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6. How to certify your effort with ECRT

Effort reporting

How do I know when to certify?

  • UMass Dartmouth certifies effort on an Annual basis.
  • the Certification will cover the previous Fall, Spring and Summer sessions.
  • You will be notified via a system generated email when it is time to certify.

How do I certify my effort?

  1. Log onto UMASSD.EDU
  2. Go to MYUMASSD
  3. Under “Quick Launch” pick ECC System.
  4. This will bring you to the Welcome screen
  5. Hit the Continue button

Figure 1. Example of the Welcome screen for the Employee Compensation System (ECC). There is a search bar and personalized greeting in the top right corner, the UMass Dartmouth logo in the top left corner, and a generalized description of what the ECC system is for, along with a Continue button to move to the next screen.

  1. You will be brought to your work list. Click on your name

Figure 2. Example of a work list in the ECC System. Toolbar across the top has options for Home, Certify, Administration, Links, Home Page, and About. Column for the Statements Awaiting Certification includes Statement owner, Department, Period, Due Date, Type, Status and PI.Includes columns

    • Here is an example of an effort card. It is broken out in two different segments. The top is Sponsored Effort and the bottom is Non-sponsored Effort.

Figure 3. Example of effort card. Top portion (Sponsored effort) includes information for individuals working on the project and their certification, the bottom portion (Non-sponsored effort) includes a table listing Accounts, Commitments, Payroll Dollars, Payroll, Revised Cost Share, Completed Effort, Certified Effort and a Certify? column. More detailed explanations follows within the content.

Commitments column

The Commitments column details the percentage of effort you committed to each project for the certification period. It is imported directly from PeopleSoft, which is based upon percentages allocated to each award.

If there is a difference greater than 5% between committed effort and certified effort, an explanation
must be added in the Notes section.

Figure 4. Example of effort card detailing the Accounts and Commitments columns with activities and percentages performed.Payroll and cost share columns

The Payroll Dollars column lists the payroll dollars charged to each project during the certification period.

The Payroll column details the percentage of effort calculated based upon the payroll dollar amount expended for the certification period. These details are imported directly to ECC from PeopleSoft.

The Revised Cost Share is used by the Effort Coordinator to Include Cost Share. All Cost Share effort is detailed in the Non-Sponsored section and entered by ORA per the award cost share commitment.

Figure 5. Example of effort card detailing the Payroll Dollars, Payroll, and Revised Cost Share columns. More detailed explanations of these columns can be found in the following content.Computed effort and certified effort columns

Computed effort is what the system has calculated based upon your payroll data. You are able to adjust in the Certified Effort column if your effort was different for the certification period. If the variance between the Computed column and Certified Column is greater than 5%, a note must be added to the card

Figure 6. Example of effort card detailing the Computer effort, Certified effort and Certify? columns. More detailed explanations of these columns can be found in the following content.In this case , the Certifier moved 3% of effort from the Non Sponsored line to the last project on the Sponsored section. Since the total must equal 100%, certified effort for Non Sponsored must be reduced by 3% to now equal 81%. The PI should add a note in the notes section to account for the change in effort. (Notes are required for changes in excess of 5%).

After any changes be sure to click the Save on the bottom right.

Figure 7. Example of effort card; a red box indicates changes in the Computed Effort and Certified Effort columns. Further explanation can be found in the following content.

Adding a note or attachment

  • To add a note, click on the icon next to Notes. A box will pop up where you can record any pertinent information.
  • If you wish to attach a file, click on the icon next to Attachments. You will be able to browse your folders and attach.

Figure 8. Close up of the bottom of the effort card indicating Certify? column

If the amounts in the Certified Effort Column are accurate, click the boxes. (Effort must equal 100%)

Click the Save button and then the Certify button.

Figure 9. Example of effort card detailing the CCertify? column. A more detailed explanation of this column can be found in the following content.After you hit the Certify button, you must wait for this window to pop up and then hit the I Agree button.

Figure 10. Example of the Certification Attestation Effort screen which includes, the date period as well as info such as: Covered individual, title, Department, Email, Status, Location, Appointment, Effort Coordinator, a certification statement, and How do I certify my employees' effort?

After you certify, your screen will default to the next name on your worklist.

You only need to check the Sponsored Effort Certify box. Then follow the same procedure as detailed for PI certification.

Figure 11. Example of effort card. Top portion (Sponsored effort) includes information for individuals working on the project and their certification, the bottom portion (Non-sponsored effort) includes a table listing Accounts, Commitments, Payroll Dollars, Payroll, Revised Cost Share, Completed Effort, Certified Effort and a Certify? column. More detailed explanations follows within the content.Key points

  • Effort must equal 100%.
  • Any manual changes to certified effort should have an explanation recorded in the Notes section.
  • If you have any questions or issues, please contact Catherine Palmer in the Office of Research Administration at cpalmer1@umassd.edu