OVERVIEW OF UF S NEW EFFORT REPORTING SYSTEM Faculty Assignment Report Commitment Module Effort Certification Chris Peters, Effort Coordinator School of Forest Resources and Conservation 846-0100 / chris83@ufl.edu
PRESENTATION OVERVIEW Effort Reporting Why is it important? How does it impact you? The New Effort Reporting System Implementation Faculty Assignment Reports Module Effort Commitments Module Effort Certification Module Tips for maximizing accuracy and minimizing corrections
WHY IS EFFORT REPORTING IMPORTANT? A recent Gainesville Sun headline reported, UF will repay $192,000 over mishandled grants Published: Gainesville Sun Tuesday, September 20, 2011 Nathan Crabbe, Staff writer This article cited, in addition to other practices, misappropriation of effort; repercussions were fines, loss of grant dollars, and employment termination
HOW DOES THIS IMPACT YOU? Effort Reporting UF receives federally-sponsored projects. Compliance with OMB Circular A-21 guidelines. http://www.fa.ufl.edu/costanalysis/charging-costs.asp http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_a021_2004 Effort Reporting is the method by which UF honors and accounts for agency commitments. New online FAR reporting process. New online Effort Certification process.
IMPLEMENTATION STEP ONE Online Faculty Assignment Reporting (FAR) Mandated for Summer 2012 (optional for Summer and Fall 2011, Spring 2012) Replaces the paper version (SFAR) Effort reported on the FAR is derived from the» Course Schedule (existing process)» C&G Commitment Module (new process), and» Unit Leader/PI communications (existing process) (Unit Leader = Dean/Director/Department Chair/Center Director) Improves proactive planning of effort Note of Importance: It remains the responsibility of the Unit Leader to review and assign effort to be performed. The system itself is structured so that the Unit Leader approves a planned effort assignment, and PI acknowledges their planned effort assigned.
LIFECYCLE OF A FAR Unit Leader (Tim White) and PI discuss planned effort Faculty will receive electronic notification to acknowledge FAR When acknowledged YOU RE DONE! Planned effort is input on FAR by FAR Initiator (Chris Peters) Chris submits to Tim for final approval Chris works with Tim& PI to address any FAR errors
Formal courses -- classroom Masters & PhD students total ALL committees CRIS project effort: Hatch, Multistate, McIntire Stennis use comment bubble for % effort per CRIS project ALL 201/209 regardless of T/R/E function sponsored projects Report as general if not integrated or multistate; refer to link to detail for definitions
OVERVIEW OF NEW COMMITMENT MODULE FEEDS DATA INTO THE FAR AND EFFORT CERTFICIATION MODULES Contracts & Grants has asked that we complete Commitment Collection Forms for every project according to the proposal and award Proper entry is essential (e.g., direct charged salaries vs. committed cost sharing) Direct charged salaries on a grant should reflect actual effort on the grant. In this new system, spreading salary evenly throughout the life of the award is ideal compared with lumping it all into one semester
IMPLEMENTATION STEP TWO Online Effort Certification Effort reported on the FAR transfers to your Effort Certification Information is derived from the» Instructor Workload File (IWF) (existing process)» C&G Commitment Module, and» Unit Leader/PI communications (Unit Leader = Dean/Director/Department Chair/Center Director) Requires PI to certify own effort and effort of employees paid from their sponsored projects PIs must work closely with Effort Coordinators to address any errors before certification of effort can be completed. Note of Importance: Employees supported by sponsored projects will route to the project PI for effort certification. Unit Leaders do not certify sponsored activities; accountability for sponsored projects is placed upon the project PI to ensure effort is appropriately accounted for and within the scope of the sponsored project.
LIFECYCLE OF EFFORT CERT PI works closely with Effort Coordinator (Chris Peters) to address any errors Effort Certification is complete and should archive automatically to Cost Analysis YOU RE DONE! Chris advances the Effort Cert to PI for certification PI approves Effort Report Note: PI will have to check box agreeing to verifiable means PI reviews; if changes needed PI can change % effort or deny it to Chris for changes
Faculty / PI Certification
Faculty / PI Certification
Faculty / PI Certification You have a choice, to either certify the record, or deny back to me for adjustments
Faculty / PI Certification
Faculty / PI Certification
Faculty / PI Certification Certification Complete
HOW TO MAXIMIZE ACCURACY AND MINIMIZE CORRECTIONS EACH SEMESTER, REVIEW TEACHING ACTIVITIES Ensure course activity is reported in the Instructor Workload (IWF) Review committee assignments for thesis & dissertation reporting
HOW TO MAXIMIZE ACCURACY AND MINIMIZE CORRECTIONS EACH SEMESTER, WORK WITH YOUR GRANTS SPECIALIST (CHRIS PETERS) TO ENSURE CURRENT & NEW GRANTS ARE REFLECTING CORRECTLY. C&G Commitment Module is the repository of directcharge and cost-share commitments Commitments are person-specific. If you plan to change who or how formal commitments are met, you will need to submit Commitment Collection Forms to update the C&G Commitment Module Make sure direct charges and cost sharing are recorded correctly in the commitment module
HOW TO MAXIMIZE ACCURACY AND MINIMIZE CORRECTIONS EACH SEMESTER, WORK CLOSELY WITH YOUR PAYROLL LIAISON (CAROL BLANKENSHIP) TO ENTER DIRECT-CHARGE SALARIES ACCURATELY AND TIMELY. Ensure you are not charging more salary to a grant than committed and approved by agency
HOW TO MAXIMIZE ACCURACY AND MINIMIZE CORRECTIONS General questions to ask for best reporting practices Am I teaching courses this semester? Do I have any committee assignments? Do I have any grants? Am I cost shared or do I need to pay direct-charged salaries? Do I have any Formula Funding Effort? CRIS projects that are Hatch, Multistate or McIntire Stennis, and should be reported under formula funding on the FAR/Effort Report. Have I reported Extension activity correctly? Extension effort for faculty with a Research and Extension assignment is considered integrated.
HOW TO MAXIMIZE ACCURACY AND MINIMIZE CORRECTIONS Notes of Importance: The accuracy of the FAR greatly impacts the ease of completing Effort Certification. If discrepancies on the FAR are allowed to roll forward to the Effort Certification, more work will be required to correct discrepancies. It is highly advantageous to place emphasis on accurate reporting of assignments on the FAR rather than reactive corrections!
Q & A
Thank you for attending. Please contact appropriate staff should you have additional questions. Chris Peters, Effort Coordinator School of Forest Resources and Conservation 846-0100 / chris83@ufl.edu ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE: Donna Dyer, Effort Coordinator UF/IFAS, Budget and Finance 273-3592 / dkb@ufl.edu Brenda Harrell, Manager UF Cost Analysis 392-5778 / bbh@ufl.edu Armando Ramirez, Policy and Planning Analyst UF Office of Institutional Planning and Research 392-0456, ext 219 / aramire@ufl.edu