Timeliness of Certifying Effort

I. SCOPE

This policy applies to all faculty and staff who are required to annually certify their effort (as identified in GAP 200.170, Effort Reporting) to be in compliance with University and external regulations.
 

II. POLICY

It is the expectation that Effort Cards will be certified and processed via the online system Effort Certification Reporting Technology (ECRT) by the deadline date indicated in ECRT. Non-compliance with this policy can result in disciplinary action, including the prohibition of submission of new sponsored agreements.
 

III. GUIDELINE

Certification guarantees that the effort stated is a reasonable estimate of how the individual spent time over the fiscal year. All employees should certify their own effort report. Departmental management is responsible for ensuring that individuals participating in certifiable activities understand which accounts represent those activities and how their effort actually relates to those accounts. Additionally they should facilitate the timely certification and processing of effort reports. In ECRT, an Effort Coordinator has been assigned to each department to assist in the process.
 

IV. EXCEPTIONS

Exceptions must be documented and requested through the office of the Vice Dean for Research of the School of Medicine or the Vice Provost for Research as needed. Exceptional circumstances may relate to personnel that have retired, left the University, are out of the country, or for some other reason can not certify as specified above. Violations of this deadline do not necessarily mean that the related expenditure is unallowable from a regulatory perspective.
 

V. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

GAP 200.170, Effort Reporting

Office of Post-Award Administration

Corporate Payroll Services