Time & Effort

UNCW certifies effort through the Banner Effort System. 

On December 14th, the effort certification system was upgraded. Off-campus access doesn't require VPN/Horizon, nor Adobe Flash. The program will work on Windows and Apple computers as well as iPads.

As an employee, you must certify your work effort for all sponsored research projects you worked on. You can also request a change to your effort as needed. The Certify My Effort page displays all the effort report periods that are available for you to certify or have already certified.

Because effort reports are processed after the end of a payroll period, the work details displayed during the certification process may have occurred months ago. You are required to review the information and confirm its accuracy by certifying the report with a status of awaiting certification.

The effort reporting period is the period of activity covered by the effort report being certified.

1. The university has three (3) effort reporting periods corresponding to the fall and spring semesters plus summer. This complies with federal regulation 2 CFR 200.430(i) requirement that a system of internal controls be in place which provide reasonable assurance that charges accurately reflect work performed.
2. All exempt SHRA, EHRA non faculty, faculty, and graduate students not completing a timesheet reflecting 40-hour work week worked are required to complete Effort Certificates.
3. Effort Certifications reflect 100% of the employee’s paid effort; and includes instruction, scholarly, administrative, grant cost share, and that directly paid by grant or contract. Effort Certification is required of all paid employees that have Sponsored Program awards.
4. Employees requiring effort certification will be identified through the Effort Certification system. Certify My Effort percentages of effort are based on actual payroll expenditures posted in Banner HR and Finance. HR salary allocation and labor redistribution documents are approved based upon sponsored project award approved budget.
5. Effort Certificate reports will become available first day after the end of each period (January, May and September). An email will be sent to individuals required to complete certification. It is preferred that all faculty, non-faculty EHRA and SHRA employees certify their own effort. When that it is not possible the Principal Investigator (PI), chair or dean will be required to certify for them.
6. All graduate student effort must be certified by the PI, chair or dean. Supervisor can review.
7. The university requires only a certifier; either the employee or someone with direct knowledge of the subject employee’s effort, for completing the certification process.
8. Effort certificates are required to be certified within 45 days of the start of the effort certification period. One week after start of effort certification period weekly notices will be emailed to the subject individual’s supervisor (i.e., PI, Chair or Dean) and Director of Sponsored Programs and Research Compliance, as well as Associate Provost of Research and Innovation.
9. If an effort certification is still not signed and complete at the end of 30 days from start of effort certification period, the grant fund(s) applicable to that employee will be frozen by the university. At that time, any current HR actions will be moved to a state or trust fund designated by the Associate Provost of Research and Innovation.

1. Open the Effort Certification System by visiting the Banner Effort System
2. Login with your UNCW username and password
3. On the Effort Certification dashboard, click Advanced Search in the top right-hand corner
4. Enter W as the Chart of Account Code
5. Choose your Effort Period Code - Example [Term] [YYYY]
6. Select Go
7. Double click the row that that needs to be certified
8. Select Ccertify - You can also select Request Changes to send an email to SPARCEffortReporting@uncw.edu 
9. On the Certify Statement window click, "I agree" to certify the effort
   
   Note: The add funding feature is unavailable at this time

1. From the effort certification dashboard, and open the Advanced Search
2. Enter the last name of the graduate student in the Name field
3. Select Go
4. Repeat steps 7- 9

The Certify My Effort page displays all of the effort report periods that are available for you to certify or have already certified. 

Report Parts:

Effort Period Summary

Provides a monthly effort % breakdown.

Comments

Used to clarify any issues you have with the effort reported.

Routing Queue

Displays the roles assigned to individuals and holds the date stamps of when the record was certified.

Column Headers:

COA

Chart of Accounts (W is the code for UNCW that should be used in any search)

Period Code/Period Description

This is the code and period description assigned for the Effort Period. 

E.g., ESFALL20 represents ES-EHRA and SHRA employees; FALL is the Effort Period; and 20 is the Calendar year. UNCW has 3 effort period, each 4 months long- Spring Jan-Apr, Summer May-Aug, Fall Sep-Dec.

Name

Full Name Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial

ID

This is your 850#

Effort Period

Search by effort period by typing e.g.:  Fall (period) 2020 (cal. year)

Start Date

This is first day effort report is available for certification

End Date

This is the last day effort reports are available for certification

Grant#

6-digit grant fund number

%

The % is the wild card character that can be used to find more search results.

Send your questions to SPARCEffortReporting@uncw.edu and a SPARC Representative will reach out to you.

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions