Budget and manage effort commitments

Effort (either direct-charged or cost-shared) must reflect actual time spent on a project, whether internally or externally funded.  As soon as project work is commenced, those beginning the work must have their effort allocated to that project, either by charging to an established WBSE (if the award has already been received) or by setting up a code in advance (if the award is not yet received). 

Academic appointments or certain sponsors may require special considerations related to cost-sharing of effort. Follow your sponsor and school guidelines related to these exceptions as appropriate.

Whenever effort of project personnel is being adjusted during the course of the project, consult the sponsor guidelines and the terms and conditions of the award to determine if sponsor prior approval is necessary or if Duke can approve the change internally. 

Per Uniform Guidance § 200.308, some examples of prior approval requirements include: 

1. A 25% or greater reduction of time devoted to the project by the approved project director (PD) or principal investigator (PI) or other named Key Personnel
2. Any change (addition or removal) in Key Personnel specified in the application or the Federal award
3. Disengagement of PD/PI for 3 months or more (this includes leaves of absence, sabbatical, flexible work arrangements (FWA), or any outside appointment that reduces the investigator’s total available time at Duke to conduct research) 
4. Reducing the investigator’s Duke Appointment % thereby reducing the total available time at Duke to conduct research 

When requesting sponsor prior approval:

1. Address the scientific impact of any effort reduction or disengagement on the project; and
2. Submit a request to the appropriate office
   • Campus Schools - Submit the request to your SPOC in Office of Research Suport (ORS). See Who to Call to identify contact for your unit.
   • SoM/SoN - Submit the request to the Office of Research Administration (ORA) using the Submit a Request feature (MNMC Admin Action) in the top right menu bar in myRESEARCHhome.

Faculty investigators have a maximum of 12.00 calendar months (or less if the faculty's Duke Appointment % is less than 100%) for all activities associated with their role at Duke (including research); however, effort on research may not exceed 11.4 calendar months annually (or 10.80 calendar months if the investigator has a significant academic administrative role). 

Individuals are expected to commit (and charge – either direct or cost-shared) some level of measurable effort on sponsored projects (both externally and internally funded) on which they are listed as a principal investigator (PI) or key personnel with the exception of equipment and instrumentation grants, doctoral dissertation grants, student supplement grants, and institutional/individual training grants (for faculty mentors).   

• For School of Medicine investigators the Measurable Effort on Sponsored Projects and Protected Time for Non-Sponsored Activities policies apply. Accompanying guidance and FAQs for these policies: 
  • Measurable Effort on Sponsored Projects guidance and FAQs
  • Protected Time for Non-Sponsored Activities guidance and FAQs

It is important to take Duke Appointment and any outside activities/appointments into consideration when determining whether effort commitments are adequate and attainable, especially if the sponsor requires a certain minimum effort level commitment (e.g., NIH K award mechanism). 

Nine-month faculty appointments consists of an eight-month core which corresponds to the academic calendar established by the president each year (usually September through April) and a one-month period outside of the academic calendar. Responsibilities for the one-month outside of the academic calendar may be performed in any of the four remaining months provided that the timing of performance is such that commitments made on externally funded projects are met. Faculty members on nine-month appointments may receive summer supplements through the Duke University payroll system up to a maximum of three-ninths (3/9ths) of the base salary rate for the immediately preceding appointment term.

Summer supplements may be earned in May, June, July, or August depending on when the ninth month of the appointment term is taken. Grant recipients are expected to comply with the conditions of the granting agencies. For additional details, refer to Duke’s faculty handbook or school resources.

Sponsor minimum effort requirements

Certain externally-sponsored awards have terms and conditions that require the investigator to maintain a minimum effort level (for example, NIH Research Career Development “K” awards or NIH NCI-Funded Awards). The minimum effort must be calculated based on the total professional activities (for SOM, 12 calendar months), not just the Duke available time.

• Minimum effort requirements described in the Funding Opportunity Announcement, Sponsor Policy, and/or Notice of Award must be followed or prior approval obtained for reducing the minimum effort requirement.
• When determining whether there is sufficient time available to meet the minimum effort requirement, the Protected Time for Non-Sponsored Activities must also be considered.
• For more information on minimum effort requirements related to NIH K award mechanisms, access guidance on complying with NIH K award requirements.

All faculty engaged on sponsored projects must have and maintain protected time for non-sponsored activities, which may include time for teaching, proposal writing/preparation, service in an academic leadership role such as departmental chair/division head/director, service on university committees, mentoring, developing scholarly publications, and other administrative duties.

Access the Maximum Effort Funding on Sponsored Projects policy for guidelines, exceptions, and additional information. 

