed. Notices will include the Certifier s supervisor, department head, and/or the dean of the college The assigned Financial Manager of a fund is listed as an Alternate Certifier on the EEC Routing Queue. The employee should certify their own EEC report unless SPA contacts the Alternate Certifier to take certification action. Page 2 v4.5 July 2017

7 NOTE: Refer to Appendix B for instructions on identifying Reviewers and Financial Managers using Banner forms. What it will look like in the What it will look like in Banner Electronic Effort Certification (EEC) system EEC Pre Review: FRAGRNT Personnel Tab Reviewer: EEC Administrator: FRAGRNT Personnel Tab Certifier: Individual who s effort is reflected on the EEC report Alternate Certifier: Financial Manager (Restricted): FTMFUND July 2017 v4.5 Page 3

8 NMSU Business Rules The following business rules are followed in the Electronic Effort Certification process. Effort is only certified for: Employees that are paid on grants and/or contracts. Regular payroll based on the following earn codes: o REG Regular Staff Earnings o RGA Regular Academic Earnings o RGG Graduate Student Earnings o RGO Temporary Staff Other o RGT Temporary Staff Earnings o RSF Regular Student Flat Rate o ASR Adjustment Special Rate o DFA Deferred Amount o SAB Sabbatical ½ Year Full Pay o SAP Sabbatical Full YR 60% Pay Salaried Employees based on the following employee classes: o A1 Faculty FT Reg Academic o A2 Faculty PT Reg Academic o A3 Faculty FT Temp Academic o A4 Faculty PT Temp Academic o AD Faculty FT Reg Deferred Pay o B1 Faculty Reg FT Annual o B2 Faculty Reg PT Annual o B3 Faculty FT Temp Annual o B4 Faculty PT Temp Annual o B5 Faculty FT Federal Annual o C1 Faculty FT Other o C2 Faculty PT Other o E1 Staff FT Reg Exempt o E2 Staff PT Reg Exempt o E5 Staff FT Federal Exempt o SG Graduate Assistant (RA/TA) PSL Employees will not certify effort but will enter time sheets in the Web Time system. Percentage of effort charged to each fund for an employee must be verified. o Variances of 5% or more must be corrected. o Corrections to effort are made via the Electronic Labor Redistribution process or through the Payroll Department. Individuals that meet the Effort Certification criteria will need to certify their effort. On the Fly queue members cannot be added to the EEC Routing queue. Once effort has been certified, the payroll records will be locked and Electronic Labor Redistributions cannot be processed unless approved by SPA. Page 4 v4.5 July 2017

9 Certification Timeline The Effort Certification process occurs twice a year and covers 6 months of effort. It is comprised of two major periods, the Review Period and the Certification Period, that last about a month long each. Effort Reporting Periods (naming convention): Spring: SPR20XX = certification for effort performed January 1 st through June 30 th Fall: FALL20XX = certification for effort performed July 1 st through December 31 st o o EEC Review Periods: Spring effort review: August 1st August 31 st deadline Fall effort review: February 1st February 28 th deadline EEC Certification Periods: Spring effort certification: September 1st September 30 th deadline Fall effort certification: March 1st March 31 st deadline July 2017 v4.5 Page 5

10 Process Flow NMSU Electronic Effort Certification Process: Sponsored Projects Accounting College/VP/CC and Principal Investigators Reviewers Employee Start A Run Extract Process to Create Effort Reports Review or Certification? Certification B Review Certification Notification Sent Review Period Notification Sent C Effort Reports Reveiwed C D Review Certified Effort Reports No Corrections Needed? Yes Effort Reports Reviewed All Certified? Approve Request Labor Changes No Corrections Needed? Yes Yes No Reminder Sent B A Certify Request Labor Changes End D A C Page 6 v4.5 July 2017

11 Logging on to Banner Self-Service Banner Self-Service provides access to the Electronic Effort Certification system. If you have access to the Research tab, skip to the PI Portal Access section on page Type in the address bar of your Internet Explorer web browser and press Enter. a. Using a browser other than Internet Explorer may lead to errors or display issues. 2. Enter User Name and Password then click the LOGIN button. 3. On the my.nmsu.edu home webpage, click on the Employee Tab. 4. Click on the Employee hyperlink. 3 4 July 2017 v4.5 Page 7

