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HOW TO CERTIFY ACADEMIC
CAMPUS EFFORT CERTIFICATION REPORTS:
GENERAL
Grants
and Contracts Accounting
Virginia
Commonwealth University
730 E. Broad St., VCU Box 843039
Richmond,
VA 23284-3039
(804)
828-8104
IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS, INCLUDING THE
ATTACHED DEFINITION OF TERMS, IN THEIR ENTIRETY, BEFORE COMPLETING YOUR
EFFORT CERTIFICATION. THANK YOU.
EFFORT CERTIFICATION REPORT INSTRUCTIONS
(General)
EFFORT CERTIFICATION REPORT INSTRUCTIONS
(Individual)
(For Faculty and Professional Staff)
GENERAL INFORMATION
Federal government regulations require effort certification for all
Professorial and Professional University employees whose costs are
charged either to (1) federally sponsored grants and contracts or (2)
two or more cost activities used for purposes of allocating indirect
costs to federal programs. The federal regulations require that this
certification be done for each academic term. The attached Effort
Certification Report, accordingly serves to index activities listed in
the Definition of Terms.
WHEN TO COMPLETE THE REPORT
Please make every attempt to complete and sign the Effort
Certification Report within a few days after receipt. Forward the
completed report to your department chairperson immediately upon
completion. Retain a copy for your records. Your department
chairperson will review the report to ensure that the distribution of
effort reported represents a reasonable estimation of the actual effort
expended by you during the term being certified.
HOW TO COMPLETE THE REPORT
STEP 1- CERTIFY TO EFFORT ASSOCIATED WITH DIRECT COSTS BY
COMPLETING THE UPPER HALF OF THE REPORT:
Information:
-
The upper half of the report permits you to certify to the direct costs associated with grants and contracts.
- The upper half of the report lists, by category and index, the
total salary charges generated during the reporting period. These
charges, presented for informational purposes only, appear under
the "REPORT PERIOD - SALARY CHARGES" column. While
compensation received by faculty for services rendered in an
overload or consulting capacity will be reflected on the effort
reports, these figures will appear below the "Total
Regular 100%" line and do not require certification. Only
those percentages comprising the "Total Regular 100%"
require certification.
- The "REPORT PERIOD - EFFORT" column presents a
percentage distribution, by index, of the total "SALARY
CHARGES" for the reporting period.
This distribution is
presented as guidance with the understanding that these
percentages may have correlation to the distribution of your
actual effort.
- Percentages listed under "ACCOUNT PERIOD - EFFORT" are
included only for information purposes. This column lists, by index,
the percentages of total salary charges effective for the
period during which the index was active.
REQUIRED ACTION:
- Ensure that every index to which your salary was charged during
the reporting period is listed. If accounts have been omitted, please
list the index name(s) and number(s) on the report under the
appropriate category. If the salary data shown is incorrect, please
write "Salary Data Incorrect", cross through the incorrect
data, and note the correct amount(s), if known. In addition, please
attach copies of available supporting documentation Personnel Action
Form (PAF) to
facilitate the processing of the required adjustments.
- Review, for each separate index, the percentages listed under
the column "REPORT PERIOD - EFFORT" to verify that they
represent the actual percentages of effort expended by you during
the reporting period. Should the pre-printed percentages differ
significantly from your actual effort, (plus or minus 5% of total
effort), cross out the pre-printed percentage and write the
correct percentage to the right of the pre-printed percentage.
NOTE: (1) SPONSORED PROJECT CHARGES IN EXCESS OF EFFORT EXPENDED
- Should you indicate on the effort report that the actual
effort expended on a specific sponsored program was less
than the pre-printed percentage, an adjustment must be made
by the University to reduce the salary charges recorded
against that program.
NOTE: (2) COST SHARING
- If you expended effort on a sponsored project from
which you received no direct salary ( i.e, cost sharing), special
accounting is required. List the sponsored Banner index number and % of
effort expended for mandatory and voluntary committed cost sharing.
- You are required to certify to 100% of your total effort.
Consequently, any change by you to a percentage pre-printed on the
effort report must be accompanied by a change(s) to a pre-printed
percentage in another category. Percentages certified must total to
100%. Percentages should be rounded to the nearest whole percentage
point.
STEP 2 - CERTIFY TO EFFORT ASSOCIATED WITH INDIRECT COSTS BY
COMPLETING THE "EFFORT SUMMARY SECTION" AT THE BOTTOM LEFT OF
THE REPORT:
Information:
- The Effort Summary Section of the report permits you to certify
to the distribution of effort associated with the indirect costs
of grants and contracts, which costs are included under the
category "ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES".
- The pre-printed percentages listed under the column
"EFFORT" are the same percentages as those listed in the
upper half of the report as category sub-totals.
- The four-digit numbers to the left of the cost categories are
data-entry codes and should be ignored.
REQUIRED ACTION:
- If you changed any of the category sub-totals in the upper half of the report, cross out the corresponding pre-printed percentage
listed under the "Effort" column in the Effort Summary
Section of the report, and write the correct percentage sub-total
to the right. Re-compute the 100% total.
- The percentage in the sub-total for the category of "ACADEMIC
DEPARTMENT ACTIVITES " must be allocated to the listed
sub-categories (i.e.- Instructional, Administration - Instruction,
etc.) these percentages should be written in the provided blanks
next to each sub-category heading, including those under
"HOSPITAL DUTY" (Health Science Campus only), and should
total to the percentage in the "EFFORT" column for the category entitled "ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT
ACTIVITIES".
