Committed Effort vs. Compensated Effort in University Research
Effort
Effort is defined as the amount of time spent on a particular activity. For an organized research effort, this would include the amount of time spent performing research activities; collaborating with colleagues on the research activity; and documenting, publishing, and presenting results related to the research activity.
Committed Effort
Amount or percentage of time typically reflected in person-months, an individual has communicated to the sponsor that they will work on a specific sponsored project over a specified period of time. Committed effort may be adjusted with the approval of the sponsor.
Committed effort should align with the faculty member's workload capacity and other professional commitments, including teaching, administrative responsibilities, and other research activities.
It is critical to accurately estimate and report committed effort during the proposal stage to secure appropriate funding and establish realistic project expectations.
Committed effort is like a pie that is not bound by 40 hours in a week. It is a percentage of your total professional effort. Some people's pies are bigger than others.
Compensated Effort
Actual salary requested and/or paid from a grant/project.
All compensated activities must be included on each employee’s effort report and are represented as percentages adding up to 100%.
Learn more about Academic Year Salary (Compensated Effort) Recovery Guidelines
Memo to faculty from Provost Burish - November 2019
Academic Year Salary Recovery Guidelines
To learn more about the University’s Effort Reporting System, please see the policy below or contact Research & Sponsored Programs Accounting.