12 5. Click on the Effort Certification and Labor Redistribution hyperlink To take action on EEC reports, click the Effort Certification tab. NOTE: If you need to Review or Certify an EEC report for another individual, you will need to click the Review or Certify Reports hyperlink in the EEC system: The above link will appear between the Certify My Effort and the Proxy or Superuser hyperlinks on the Effort Certification tab. If it is missing, send a request to SPA for Web Tailor Access. The link will appear when access is granted. Page 8 v4.5 July 2017

13 PI Portal Access Directions for individuals that have access to the Research Tab 1. Type in the address bar of your Internet Explorer web browser and press Enter. a. Using a browser other than Internet Explorer may lead to errors or display issues. 2. Enter User Name and Password then click the LOGIN button. 3. On the my.nmsu.edu home webpage, click on the Research Tab. 4. Under the Finance section click the Effort Certification and Labor Redistribution hyperlink. 5. Click the Effort Certification tab. NOTE: If you need to Review or Certify an EEC report for another individual, you will need to click the Review or Certify Reports hyperlink in the EEC system: The above link will appear between the Certify My Effort and the Proxy or Superuser hyperlinks on the Effort Certification tab. If it is missing, send a request to SPA for Web Tailor Access. The link will appear when access is granted. July 2017 v4.5 Page 9

14 How to Locate Your Own EEC Report 1. Launch the Electronic Effort Certification system. a. Click Here for more information on Logging on to the EEC system 2. Select Certify My Effort. If you have an EEC report, it will appear here automatically. NOTE: EEC reports for other employees will not be found here. 3. If you do not see your EEC report, contact SPA. NOTE: Depending on your role and payroll allocations, you may/may not see data displayed. 4. Select the correct EEC report based on the information within the Period Code and/or Report Period columns. Period Code SPR20XX FALL20XX Report Period January 1 st through June 30 th July 1 st through December 31 st EXAMPLE: Page 10 v4.5 July 2017

15 How to Locate Other Individuals EEC Reports Locate individuals who have EEC reports that need to be reviewed or certified. Launch the Electronic Effort Certification system. a. Click Here for more information on Logging on to the EEC system Search by ID 1. Click Review or Certify Reports from the left menu. 2. Enter the individual s Aggie ID into the Search by ID field and click the arrow to the right or hit the Enter Key on the keyboard to start the search Select the correct EEC report based on the information within the Period Code and/or Report Period columns. Period Code SPR20XX FALL20XX Report Period January 1 st through June 30 th July 1 st through December 31 st EXAMPLE: July 2017 v4.5 Page 11

16 Advanced Search 1. Click Review or Certify Reports from the left menu. 2. Click the Advanced Search drop down arrow. 1 2 Advanced Search Option A: Click the Select Attribute drop down menu. Select Last Name and First Name from the list of drop down options then enter this information into the fields. o Search criteria must include both names or at least the first three characters of each followed by an asterisk. Click the Go button or hit the Enter Key on the keyboard to perform the search. Select the correct EEC report based on the information within the Period Code and/or Report Period columns. Period Code SPR20XX FALL20XX Report Period January 1 st through June 30 th July 1 st through December 31 st EXAMPLE: Page 12 v4.5 July 2017

17 Advanced Search Option B: Click Advanced Search drop down arrow. Click Select Attribute and select Chart of Account Code then enter N into the search field. Click Select Attribute and select Effort Period Code; the selector Button can be used to view a list of values available for selection. For effort performed January June, the effort period code is SPRXXXX (XXXX= year being evaluated) For effort performed July December, the effort period code is FALLXXXX (XXXX= year being evaluated) Click Go to perform the search and display results. July 2017 v4.5 Page 13

18 Overview of the EEC Report *Names & ID numbers have been removed to protect the privacy of the individuals used in the creation of this user manual. *The search results will display a list of individuals with EEC reports. The COA (Chart of Account Code) column displays an N. The Period Code column displays either Spring (SPR) or Fall (FALL) and the year of the period the EEC report belongs to. The Report Period column displays the month range and the year of the period the EEC report belongs to. The Last Name and First Name columns display the last name and first name of the individual the EEC report belongs to. The ID column displays the Aggie ID of the individual the EEC report belongs to. Start Date and End Date columns display Certification Period dates. The Status column displays the status of the record. o Awaiting Refresh/Unlocked This state is active after an Electronic Labor Redistribution (ELR) has been completed but the EEC report has not been refreshed (nor has it been reviewed or certified). o Under Review/Unlocked This state is active when a report is awaiting review. The payroll allocations can be adjusted with an ELR if necessary. ELRs submitted more than 90 days from the pay date will only be approved if there is an external contractual reason why the transfer must be processed. o Awaiting Certification This state is active when a report is awaiting certification from the employee. o Completed/Locked This state is active after the individual has certified the EEC report. No changes to payroll allocation for the effort period can be made without SPA approval. The Unlocked/Locked columns display the state the EEC report is in. Page 14 v4.5 July 2017

19 Double-click on the name of the individual to view the EEC report The numbers on the window above correspond to the descriptions in the following table. # Item Description 1 Tabs (also known as Modules) The main tab at the top of the Effort Reporting workspace allows you to access different types of information. The Effort Certification tab allows you to access information about EEC reports. 2 Links The left navigation pane contains a series of navigational links. 3 Main Workspace This is the main workspace window. A summary of the report period allocations between Sponsored and Non-Sponsored funding and the various funds charged can be viewed. 4 Right Sidebar Contains an overview showing the EEC report status, dates for review and certification, a funding chart and role of the user if logged in as a Proxy or Superuser. 5 Help Contains system help for the current open view. 6 Buttons Context-specific buttons can appear below the main workspace window if applicable. 7 Scroll Bars If more information is available than can be displayed in the workspace window; horizontal and/or vertical scroll bars are available. 8 Expansion Bar The arrow on the expansion bar feature allows you to open or close the sidebar to view the main workspace window in a larger view. 9 Close Button The close button closes the current EEC report and returns the user to the previous page. 10 Sign Out The sign out button is used to log out of the system. Failure to sign out properly may result in all EEC reports being locked from other users. July 2017 v4.5 Page 15

20 How to Review/Certify an EEC Report Effort percentages are determined by taking the six months of payroll for a particular Effort Reporting period (Spring or Fall) and averaging this payroll by fund. The system will take into account Electronic Labor Redistributions prior to and during the Electronic Effort Certification process. The Reviewer will need to work with their Principal/Primary Investigators (PIs) and/or Financial Managers (FMs) to determine if the reported percentages are correct. 1. Examine all EEC report information for accuracy. Percentage variances of 5% or greater must be corrected with an Electronic Labor Redistribution. NOTE: Contact your department s Research Center for more information on ELRs. 2. Click on the Pay Period Summary link in the left navigation pane to view the allocations by pay period. 2 1 The Pay Period Summary shows the allocations made during each pay period of the reporting period. 3. Use the Scroll Bar to view all pay periods included in the Effort Reporting period. 3 Page 16 v4.5 July 2017

21 4. Click on the Pay Period link to view additional details about the pay period allocations including Sequence, Position, Effective Date, Earn Code, Shift, COA, Index, Fund, Organization, Account, Program, Activity, Location and Percent details. 4 NOTE: In accordance with Federal Guidelines 2 CFR Part , only percentages are reported on effort reports. Cognos report HR-LD-287B Labor Expense Detail shows how dollar amounts are allocated. Refer to Appendix A for further details on this report. NOTE: Comments are not required for the effort certification process. Appendix C contains instructions for adding comments if necessary. 5. Click the Effort Report link in the left navigation pane to return to the Effort Report main page. 5 NMSU implementation team opted to not utilize the 6. Add New Funding and 7. Request Changes buttons as there was no value added. The team determined these corrections would be made via the Electronic Labor Redistribution (ELR) form. PLEASE DO NOT USE. Refer to below # 6,7and 8 on how to correct if accidently selected. July 2017 v4.5 Page 17

22 6. The Add New Funding button is not used at NMSU. 7. The Request Changes button is not used by NMSU. If clicked it opens an message with the subject line populated and prevents further changes from being made to the EEC report The EEC record will become available again when: a. It has been changed via Electronic Labor Redistribution or b. The requestor releases the record with the Clear Changes button (this button will appear after the Request Changes button has been selected even if the is not sent). Page 18 v4.5 July 2017

