UMass Boston

Each year, UMass Boston receives millions of dollars from organizations, including the federal government, which sponsor research and other university activities. As steward of these funds, it is our obligation to comply with federal and university requirements to certify faculty and staff effort on all sponsored projects where these compliance controls apply.

UMass Boston utilizes ECC – Employee Compensation Compliance, a web based certification tool for providing a sponsoring agency with assurances that paid and unpaid commitments are met, and that salaries charged to a sponsored project are appropriate and reasonably reflect the actual compensated time spent toward the project (relative to the individual’s total activities performed for the university). It is understood that in an academic setting, activities involving teaching, research, and other responsibilities are often inextricably intermingled, and an exact accounting is not always feasible.

To be in compliance, sponsored projects that require effort certification must be certified using the ECC system. Failure to propose, manage, and certify effort properly could jeopardize the university's sponsored funding and lead to penalties for the university and sanctions for the individual.

If there are any questions regarding the effort reporting process or the ECC system, please email ORSP.