Commitment overlap occurs when an individual's effort commitments exceed the number of person months available in the individual's Duke appointment, whether or not salary support is requested. Any commitment overlap must be disclosed in an overlap statement in the Other Support or Current & Pending document and be resolved in conjunction with ORA/ORS, the PI, and Sponsor officials before work is commenced on the project.

The overlap statement helps Sponsor officials identify and resolve potential overlap (scientific, budgetary, or commitment). Identifying and resolving overlap ensures: 

• Sufficient and appropriate effort is committed to projects; 
• There is no duplication of funding for scientific aims, specific budgetary items, or an individual's effort; 
• Only funds necessary for the conduct of the project are included in the award 

Overlap Statement Examples 

When role on the project to be reduced is Sponsor Key (on project # U01-AR052186, in this example): 

If the proposal under consideration is funded, Dr. Teach will request Sponsor approval to reduce his effort from 1.8 to 0.6 calendar months on U01-AR052186. 

When role on the project to be reduced is a Key Person (on project # R01-NR010777, in this example): 

If the proposal under consideration is funded, Dr. Teach will reduce his effort from 2.4 to 1.2 calendar months on R01-NR010777. 

When roles on projects expire before new effort on proposal under consideration will begin: 

There will not be commitment overlap since R01-AG020162 and R01-CA076016 will both end August 31, 2023 and the pending project would not begin until December 1, 2023. 

When an investigator is on a leave of absence, sabbatical or has reduced effort due to a flexible work arrangement (FWA), the department/unit grant manager must ensure that:

• The dean/chair/director and ORA/ORS are informed in advance so that appropriate institutional approvals are secured; and
• All sponsor communication (including prior approval) is coordinated with ORA/ORS

When a rebudget is necessary, it is important to review the effort of all Key Personnel to ensure effort commitments remain compliant with the rebudgeted project. 

All award terms and conditions and effort commitments remain in effect during a No Cost Extension (NCE) period. If it will require less effort of Key Personnel to continue project activities during the NCE period, effort commitments may be reduced (subject to sponsor prior approval, if applicable).

Effective July 1, 2022, Duke University School of Medicine and School of Nursing (SoM/SoN) transitioned to a Faculty Appointment Model which represents a faculty member’s appointment as a percent of 12 calendar months. 

SoM/SoN Faculty will have 100% appointments unless they also have additional professional effort that includes: outside clinical obligations (PDC), VA Appointments, formally approved Flexible Work Arrangements, direct-paid DKU Appointments, direct-paid NUS Appointments, or other reduced schedules.

Access guidance and resources about the Duke Appointment Model.

Faculty members (with the exception of SoM/SoN) on nine-month appointments may receive summer supplements through the Duke payroll system up to a maximum of three-ninths (3/9ths) of their base salary rate for the immediately preceding academic year. Duke University defines an Academic Year as September through August; however, Summer supplements are calculated according to the fiscal year which is effective July through June. Summer supplements may come from a variety of sources (including University and non-federal) and may be paid over the span of the four months designated as outside of the academic year (as summer supplements are calculated for the fiscal year, rather than the calendar year the payments will be for: July, August, May and June).

However, if faculty receive summer supplements as a result of effort expended on federally-sponsored projects, the supplements must be booked and paid under the following conditions:

1. For any one month, faculty may charge no more than 75% of their effort to federal grants and contracts, including federal flow-through dollars. The distribution of pay should reflect the effort expended.
2. Over the four months, faculty may receive no more than two and a half ninths (2.5 effort months) from federal sources, including federal flow-through projects. Faculty may receive the remaining one-half ninth from institutional or non-federal funds.

An exception to the above conditions may exist when a faculty member is conducting field work or other off-site research during the summer. In these cases, faculty may devote 100% effort to their project(s), even those that are federally-funded. Such instances should be supported through adequate documentation, such as receipts, air travel, etc. that would be sufficient to verify the faculty member’s activity in the event of an audit.

Implications for academic year effort: Faculty may commit, perform, and receive compensation from federal and non-federal sources during the academic year. The distribution of pay should reflect the effort expended; therefore, faculty may commit and perform effort during the academic year and charge it to their grants. Practices for committing and managing effort on federal and non-federal funds during the academic year, and approaches to shared salaries, should be consistent within the faculty
member’s organizational unit, such as department, school or institute as applicable.

Federal sponsors have emphasized the alignment of effort and compensation. By applying this guidance, Duke University is providing faculty with the ability to recover a full three-ninths of salary in the summer from a combination of federal, non-federal, and Duke University sources and have the distribution of payments reflect effort expended.