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ASRSP News & Updates 

Effort Reporting: The first semi-annual effort reporting cycle will begin soon. Please note the following pertinent dates: 

The Effort Reporting System (ERS) will be down from March 26 - 28, 2024 while the Fall/Winter 2024 (FW2024) effort reports are initiated. 

FW2024 reports will be distributed no later than Monday, April 1. Effort reports will be due 4 weeks after the release of reports.  

The finalized FY2024 effort reporting cycles are listed below.  

		

The next Effort 102 class is scheduled for March 29 and is held on a monthly basis. Access to ERS cannot be granted until Effort 101 & 102 are completed. Both classes are available on MyHR Learn. Questions may be directed to Tina Mete.

NIH Training Grants: ASRSP is developing resources to support administration of NIH training grants. In the meantime, please retain the following guidance on departmental responsibilities for current trainees.    

Funding Levels: NIH funding for NRSA grants currently remains at FY2023 levels, which are found in Notice NOT-OD-23-076.  

Xtrain Requirements: Recipients are required to complete a Statement of Appointment (SOA) and Termination Notice (TN) and submit them through the Xtrain module on the eRA Commons website. The SOA should be completed prior to the trainee start date to allow for accurate and timely posting of expenditures.  The TN should be completed prior the end date to ensure timely closeout and requires signatures from the trainee and PI. Instructions and fillable forms are available here. 

Carryforward and NCE Requests: A request to carryforward unspent funds is appropriate when a trainee is expected to work beyond the grant period end date, and this request prevents the funds from being offset the following year. If a trainee’s appointment dates will extend beyond the grant period, a no-cost extension (NCE) request is appropriate. Both requests are made through the Prior Approval feature in eRA Commons.    

Reconciliation: As with all sponsored expenditures, training grant stipends, health insurance, tuition, and fees should be reconciled regularly.  

Expense Transaction Updates: Please review the updates below to ensure submissions for approval are meeting current requirements and best practices.    

Travel & Entertainment Policy: The NU Travel and Entertainment Policy has been updated and was effective as of March 1, 2024.  In accordance with the updated policy, meals charged to sponsored awards must adhere to the per diem spending limits provided by U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). For more details, including in-town limits, please visit Procurement and Payment Services’ Spending Limit Guidelines. 

Expense Documentation: Per the Employee Reimbursement process, requests should include “original detailed receipts or other acceptable documentation” which may include an itemized invoice or a screenshot of all charges when a third party payment site is used. Exceptions apply when receipts are not readily available for expenses below the spending limit guidelines. As a best practice to support efficient review, documentation submitted with expense reports should be limited to 2 attachments. All necessary documents can be combined through Adobe and submitted as PDFs.   


Reminders 

Allowable Costs Training: There’s still time to register for the training on Allowable Costs, taking place Wednesday, April 3rd from 10:30 am - 12:00 pm.  This is a hybrid event, in-person in Baldwin Auditorium in Chicago, and online via Teams.   

Unapplied Payments: The Current Unapplied Payments spreadsheet contains tabs through FY2024 quarter 2. Please view the lists and contact [log in to unmask] with information on any payments that are applicable to your projects.

Equipment Inventory: The annual equipment inventory is underway. Departments should plan to complete their inventory by 5/31/24. For any questions regarding the inventory process, please contact Accounting Services at [log in to unmask]


Term Time 

Institutional base salary (IBS): IBS is defined as the annual compensation paid by the University for an individual's appointment, whether that individual's time is spent on research, instruction, administration, or other activities. IBS excludes any income that an individual earns outside of duties performed for the University, e.g. consulting. Base salary may not be increased as a result of replacing organizational salary funds with NIH grant funds.

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