Appoint Project Personnel

Best Practice

Effort Reporting Methods and Expectations: Appoint project personnel as soon as they begin working on the project. Most faculty, staff, and students report and certify time (effort) based on the Plan Confirmation Method, or anticipated effort needed, so effort should reflect the anticipated level of effort (time) they will be spending.

Review sponsor guidelines for guidance regarding sponsor salary limitations. Refer to Handling Salary Over the Cap resources for assistance with complying with DHHS salary caps.

Faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, students, consultants and others may be involved as project personnel on a sponsored project. Personnel must be appointed to projects in a timely manner to ensure salary expenditures are captured appropriately. Below are a few common personnel types and mechanisms for indicating they are working on a sponsored project.

M-Pathway Human Resource Management System / Personnel Action Request [PAR] Department Budget Earning [DBE]

Access required: HR PAR UPDATER role via the Online Access Request System (OARS)

Required My LINC training: HRE107 Unit: Processing Personnel Action Request (PAR) Transactions.

Training Resources: MyLINC Personnel Action Request (PAR) User Resources

To process a PAR Transaction without M-Pathways access submit a case to the HR Solutions Center via the self service page and a PAR request will be created by the HRSC.

Medical School Guidelines for establishment of subprojects:

Primary Unit – the home department / unit of the Principal Investigator

Secondary Unit – departments / units of the participating collaborators

  • The minimum faculty effort for which a subproject is required, when requested, is 5%.

  • Secondary units may request a subaccount for effort less than 5%, but the primary unit is not obligated to agree to set up the subaccount.

  • Conversely, secondary units are not obligated to accept subaccounts from the primary unit if their effort is less than 5%.

  • For proposals with significant non-faculty expenses on a grant in a secondary unit, but with less than 5% faculty effort, a subproject is a reasonable expectation if the project will use the secondary unit's facilities or administrative resources.

PeoplePay

PeoplePay is the transaction process used for paying for services from individuals and ensures payments meet university requirements and IRS rules governing the taxation of payments to individuals. PeoplePay transactions for payment of services to individuals are subject to procurement policies, including the competitive bid process if applicable. Some transactions are processed by the payroll department and some transactions are processed through Procurement Services. The PeoplePay website offers a Decision Tool to determine how to pay a person as well as training and forms.