23 9. If the Clear Changes button is clicked, the following message will be displayed; answer accordingly. 10. Following the completion of any necessary Electronic Labor Redistributions, the Report Status will be Awaiting Refresh Unlocked Click the Update Report button to update the EEC report and verify the new effort percentages listed. NOTE: If the EEC report will not update, Click here for Appendix E: How to Get Stuck Effort Reports Unstuck. 12. Once the information on the EEC report has been verified, click the available button to complete the Review or Certify Action pending. The name of this button will vary depending on your role. a. Review available to Reviewers b. Certify available to Certifiers -OR- 11 July 2017 v4.5 Page 19

24 NOTE: Certifiers will receive a pop-up certification statement. Read the entire statement then click the I Agree button if applicable. NOTE: Comments are not required for the effort certification process. Appendix C contains instructions for adding comments if necessary. 13. After the Review/Certify button is clicked, it will disappear from the EEC record main page display. 14. The EEC report status will display as: a. Under Review: The status of the EEC report will stay as Under Review until the Reviewer has completed the Review Action. b. Awaiting Certification Unlocked: After the Review Action has been completed, the status of the EEC report will change to Awaiting Certification Unlocked. c. Completed Locked: After the Certify Action has been completed, the EEC report will display as completed and will be locked to prevent changes. 15. Click Close to return to the search results page. 16. Click Sign Out to sign out of the EEC system Page 20 v4.5 July 2017

25 How to Verify Effort Percentages 1. Before completing the Review/Certify Action on the EEC report, launch Cognos and sign in with your Aggie ID and password. a. (to get access to Cognos: Access.pdf) 2. In the search field enter HR-LD-287B, and then click the magnifying glass to initiate the search. 3. Click the HR-LD-287B Labor Expense Detail (Admin) hyperlink to open the prompt page for this report. If there are multiple reports, choose the (Admin) report with the most recent date. 4. All prompts on the prompt page are optional; the following are suggested but not required prompts. July 2017 v4.5 Page 21

26 5. Enter today s date into the To: field (this will allow the system to include any ELRs that have occurred between the beginning of the Effort Reporting period and now). 6. Enter the Aggie ID of the employee on the EEC report then click the Insert button. 7. Select the Labor option and the Labor Expense Detail option. 8. Click the button. Page 22 v4.5 July 2017

27 9. When the information is retrieved, extract the data into an Excel spreadsheet. 10. Complete the following adjustments on the Excel spreadsheet: a. Filter the headings on the spreadsheet. b. Sort the data by fund. c. Delete rows from the ECLS column that do not appear on the NMSU Business Rules under Employee Class. d. Delete rows from the Earnings column that do not appear on the NMSU Business Rules under Earn Code. e. Delete pay periods from the Payno column that do not pertain to the Effort Reporting period in question. For pay schedules see EXAMPLE: Spring: for PICT Salary Current-SC; only keep Pay no 1-12 I. EXAMPLE: Spring: for PICT Salary Lag- SL; only keep Pay no Subtotal the Excel spreadsheet as follows: 12. Subtotals for each fund will populate on the Excel spreadsheet. July 2017 v4.5 Page 23

28 13. Use the totals from each fund to determine what percentage of effort was contributed to each fund during the Effort Reporting period. Follow the color coded example below: NOTE: To preserve the privacy of the individual, some columns and cells not necessary to this example have been hidden. 14. Review the effort percentages on the EEC report. Variances of 5% or more must be corrected. Page 24 v4.5 July 2017

29 Appendix A: Helpful Cognos Reports RA-SPA-EEC Effort Report (Admin) A summary of effort for a specific individual for the selected Effort Certification Period; this report is similar to the EEC Report in the Electronic Effort Certification system. July 2017 v4.5 Page 25

30 RA-SPA-EEC Pay Period Summary Report (Admin) Summary of effort by pay period for the selected individual and Effort Certification Period. This report is similar to the Pay Period Summary page in the Electronic Effort Certification system. Page 26 v4.5 July 2017

31 RA-SPA-EEC Tracking Report (Admin) This report monitors the progress of the Effort Certification process. The report lists individuals with EEC roles (First 4 columns), the current status of each EEC report (Status), the date the last action was taken on the EEC report (Date Approved), and the locked/unlocked state of the EEC report (State). July 2017 v4.5 Page 27

32 HR-LD-287B Labor Expense Detail (Admin) Used to find effort percentages and provides detail of payroll labor expense and fringe expense. Page 28 v4.5 July 2017

