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Faculty and Researcher Dashboard

The Faculty and Researcher Dashboard provides balances, expenditure details, and payroll information to faculty, researchers, and PIs for their entire project portfolio. 

The Faculty and Researcher Dashboard is available from the Business Analytics Hub (bah.ucsd.edu) under the Faculty and Researchers tab.

This dashboard helps answer business questions related to a consumer's portfolio (awards/projects/tasks), money available to spend, money already spent, awards ending soon, payroll spent and projected, and the status of the budget.

  • Data is broken into Sponsored and Non-Sponsored project sections. It is also important to understand differences between General Ledger (GL) and Project & Portfolio Management (PPM) data management and reporting for non-sponsored project financial data.
  • A second tab on the report (bottom left) displays rolling twelve months of payroll for all individuals paid from your awards/projects/tasks.

 

Report Demo

You can find the Faculty & Researcher Dashboard Report Demo on the UCSD Budget & Finance YouTube channel, BI & Financial Reporting playlist.

Access

Access has been provisioned to anyone with the Oracle BI Consumer JR role. Access to Oracle standard roles should be requested via the Oracle and Concur Role Request Form. Faculty who need direct assistance requesting access may submit a ticket to BI & Financial Reporting.  Access failure appears as error "Unable to load requested view. Displaying home view instead." To access the dashboard:

  1. Navigate to bah.ucsd.edu.
  2. Select Budget & Finance.
  3. If using the List View, look for Faculty and Researchers Dashboard in the list or use the search bar at the top right and click the dashboard name
    • If using the Card View, click the Faculty and Researcher tab and click Launch on the 
    • Faculty and Researcher Dashboard tile
  4. Use your Active Directory credentials to sign in, if prompted.

Navigation

Prompts

  • The report automatically loads with your portfolio of projects and tasks through today's date.
  • If you need to see data through a previous date, enter the date and click Finish.
  • To change the PI/Project Manager/Task Manager, click the dropdown menu and start typing the last name.  The menu will jump to the name you are typing.
  • Download the report as Excel or PDF files by clicking on the buttons at the top of the report.
  • Additional help is available through quick link buttons that for submitting a ticket, signing up for 1 on 1 zoom sessions, or suggest changes/additions to the report with an enhancement ticket on the right of the Instructions prompts.

Need Help options screen shot


Additional Detail

  • Click any links in the table to see additional detail about a specific project or task, including expenditures by month, cost details, commitment details, revenue details, payroll details, and payroll projection details as applicable.
  • Once you have clicked into one of the Expanded Task or Project Summaries, you may change the date range to see costs and other transactions for the selected period.
  • The Payroll tab (bottom left) shows all of the people funded from your projects and tasks and how they have been funded over the past 12 months. Data in the Payroll table comes from the UCPath Labor Ledger.
  • Faculty can see the entirety of how each person will be supported by the payroll projections on the Summary tab.
  • Project Notes can be entered in Oracle and will show up in the box to the upper right corner of the drill-through reports. Learn more information about how to add Project Notes.

Drill-through report options:

Drill through report options example

Project Notes:

 project notes example

Training and Communications

Training 

We encourage you to take the interactive, self-paced training that provides guidance on interpreting the data and answers common questions about the Faculty and Researcher Dashboard. The training can be found in the UC Learning Center.

Read the Latest Communications

Faculty and Researcher Notifications support faculty, researchers, and fund managers stay up to date on the latest communications related to reporting on PI portfolios.

Sponsored Projects

How to Use Data

Business Question Data Column(s) That Best Answer
What awards/projects/tasks are in my portfolio? The Award Number and Title is broken down by Project Code and Name and then further to Task Code and Name.
How much money can I spend?

The Balance Net of Commitments and Payroll Projections indicates the total funds available after subtracting the Committed Costs and Payroll Projection from the Balance (calculated as carryforward + budget – costs).

Clinical Trials are on a separate table below Sponsored Projects that calculates a revenue-based balance and a cash balance rather than a budget-based balance.

How much money have I spent?

The Costs and Purchasing Commitments reflect amounts either spent or committed to spend for the project/task line or award grand total. Purchasing Commitments reflect open Purchase Orders, Invoices not yet approved for payment, open Concur travel requests, and outgoing subaward obligations.

How much am I committed to spend on people? The Payroll Projection reflects anticipated payroll and associated charges, including salaries, benefits, graduate tuition remission, NGN, General Liability, HS-TSC, and the associated indirect costs. Payroll projections are based on data entered in UCPath, and are calculated for each individual set to be paid from the project and task, ending with the Award Budget Period End Date, Job End Date, or UCPath Funding End Date, whichever comes first.
Is spending on track?

The Project/Task Health shows you whether spending is on track or if adjustments may need to be considered.

  • Ended and Overspent: The Project End Date is past and the project/task has a negative balance. Work with your Fund Manager to clear the deficit and close the project.
  • Ended: The Project End Date is past. Projects that have ended and are not in deficit no longer appear on the dashboard.
  • Overspent: The Project has not ended but has a negative balance. Stop spending on the project. Work with your fund manager to clear the deficit and move people to a different funding source.
  • Ending in <90 Days: The Project is ending soon.  Consider the available balance after payroll projections to determine whether to submit a no-cost extension or move people to another funding source.
  • Overspending: Spending is outpacing time.  The % budget remaining is significantly (> 10%) less than the % budget period remaining. This may or may not be okay depending on the specific circumstances of your spending.
  • Underspending: Time is outpacing spending.  The % Budget period remaining is significantly (> 10%) less than the % Budget remaining. This may or may not be okay depending on the specific circumstances of your spending.
  • Good: None of the above apply.  The project/task is in great health!

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Question Answer
Why is an award that ended on this report?

A project balance must be zero to close the project. A project that carries a negative balance past the Project End Date remains on the report until the balance is zeroed out and the Fund Manager subsequently requests the project be closed, and the central office performs the necessary work to fully close the project.

To exclude awards that have ended, select ACTIVE on the Award Status filter.

What if the data looks incorrect? Budget numbers and project end dates are driven by the data entered into the Kuali award module. If other FAQs do not answer this question, communicate with your Fund Manager to determine if there is an issue in the Kuali data entry.
Why is the Project End Date incorrect? The Project End Date for some award types reflects the obligation period, not necessarily the full award period. For example, if you are in Year 2 of a 5-year subaward, funds have only been obligated through the end of Year 2. The Project End Date reflects the end of Year 2, rather than the end of Year 5.
Why is the Budget Period End Date incorrect? Some NIH awards were set up so that the Budget Period End Date is at the end of the life of the award even though funding is only received one year at a time.  This can cause the report to incorrectly show that the project is overspending, and also causes the Payroll Projections to extend through the end of the award rather than through the current obligation period.  Fund Managers can work with the SPF Accountant to create budget periods that accurately reflect the structure of the award.
How does cost sharing affect my budget? Cost Sharing is typically reflected as a separate Task or separate Project, but the amount is reflected in the PPM Budget total for the Award/Project. For example, if an award amount was $10 million and there is a cost share task of $350,000, the total PPM Budget would calculate to $10,350,000.
Why is an award that ended on this report?

A project balance must be zero to close the project. A project that carries a negative balance past the Project End Date remains on the report until the balance is zeroed out and the Fund Manager subsequently requests the project be closed, and the central office performs the necessary work to fully close the project.

To exclude awards that have ended, select ACTIVE on the Award Status filter.

The Sponsor Award number is not on this report? The Award Name & Number reflects the KR Award Number, not the Sponsor Number; however, in some cases, the Project Name & Number shows the Sponsor Award Number without hyphens. This is entirely dependent on how the data is entered before reaching this display, so there could be inconsistencies based on who enters the source data.
Where is a specific award/project on my report? If you are the Principal Investigator or Project Manager, your name is automatically assigned at the time of award/project setup. A Task Manager is generally defined later by the Fund Manager via a request to the Central Office. Typically, if you do not see an award/project for which you are a Task Manager, you have not been defined as a Task Manager through that manual process. For example, perhaps you are a co-PI and have not been specifically defined on your task. Communicate with your Fund Manager to resolve.

 

Report Views:

Refer to the Data Glossary under Get Started on the main BI & Financial Reporting Blink menu for searchable data descriptions and usage rules.

Sponsored Project Summary without Direct/Indirect Category:

Sponsored Project Summary without Direct/Indirect Category

Sponsored Project Summary with Direct/Indirect Category:

Sponsored Project Summary with Direct/Indirect Category

Clinical Trials:

 Clinical Trials

 

Drill-through Summary:

Drill-through Summary

Drill-through Transaction Details:

Drill-through Transaction Details

Non-Sponsored Projects

How To Use Data

GL displays current fiscal year data at the project level (not task-level) for Project Managers. PPM displays inception-to-date data for the life of the project for PI/Project Managers and for Task Managers.

Business Question - GL Data Column(s) That Best Answers
What projects are in my portfolio? The Project Code and Name field lists all projects for which you are the Project Manager. The Project Class Code (ex. Service Agreements, Faculty Start-up, GSGEI, etc.) field helps identify the purpose of each project in your portfolio.
How much money can I spend this fiscal year? The Ending Resources and Ending Resources Net of Projections (which subtracts Payroll Projections from the Ending Resources) each provide insight into money available.
How much money have I spent? The YTD Expenses Out (fiscal year spent minus equipment purchases)  and the Payroll Projection Amount (includes anticipated salaries, benefits, tuition, and indirect costs from the next open accounting period through the Budget Period End Date, Person Job End Date, or UCPath Funding End Date, whichever comes first) each provide insight into money that has been or will be spent.
Business Question - PPM Data Column(s) That Best Answers
What projects are in my portfolio? The Project Code And Name is broken down into Task Code And Name lines and totaled. The Project Class Code field helps identify the purpose of each project in your portfolio.
How much money can I spend? The Balance (ccalculated as Budget + Revenue Amount - Cost - Purchasing Commitments) and Balance Net of Payroll Projections (subtracts Payroll Projections from the Budget) provide insight into money available.
How much money have I spent? The CostPurchasing Commitments, and Payroll Projection all reflect money spent or committed to be spent for the project/task line or total.

NOTE: Carryforward and non-contract revenue must be entered manually in a PPM Budget. Since PPM only records costs and contract revenue, certain finance objects are not automatically reported. A Fund Manager can manually enter other amounts in the PPM budget to account for those amounts in PPM.


Frequently Asked Questions

Question Answer
Should I look at General Ledger (GL) or Project Portfolio Management (PPM)? Project reporting management (GL or PPM) is determined at the Vice Chancellor or department level. Communicate with your Fund Manager to determine whether GL or PPM best suits your needs.
Shouldn't the overall money available on GL and PPM match?

Not necessarily. GL reports all transactions, including those that posted in PPM. However, some data such as gift and non-contract revenue must be manually entered to the PPM Budget. If that hasn't been done, the numbers will not match.

There are other miscellaneous circumstances that could result in discrepancies as well.

The key is to communicate with the Fund Manager on each project to ensure awareness of capabilities and limitations.

Can I see additional details for projects and tasks?

The Project Code And Name and Task Code And Name lines are links to additional details on PPM.

GL Projects are linked, but GL does not report data at the task level.

Why is my PPM Budget $0 or otherwise incorrect? Certain financial data must be manually added to the PPM Budget. If anything regarding the budget appears to be incorrect, communicate with your Fund Manager.

 

Report Views:

Refer to the Data Glossary under Get Started on the main BI & Financial Reporting Blink menu for searchable data descriptions and usage rules.

Non Sponsored GL Summary Table:

Non Sponsored GL Summary Table

Non Sponsored PPM ITD Summary Table:

Non Sponsored PPM ITD Summary Table

Non Sponsored PPM FYTD Summary Table:

Non Sponsored PPM FYTD Summary Table

Non-Sponsored Projects: Comparison of GL and PPM

Projects May Be Managed Differently Under Different Fund Managers

It is essential to communicate with your Fund Manager as you review Non-Sponsored project details to determine which set of data provides the most accurate information.

Comparing Nonsponsored Projects
Type GL PPM
General Purpose Record transactions in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for external reporting. Accumulate costs on defined projects and bill customers/sponsors for those costs.
Structure Chartstrings: Entity, Financial Unit, Fund, Function, Project. NO TASK.

Projects with underlying tasks.

What IS Recorded All GAAP financial transactions. Budgets, contract revenue (customer billing), costs, and commitments.
What is NOT Recorded Anything that is not an actual financial transaction, including commitments and anticipated future allocations.

IFIS carryforward, non-contract revenue/resources (e.g., gifts, internal allocations)

NOTE: These items can be manually added to the budget.

Timing Revenues and expenses are recorded fiscal year-to-date and roll to a carryforward balance at the beginning of each fiscal year.

Assets (e.g., equipment) accumulate inception-to-date (GAAS).

Inception-to-date for the life of the project.

NOTE: There may be differences between GL and PPM data. Variables between the two methods can lead to discrepancies in information. It is essential to communicate with your Fund Manager as you review Non-Sponsored project details to determine which set of data provides the most accurate information and to resolve any potential gaps in data.

Payroll Details

Blue text in a report table indicates a link to additional information. When you click a linked Project Code And Name or Task Code And Name, the data breaks down further into Expenditure Categories (Personnel, Benefit, and Operating expenses).

These additional details include two sections dedicated to payroll:

  • (Project/Task) Payroll Details - Displays historical, actual payroll amounts from the UCPath Labor Ledger. Organized with line items and totals for each employee in the data
  • (Project/Task) Payroll Projections - Displays anticipated payroll amounts based on data in UCPath. Overview of Cost Types and projections for different payroll periods

Expenditure Category Descriptions

The Payroll Details section provides data for each employee as outlined in the table.

Expense Type Data Included
Personnel

Includes Graduate and Postdoc Aid/Fellowship paid through payroll (not student stipends), as well as Academic and Non-Academic:

  • Salary and Wages
  • Salary Accrual
  • Vacation Used
Benefits

Includes all Fringe expenses except for General Liability Program (GAEL), including:

  • Composite Benefit Rate Campus
  • UCRP Supplement Assessment (RPNI)
  • Benefits Accrual/Reversal
  • Leave Assessment
  • Vacation Reimbursement
Operating Includes only General Liability Program (GAEL) expenses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question Answer
Why don't my numbers match throughout each section of the dashboard?

There are a few situations in which numbers may slightly differ among sections of the dashboard. Examples include:

  • Operating Expenses in the Payroll Details section exclusively report general liability expenses while the Cost Details section typically includes additional expenses such as supplies.
  • Personnel Expenses do not match if salary is processed in UCPath and attempts to charge a project after its end date. That salary amount posts in Oracle to your department's default project.  The salary will appear in the Payroll Details table, which contains UCPath data, but not in the Cost Details, which contains Oracle data.
  • Benefit Expenses do not match in Fiscal Year 2021 for Vacation Reimbursement, which posted in Oracle as Personnel Expense and in UCPath as a Benefit Expense. This is corrected for Fiscal Year 2022.
  • Personnel, Benefit, and Operating Expenses may not match for a specific Direct Retro that was approved after the UCPath deadline. In these cases, you see the costs in the Cost Details section, but will not see the same costs in the Payroll Details section until the next month.
  • Summer salary benefits posted at the wrong rate in 2020 and 2021.  Corrections appear only in the Cost Details section (Oracle), not in the Payroll Details (UCPath).

The Payroll Reconciliation Toolkit provides great insight and links to other supporting documents for resolving payroll data discrepancies between systems or reporting. 

Also refer to the Correcting Discrepancies Between OFC General Ledger (GL) and UCPath Labor Ledger (DOPE) Job Aid.

What data is NOT included in the Payroll Details on my dashboard? Expenses that post to Oracle from a system other than UCPath do not appear in the Payroll Details.  These include, but are not limited to tuition remission, graduate and undergraduate student stipends and fees, NGN (Next Generation Network), and HS-TSC (Health Sciences Technology Services Charge).  These items appear directly in the Cost Details section of this dashboard and may be associated with a person's name in the Oracle financial ledgers. 

Report Views:

Refer to the Data Glossary under Get Started on the main BI & Financial Reporting Blink menu for searchable data descriptions and usage rules.

Example: Payroll Details report view

Payroll Projection Details

Blue text in a report table indicates a link to additional information. When you click a linked Project Code And Name or Task Code And Name, the data breaks down further into Expenditure Categories (Personnel, Benefit, and Operating expenses).

These additional details include two sections dedicated to payroll:

  • (Project/Task) Payroll Details - Organized with line items and totals for each employee in the data
  • (Project/Task) Payroll Projections - Overview of Cost Types and projections for different payroll periods

Cost Type Descriptions

The Payroll Details section provides data for each employee as outlined in the table.