STEP 3 - COMPLETE CERTIFICATION
REQUIRED ACTION:
Please sign and date the certification on the lower, right hand side
of the effort report. Forward the completed and signed effort report to
your department chairperson. Please note that, in the event a
faculty member or employee is absent, the Principal Investigator, where
applicable, or the Department Chairperson is to complete and sign the
Effort Certification Report.
QUESTIONS:
All inquiries regarding the Effort Certification Report should be
directed to your department chairperson. The Fiscal Administrator for
your school or division may also be consulted.
DEFINITION OF TERMS:
The Definition of Terms is an integral part of Effort
Certification Report Instructions.
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COST CATEGORY |
DEFINITION |
EXAMPLES
|
|
Organized Research |
Effort spent on specific research projects that
are separately budgeted and accounted for by the institution. This
includes the administrative effort directly related to participation
in those specific projects.
|
Federal, state, city or private foundation
sponsored, contracts, grants or research projects supported by
either Restricted or Unrestricted University funds where such
projects are controlled through the establishment of a separate
project or special purpose index. |
|
Research Cost Sharing Cost
Accounting Policy Cost
Accounting Salary
Cap Accounting
for Cost Sharing |
If there is cost sharing (mandatory and voluntary
committed), the employee must list the grant number where the cost
sharing was incurred and the amount of the cost sharing applicable
to that grant. University policy requires that the cost
sharing be recorded in a cost sharing index. Mandatory cost
sharing must be recorded in a specific index for the grant.
Voluntary committed and salary cap cost
sharing may be recorded in a cost sharing pool with mandatory and a
detailed analysis is maintained. All effort, including cost sharing, must total 100%. |
|
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Educational Service Agreement |
Effort spent on specific sponsored training
projects that are separately budgeted and accounted for by the
institution.
|
-
Summer
institutes - Special
training programs for selected participants
- Development
and introduction of new or expended courses
- Special
research training programs
- Instructional-oriented undertaking
|
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Educational Service Agreement Cost Sharing
|
If there is cost sharing (mandatory and voluntary
committed), the employee must list the grant number where the cost
sharing was incurred and the amount of the cost sharing applicable
to that grant. University policy requires that the cost
sharing be recorded in a cost sharing index. Mandatory cost
sharing must be recorded in a specific index for the grant.
Voluntary committed and salary cap cost
sharing may be recorded in a cost sharing pool with mandatory and a
detailed analysis is maintained. All effort, including cost sharing, must total 100%. |
|
|
Other Sponsored Activities |
Effort spent on programs and projects financed by
Federal and non-Federal agencies and organizations, other than
Organized Research and Educational Service Agreements. |
Public Service activities |
|
Capitation
(No longer used) |
Professional Allocations. Effort associated with
direct salary charges against capitation grants. Individuals
receiving salary support from capitation grants should disregard the
effort percentage that has been pre-printed for those grants.
Distribute the pre-printed rate of effort to another cost category
where you’ve received direct University salary support. 100%
capitation salary support should be allocated to other sponsored
project cost categories "1000 research" or "1200
Educational Service Agreements".
Re-distributed capitation support is direct salary
and therefore cannot be cost shared to another sponsored project.
|
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Academic Department Activities
Instruction/Department Research
|
Effort expended on instruction related activities
dedicated to:
General Academic Instruction
Instruction - Medicine
Instruction - Dentistry
Off Campus Academic Instruction
Summer Sessions
Community Education Programs for which Continuing
Education Units (CEU’S) is awarded.
Effort spent pursuing one’s own professional
interests through research, writing, etc. where such pursuits are
not directly related to specific course instruction nor course
preparation. This effort is neither separately budgeted nor
accounted for and is supported by departmental funds not
specifically designated as research. |
-
Teaching
- Course and
curriculum development
- Academic
advising
- Those
occasions when residents and interns are in attendance with
medical students. (Does not include effort expended in the
supervision of residents and interns).
- Scholarly
Activities, such as:
- preparing papers
-
delivering papers
-
attending seminars
-
professional society meetings
|
|
|
Administration - Instruction
|
Administrative effort expended at the departmental
and school level that exclusively benefits instruction. |
- curriculum
- admissions
- faculty candidates
|
|
Administration - Sponsored Projects |
Administrative effort at the departmental and
school level that exclusively benefits organized research. |
(Does not include direct administrative effort
which benefits non-sponsored research)
- Counseling of
personnel assigned to research projects
- Editing and
publishing of research reports
- Completion of
reports required for compliance with Federal research regulations
- Staffing
research activities
- Participation
in on-site visits by Federal sponsors
(Does not include direct administrative effort
related to participation in specific organized research projects) |
|
Administration - Students |
Administrative effort expended at the departmental
and school level in performing activities related to student affairs
and student services. |
|
|
Administration - Departmental
|
Effort expended at the departmental and school
level that cannot be discretely assigned to specific activities such
as instruction or research but benefits all departmental activities. |
|
|
Public Service
|
Effort expended on University-directed activities that are established to provide
non-instructional services, services beneficial to individuals and groups
external to the institution. In general, these
activities are separately budgeted and accounted for by the institution, and include
community service programs and cooperative
extension services for which no academic or continuing education credit
is awarded.
|
University-directed activities directed to
particular sectors of community such as:
- conferences
- institutes
- general advisory services
- referencing bureaus
- consulting
|
| Other Institutional
Activities |
Effort expended on
activities are not defined above. |
|
Exhibits:
Effort
Certification Log - Academic Campus
Effort
Certification Report - Academic Campus
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