Effort Certification 2012 The Trimester System

1. Effort Certification 2012The Trimester System (as opposed to: certifying effort on your payroll timesheet)

2. Why so Quick?? • This project has been accelerated because Web Time Entry for Exempt faculty and staff members is set to pilot in the 4th quarter 2012 and be adopted in the 1st quarter 2013. • The research area did not want to train everyone on using the web-time entry solution since it is not going to be the long-term solution for certification.

3. Inter-Office Collaboration Both the offices of Human Resources and of Grants and Contracts Administration are working side-by-side all the way. HR provides the labor allocation, changes info. OGCA provides the compliance, Fed Regs info and the implementation. BOTH provide training from their perspective.

4. Effort Certification To reduce administrative burden, the University of Alaska is moving to an effort certification solution for salaried (exempt) employees to replace the current timesheet-based system. The University began semester-based certification of effort on restricted funds as of Fall 2012 Semester.

5. Federal Requirement Consistently applied, regardless of source: Effort reporting is a condition of accepting Federal funds. All individuals paid from, or with effort committed to, a federal-sponsored project are required to complete an effort certification report. (Exceptions: individuals supported 100% by fellowships with no additional compensation and Federal Work Study student employees.)

6. Federal Regulation 2 Code of Federal Regulations 220 says: J.10.c.(2)(e) For professorial and professional staff, the reports will be prepared each academic term, but no less frequently than every six months. For other employees, unless alternate arrangements are agreed to, the reports will be prepared no less frequently than monthly and will coincide with one or more pay periods. And because UA applies our regulations consistently, regardless of source of funding, whether you are paid off any fund two source, you must certify effort.

7. What Are the Changes? Effort certification for Exempt employees paid from restricted fund support is no longer tied to the Timesheet – there will be a separate certification form for effort. The Timesheet is just a Timesheet – it is meant to record exceptions to normal salaried payments. Follow your departmental rules for recording leave (annual leave, sick leave, jury duty, other).

8. How Will It Work? Percent of effort is planned to be certified on a semester-based period of time. Certification Payroll Periods and Dates: • Fall 2012 October 7 - January 12* • Spring 2013 January 13 - May 18   • Summer 2013 May 19 - August 24  • Fall 2013 August 25 – December 14 *one-time only due to late October 2012 startup

9. Semester-based Over the reporting period, it is anticipated that your percent of effort allocated to one or more sponsored projects will fluctuate from week-to-week, or month by month. Over a greater period of the semester, the amount paid off one or more awards will even out – to accurately reflect the allowable and approved percent of effort during the project period.

10. How it works….

11. Managing your time during the semester If you have salary exceptions (e.g., jury duty) to report, use the Timesheet. If you have no exceptions, you do not have to complete the Timesheet. Even if the certification language has not yet been removed from the old paper timesheet, you are not certifying effort – the new system supersedes the old system.

12. When do I Certify Next? Your last paper Timesheet certification was October 5th for the payroll period ending October 6th. The next certification document will be presented to Exempt employees in January 2013 and it will be to certify for the timeframe of October 7th – January 12, 2013. (because of start-up; next year will be mid-December)

13. Mid-Semester actions • Exempt employee leaves – UAF generates a mid-term certification within the Exit package • Exempt employee leaves without certifying – next individual with close to 100% knowledge of that individual’s effort will certify • New award received mid-semester – advise PPA to reallocate overall salary according to new level(s) of effort

14. Maintaining Accuracy • Work with your department PPA and grant tech(s) to keep your percent allocation on sponsored awards up-to-date. • Your PPA will be able to make changes to how your labor is allocated if your work on a grant changes during the effort period. Discuss the changes as soon as they happen so your grant effort certification statement will be accurate.

15. Paperless Job Processing (PJP- For Labor Changes • Via UaOnline, utilizing your unit PPA or F.O. • Changes default labor distribution charges for employees with existing assignments • Applied automatically to banner nightly • Email communications forwarded to appropriate participants

16. Positive Outcome… • Reduction of administrative burden for the Exempt employee (PI, co-PI, etc.) Plan salary allocation three times per year, but can change when necessary. • Reduced number of labor reallocations (instead of every two weeks, may happen three times a year) • Reduced number of cost transfers – certifications are meant to be corrected or affirmed when presented.

17. Resources • Complete resource page: http://www.alaska.edu/hr/hr-procedures/paperless-job-processing/lbrchg/ • UAF OGCA resource page: http://www.uaf.edu/grcon/effort-reporting/

18. Resources at UA • The site for the project is https://projects.alaska.edu/gec • The FAQ site is at https://projects.alaska.edu/gecfaqs Ask often, ask early – your questions will help populate the FAQs.