33 Appendix B: Identifying Roles using Banner Forms The following Banner forms can be used to identify individuals with responsibility for restricted funds. For access to these reports, you will need appropriate Banner security access or may need to seek assistance from your Research Center for this information. FRAGRNT Using Banner form FRAGRNT, you can find the name of an award s Fiscal Monitor, EEC (Pre-) Reviewer, and/or EEC Administrator. 1. Open form FRAGRNT and enter the Grant number. Click the Next Block icon. 2. Click on the Personnel tab. 3. The name, ID, and will be displayed for each personnel indicator listed. 4. Use the scroll bar on the right to view other personnel assigned. a. Indicator 002: Fiscal Monitor b. Indicator 003: EEC (Pre-)Reviewer - Department Head c. Indicator 004: EEC Administrator - College/VP/CC President Representative July 2017 v4.5 Page 29

34 FTMFUND Using Banner form FTMFUND, you can find the name of the Financial Manager for a grant. 1. Open form FTMFUND and click the Enter Query button. 2. Enter the Grant number in the Grant field or the Fund number in the Fund field. 3. Click the Execute Query button to populate data. 4. The Financial Manager is listed in the Financial Manager field Page 30 v4.5 July 2017

35 Appendix C: Adding Comments Adding comments is not required when examining an individual s EEC report. However, if deemed appropriate, comments can be added using the following steps. 1. Click Comments in the left navigation pane Click the Add Comment button. 2 July 2017 v4.5 Page 31

36 3. Enter your comment in the space provided. 4. Once you start typing, the Save button will become active. Click Save to save your comments. 3 4 Your comments will appear on the Comments page with a date/time stamp. Once entered, comments cannot be deleted or edited. 5 Page 32 v4.5 July 2017

37 Appendix D: EEC Routing Queue The EEC Routing Queue logs actions pending/completed for EEC reports. For more information, click here for Appendix B: Identifying Roles using Banner Forms. 1. Access the routing queue by clicking Routing Queue link from the left navigation pane. 2. Each person having a role in the effort certification process is listed in the routing queue. Each listing will include: a. The person s name b. The action required by the person Example: Review or Certify c. The status of the person s action Example: Pending, Reviewed 3. The link will open a blank to the individual. 4. The Add Member button is not used by NMSU July 2017 v4.5 Page 33

38 Appendix E: How to Get Stuck Effort Reports Unstuck Update report doesn t work when all restricted funds have been moved to unrestricted funds: Verify that the funds on the EEC report are still restricted. If the department has submitted ELRs that will move all restricted funds to unrestricted funds, the EEC report will be stuck in the EEC system and error messages will be displayed. Contact SPA immediately to inform them of this problem (spa_sysadmin@nmsu.edu). Request Changes/Clear Changes: If the EEC report is displaying the status Changes Submitted, changes have been requested and the report is no longer accessible to individuals in the routing queue. It will be accessible again once the record has been changed via an Electronic Labor Redistribution or the requester releases the record with the Clear Changes button (this button displays after the Request Changes button has been selected, even if the is not sent). Click here to see the entire section on Request/Clear Changes or see pages Changes Submitted Examples: Page 34 v4.5 July 2017

39 ELRs in progress: When Electronic Labor Redistributions (ELRs) are in process, an EEC report cannot be reviewed or certified until the ELRs have been processed. If ELRs change effort percentages more than 5%, the EEC report will require a new review and certification. Individual not in the same Org: Verify that the EEC report relates to your organization (Org). Reviewers and Certifiers will only have access to view EEC reports for individuals that pertain to the same Org. If the effort report is associated with the Org and still cannot be accessed, review the funds. If all restricted funds have been moved to unrestricted funds an EEC report will no longer be necessary and will not be available to view. July 2017 v4.5 Page 35

