SUBJECT:	New Effort Reporting System
DATE:	August 7, 2009

 

A new effort reporting system now being implemented at Duke University. As you know, effort reporting continues to be a significant compliance issue nationally and at Duke University.

Well over 65% of all sponsored program revenues are allocated to salary support, making effort allocation and reporting a critical factor in Duke's overall compliance program. Our current system, while adequate for the requirements of basic effort reporting, lacks the sophistication and advanced capacities needed for Duke's growing sponsored program portfolio. Our new system Effort Certification and Reporting Technology (ECRT) will enable Duke to manage the risk more efficiently. It is a web-based tool that should significantly increase the efficiency of the process related to certifying effort and reporting this data to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP).

ECRT provides significant functionality to manage effort beyond just the annual effort certification process. ECRT will be a much more comprehensive effort management and reporting tool and will include functionality to manage Total Professional Effort, streamline effort changes through iForm interface, and provide advanced reporting capabilities.

In September 2008, Duke selected a vendor to co-develop and implement ECRT. Over the past nine months, a team has configured and implemented the system which went live on July 1, 2009. The team included central administrators and representatives from departments across the campus.

Effort coordinators in your departments were trained in June and are now accessing the system to conduct a pre-review of the effort cards. This period started on July 1 and will extend through August 17 when the system will be made available for faculty and staff to certify their effort for fiscal year 2009.

Training for employees who must certify their effort is now available via web-based videos. You can access these videos to learn how to review and certify your effort at any time.

I encourage you to review this training at your earliest convenience. Your designated departmental effort coordinator will be able to assist you with questions, or you may contact the support group through email.

On August 24, the effort period will be opened for faculty and staff to certify their effort for fiscal year 2009. You will receive an e-mail that will provide direct access to ECRT and your effort card. You will be able to access your effort card, verify or adjust as necessary your effort allocation, and approve your card for processing by the effort coordinator in your department. You can also access ECRT through the Duke@Work website by selecting the ECRT tab or links from the MyResearch tab. The deadline for certification is September 17, 2009.

Once again, if you have any questions, please refer to your effort coordinator, consult the new ECRT website or e-mail your questions.

I hope that you will find this latest enhancement to sponsored program management to be a significant improvement over the old system, and thank you for your continuing interest and support of research compliance at Duke University.