Effort Reporting Automation Overview for Pre-Reviewers

Changes in Process

Banner Self Service Module

• Same online system/menu where paychecks, etc. are viewed
• Pre-reviewers are added at the beginning of the effort process for accuracy
  • If effort is wrong and identified during the review process, payroll adjustments can be made and will automatically update the Effort report
• Effort reports will be distributed for signature to the employee themselves or the alternate certifiers will be able to assign to the appropriate certifiers to the reports
  • Once records are certified, approved and locked, no changes can be made without the records being unlocked by the Superuser
• Able to view the status of each report (awaiting certification, certified, unlocked and locked)
  • No more PDF distributions and logs
• Reminder: Effort reports only show percentages, no dollars

Overview Demonstration

Review or Certify Reports Page

Provides the status (Under Review, Awaiting Certification, Awaiting Refresh, or Completed) and state (Unlocked, Locked, or Changes Submitted) of the effort report.

1. Log into Self-Service (https://it.gwu.edu/gweb.)
2. Select Effort Certification.
3. The Certify My Effort page will come up.
4. Click on “Review or Certify Reports” – this tab is for pre-reviewers and alternate certifiers.
5. This view will display all effort reports assigned to you according to your role.
6. Double click on the effort report that you want to review/certify.

Effort Report Page

The Effort Report tab consists of sponsored and non-sponsored sections, providing a summary of the report status and dates for the effort certification period. Review, Request Changes, Add New Funding, and Save tabs are available. 

Pay Period Summary

The Pay Period Summary tab provides details of the pay periods, with the Funding Chart providing a graphical representation of the effort for that period.

1. Effort is correct, click on the Review button. 
2. If the Effort report is not correct, process the Labor Redistribution to correct the effort report. This will restart the Pre-review process.
3. If you click on the “Request Changes” button, you can send an email with the desired changes to your Department Administrator, who will process the labor redistribution.  This will change the effort report status.
4. Note: When selecting the “Request Changes,” the Labor Redistribution will still need to be processed in the Labor Redistribution module.

Comments Tab

The Comments tab can be used to add or view comments added by any member of the Routing Queue. Once comments are added, they cannot be updated or deleted.

Routing Queue Tab

The Routing Queue tab outlines the status of each stage of the Effort Certification process and the personnel assigned to each role. If you need to add a person to the routing queue as a Pre-reviewer (must have Human Resources Management & Development security to be added as a member), click on the Add Member button at the bottom left corner of the Routing Queue screen.

ALL Pre-Reviewers must review the report before it can be certified.

Review Effort Report

Once all pre-reviewers have completed their review, click on the Review button. It will be assigned to the Certifier and the Alternate Certifier.

Adding Proxy

A proxy is someone who can act on your behalf in Effort Certification, and can be assigned by a pre-reviewer, certifier, or alternate certifier.

1. From the ‘Review or Certify Reports’ tab, select ‘Proxy Super User’ in upper right corner of the page.
2. Click on 'Add New Proxy', then click in the box 'Select Employee to add as Proxy'. 
3. Begin typing the name of the person you want to assign as a proxy on your behalf. 
4. Select the person’s name when it is displayed.  (If the person’s name does not appear then that person does not have the proper Banner access).
5. That person will then be listed as a proxy in the Existing Proxies section. 
6. Click on the check box next to the person’s name to activate that person to be a proxy on your behalf. 
7. Then click on the 'Navigate to Effort Certification' application button to go back to your queue.

Viewing Reports as a Proxy

To view the queue, a proxy will need to select the name of the person for which they are serving as a proxy from the dropdown list in the 'Act as a Proxy for' section and then click on the 'Navigate to Effort Certification' application button to see the effort reports in the queue. After completing these two steps, the proxy will not see reports in his/her regular queue but only the reports in the queue of the person for which they are acting.

Labor Redistribution Process for Incorrect Effort

If the effort report is not correct and the labor redistribution cannot be processed:

1. Click on the Request Changes button.
2. Send an email to your Department Administrator outlining the changes needed.
3. The Department Administrator will process the labor redistribution.
4. After notification is received that the changes have been processed, the report will need to be reviewed and certified.

Running the Audit Report

1. Click on the link https://banner.gwu.edu/ to go to Banner Self Service in Production.
2. Click on Banner PROD Access URL.
3. Type PZRERAU in the box as shown below, and then click on Effort Audit Report (PZRERAU) to select it.
4. Enter the Effort Report Period parameter by clicking on the box with the ellipses (…).  You can also filter by selecting the other parameters (Researcher, Employee Home Orgs, Fund Codes, Report State/Status or PI GWId(s)).
5. Page Down and click in the Submission section (this has to be done to Save), then click on Save.
6. To view the report, click on the RELATED link in the upper right section of the page then click on the GZAPSTA Job Status Form.
7. Select your report once it has finished running (once the status has changed from ‘Running’ to ‘Finished’) then click on View Output.

8. To view the report, click on the RELATED link in the upper right section of the page, and then click on the GZAPSTA Job Status Form.
9. Select your report once it has finished running (once the status has changed from ‘Running’ to ‘Finished’) then click on View Output.

Contact Information

Effort Contact Information
[email protected]

Patrick Miller, Senior Compliance Specialist
571-553-3523
[email protected]

Gloria Cruz-Maldonado, Associate Director, Strategy & Compliance
202-994-0875
[email protected]