40 Glossary Effort Amount or percentage of time an individual has charged to a sponsored award for a specific Certification Period. Individual effort is expressed as a percentage of the total amount of time spent on workrelated activities (instruction, research, patient care, administration, etc.) for which NMSU compensates an individual. Effort Certification A required electronic assertion using the Certify button in the Electronic Effort Certification system. This assertion is the understanding that the salaries charged to sponsored projects as direct charges or cost sharing reasonably reflect the effort contributed and work performed during the particular Certification Period. o This main process includes the distribution and certification of effort reports to designated Certifiers. This process will be set-up based on institution defined Certification Rules. Labor redistributions can happen during this process. Effort Certification Period The month-long interval reserved to certify semi-annual effort of the individuals that work on sponsored projects. o Certification Period - (Spring: September 1st deadline September 30th) (Fall: March 1st deadline March 31st) Effort Report Electronic or paper records that reflect the percentage of effort an individual has contributed to each sponsored project worked on within a specific six-month Effort Reporting period. Effort Reporting The mechanism used to provide assurance to Federal or other external sponsors that salaries charged or cost shared to sponsored awards are reasonable in relation to the work performed. o For more information see: Federal Guidelines 2 CFR Part Effort Review A required electronic assertion using the Review button in the Electronic Effort Certification system. This assertion is the understanding that the salaries charged to sponsored projects as direct charges or cost sharing reasonably reflect the effort contributed and work performed during the particular Review Period. Effort Review Period The month-long interval reserved to review semi-annual effort of the individuals that work on sponsored projects. o Review Period - (Spring: August 1st deadline August 31st) (Fall: February 1st deadline February 28th) Electronic Effort Certification system Online system utilized by NMSU via my.nmsu.edu to process and ultimately certify effort reports electronically. Electronic Labor Redistribution (ELR) A process that changes applied labor expenses and may impact the effort percentages reflected on the EEC report. Future changes to an employee s job labor distribution must be done via a Labor Personnel Action Form. Visit the Human Resource Services forms page at: to obtain the form. o Labor Distribution pertains to funds (Indices/FOAPALs) that pay for an employee s salary. If the original funds (Indices/FOAPALs) to which an employee s pay were charged need to be changed after-the-fact, an Electronic Labor Redistribution Form using Banner Employee Self-Service will need to be processed within 90 days of the pay date. ELRs submitted more than 90 days from the pay date will only be approved if there is an external contractual reason why the transfer must be processed. Page 36 v4.5 July 2017

41 Direct Knowledge Knowledge that comes from personal experience whereas indirect knowledge comes from someone else. Non-Sponsored Project Research conducted departmentally without sponsor funding (also known as unrestricted funding ). Percentage of Effort Percentage of effort is determined by taking the 6 months of payroll and averaging payroll by each fund. Regardless of employee status (Part-Time/Full-Time) all effort contributed and reflected on the EEC report equals 100%. This includes sponsored, non-sponsored, and gift funds. Sponsor Someone who provides the funding for research. Sponsored Projects Research funded by a sponsor (also known as restricted funding ). July 2017 v4.5 Page 37

42 Buttons Glossary Add Comment (pg. 21): Click this to open a text box that will be added to the Comments section of the EEC report. For more information - Click here to see Appendix C: Adding Comments. Add Member (pg. 23): Do not click this because this button is NOT used at NMSU. Add New Funding (pg. 15): Do not click this because this button is NOT used at NMSU. Certify (pg. 16): Click this only if the EEC report reflects your individual information and you are ready to complete the Certify Action on your own EEC report. By clicking this button, you are certifying that you have verified your EEC report and it reflects the correct effort percentages, and all other information is accurate. o Completing the Certify Action on an EEC report is required. NOTE: The Financial Managers of funds listed on EEC reports are assigned as Alternate Certifiers. An Alternate Certifier should have direct knowledge of the work that was performed and should verify that the EEC report reflects the correct effort percentages. By clicking this, you are certifying that the EEC report belonging to the employee has been examined by you (the Financial Manager) and all information has been verified to be accurate. Clear Changes (pg. 15): (If the button Request Changes has been clicked, the Clear Changes button will be displayed immediately after and individuals in the routing queue will not be able to access the EEC report.) Click this button to allow individuals in the routing queue access to the EEC report. Clicking this button will not actually clear any changes in the same way that the Request Changes button does not actually create any changes (just an ). Request Changes (pg. 15): Opens an message that can be sent to the appropriate ELR initiator. This button does not populate any information besides the subject line. Clicking this button will not actually create/request changes; only generate an heading. Review (pg 16): Click this only if you are a Reviewer with direct knowledge of the work that was performed and the EEC report reflects the correct effort percentages. By clicking this, you are signifying that the employee s EEC report has been examined by you and all information has been verified to be accurate. o Completing the Review Action on an EEC report is required. Update Report (pg. 16): Click this if the status of the effort report is Awaiting Refresh. This status is a result of ELR changes to an effort report. Updating the report will update effort percentages (if changed) and will give access back to the Review and Certify buttons. Page 38 v4.5 July 2017