Departmental PAR Coordinator Appointments
The Departmental PAR Coordinator is an important link to the effort reporting process. They help distribute information and instructions to departmental faculty and staff and they are responsible for assigning access to PARs for supervisory staff. The departmental executive officer can appoint any administrative support staff member as departmental PAR coordinator. The Grant Accounting Office will provide instruction as needed for anyone who is assigned this duty. The PAR System could not function without the help and perseverance of the departmental coordinators.
Completing the Form
Faculty should submit their own effort certifications. Supervisory staff should complete the PARs for non-faculty staff members. The individual completing the PAR must have access to firsthand knowledge of the employee's effort and should fully understand the instructions for completing a PAR. If a faculty member is unable to submit their PAR, the DEO can be designated by Grant Accounting to submit on behalf of the faculty member.
Appointments Across Departments
A single PAR will be created for a faculty member whose appointment is split between two or more departments. The faculty member's Primary Appointment designation will determine which department has administrative oversight of the faculty member's PAR.
Non-faculty employees with separate appointments, either concurrent or sequential, will receive a separate form for each appointment with federally funded salary. If a non-faculty employee has a single appointment, but the individual's salary is funded by several departments, a single PAR will be created and the department responsible for the position will have administrative oversight of the individual's PAR.
University Appointment Effort
Except for individuals who have joint VA Medical Center appointments, effort included in the survey refers to those activities considered to be a part of the individual's University appointment, funded by salary paid by the University.
The PARs cover all (100%) of an individual's effort for the entire period covered. If a person works half time, and spends two hours every day teaching and two hours every day on research, their effort would be reported as 50% research and 50% instruction (totaling 100%).
Non-faculty staff members who have separate appointments in two or more departments will get a separate form for each appointment with federally funded salary and should report each appointment's effort separately. For example, if a secretary has a half-time position working mornings in Internal Medicine and a second half-time position working afternoons in Pediatrics, one PAR will cover 100% of Internal Medicine activity and the second PAR will cover 100% of Pediatrics activity. If a non-faculty staff member has a single position which is funded by more than one department, a single PAR is created and the department responsible for the position has administrative oversight for the PAR.
Faculty and staff are not expected to keep detailed records of their daily workload. Most of the data gleaned from the PARs are summarized and used for statistical analysis and reporting. It is important, however, that a reasonable estimate of actual effort be made when completing the PAR report.
Last reviewed: 12/26/2022