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Effort Reporting/TEARS Roles and Responsibilities

Principal Investigator/Employee

  • Adhering to the college/department prescribed effort planning process.
  • Actively participating in the on-going effort planning process for his/her activities throughout the reporting period.
  • Communicating planned activities to department/college personnel so appropriate payroll distribution actions can be entered.
  • Communicating changes to planned activities to department/college personnel as soon as they are known so appropriate distribution adjustments can be entered.
  • Ensuring appropriateness and accuracy of all effort expended on their sponsored projects.
  • Ensuring that mandatory and voluntary cost sharing obligations are met.
  • Verifying and certifying that the activities presented on the effort report are reasonable in relation to actual work performed.

College/Department

  • Creating and maintaining a documented effort planning process.  Assigning  a TEARS Coordinator to oversee the effort planning and certification process.
  • Establishing personnel actions for monthly-paid and graduate student employees in the University payroll system on a timely, prospective basis to ensure accurate payroll charges to sponsored projects based on planned work activities to be performed by employees.
  • Ensuring that employees working on sponsored projects as part of the University’s cost sharing commitment or working on sponsored projects and paid directly by the sponsor have effort documented and are scheduled to receive effort reports.
  • Ensuring the timely review, adjustment and certification of effort reports in compliance with Federal deadlines. Ninety (90) days are allowed after the end of each TEARS survey period for the review, adjustment and certification of effort.
  • Reviewing certified effort reports to ensure they have been properly completed.
  • Coordinating retroactive payroll adjustments affecting sponsored projects or other pay sources for subject employees with the effort certification process to ensure that all adjustments to effort reports and related payroll charges are completed within the 90-day period allowed for changes.
  • Monitoring and maintaining committed levels of effort on sponsored projects.
  • During the monthly project reconciliation process reviewing salary distributions for appropriateness and accuracy of actual work activities and making any necessary adjustments.

Office of Contracts and Grants

  • Establishing internal and campus procedures for effort reporting which are consistent with the requirements of OMB Circular 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance).
  • Producing effort reports on a periodic basis and distributing them to the colleges for employee review and certification.
  • Retaining all certified effort reports for audit purposes.
  • Monitoring College responsibilities related to effort reporting to ensure University compliance.
  • Providing assistance to College business officers, College TEARS coordinators and University employees with effort reports.
  • Ensuring that the effort reporting system is functioning in accordance with Federal regulations.