Cost Type Data Included
Personnel Expenses Salary amount calculated based on data entered in UCPath, including compensation amount, FTE percentage, job status, and funding distribution. Projection ends at the earliest of the budget period end date, job end date, or funding end date.
Benefit Expenses Calculated as Personnel Expense times the Composite Benefit Rate in effect for the person/job.
Operating Expenses Includes Next Generation Network (NGN), General Liability Program (GAEL) expenses, and Health Sciences Technology Services Charge (HS-TSC).  These are calculated using the Personnel Expense amount, the funding distribution, and rules in place for whether or not these expenses will be charged for a particular person on a particular funding source.
Tuition/Fee Remission Calculated using the tuition remission rate in effect for the graduate student, distributed across all job codes where tuition remission is applied and across all funding sources.  For example, if a student is simultaneously employed in a TA position and a GSR position, the full tuition remission amount will be distributed ratably across both positions, and further distributed between the funding sources applied to each position.
Indirect Costs Calculated against Personnel Expenses, Benefit Expenses, and Operating Expenses using the indirect cost rate in effect for the award/project/task.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question Answer
Why are there two different percentages? The Position Funding Distribution tells you what percentage of the position is funded by the indicated project and task. The Effort percentage takes into account the FTE, funding distribution, and whether or not the funding is effort-bearing.  For example, no effort is applied for over the cap funding amounts.
How is it determined when to end payroll projections? Payroll projections end at the earliest of the Budget Period End Date, Job End Date, or Funding End Date (entered in the UCPath Funding Entry).  If any of these dates occur mid-month, the projection is prorated for the last month.
Are salary escalations applied? Personnel Expenses are determined based on data in UCPath.  If a future compensation rate change has been entered in UCPath, it will be captured on the report.  The report does not artificially escalate salaries.
Will the projections capture future-dated funding changes? Yes.  If a future dated Funding Entry has been entered in UCPath, the report will capture the funding distribution change.
How can changes be made to the payroll projection end date? The payroll projection extends through the earliest of the Budget Period End Date, Job End Date, or Funding End Date.  The latter two of these dates are entered by departmental personnel in UCPath. If a person is leaving the position or will move to a different funding source at a future date, the Job End Date or Funding End Date can be updated in UCPath.  Changes in UCPath will be reflected in the Payroll Projections the next day.

Select Payroll Projections by Employee or Project:

Example: Select Payroll Projections by Employee or Project

Drill Through Report:

Example: Drill Through Report

 

Subaward Tracking

 How To Use Data

  • A page for Subaward Details is available on the project- and task-specific drillthrough reports. 
  • The page shows, subaward ID, the original subaward amount, how much has been billed, how much remains, and information about each subaward invoice received.
  • This will help you determine the status of your outgoing subawards. 
Field Description
Anticipated Amount Full amount anticipated to be available to the recipient
Obligated Amount Amount that has been made available to the subrecipient
Amount Released Amount of the invoices that UCSD has received from the subrecipient
Available Amount Obligated Amount - Amount Released
Table of Invoices

List of all invoices posted from Oracle

There can be differences from Overall Total to Amount Released if:

  • There are invoices from the legacy system
  • Invoices received but not posted in Oracle

Report Views:

Refer to the Data Glossary under Get Started on the main BI & Financial Reporting Blink menu for searchable data descriptions and usage rules.

Report views example

Release Notes & Communications

Date Release Notes & Communications
3/12/2024 Budget & Finance Weekly Digest
  • Financial Resources Budget Category has been excluded from budget summary reports. Amounts allocated to Financial Resources represent restricted amounts not authorized for spending, and inclusion of those amounts in the budgets painted an inaccurate picture of the amount available to spend. The Restricted Amount has been added to the top section of the Expanded Project Summary.
  • Projects classified as Diversity Initiative are now reported on Fiscal Year To Date basis rather thanInception to Date.
  • Payroll Detail tables now display UCSD derived effort rather than UCPath derived effort. The DOPE Report continues to display both columns.
9/12/2023 Budget & Finance Weekly Digest

Significant changes have been made to the Faculty and Researcher Dashboard based on faculty feedback:

  • The dashboard will now display carryforward amount, budget, and costs for the current budget period only, with a balance for the task calculated as carryforward + current period budget - current period costs..
  • Clinical trials are now on a separate table that calculates a revenue-based balance and a cash balance rather than a budget-based balance.
  • A new column for Project Class Code has been added to Non-Sponsored Projects
  • Drillthrough reports that show detail for a given project or task have been broken into four pages to minimize scrolling and improve navigation.
  • Cost Details can now be filtered by Expenditure Category and/or Expenditure Type right on the page.
  • A new page for Subaward Details has been added on the drillthrough report showing the original subaward amount, how much has been billed, how much remains, and information about each subaward invoice received.

Fund Managers can now enter project notes in Oracle. A box on the upper right corner of the drillthrough reports displays the most recent note entered. Learn more information about how to add Project Notes here.

You can watch the report demo for these enhancements here

September 2023 Dedicated Email

Based on your feedback from the listening sessions hosted by OSI, the enhancements below are now available in the Faculty and Researcher Dashboard (more details in the link of the campaign).

  • Sponsored Projects Balance Calculations
  • Spend Analytics
  • Clinical Trials
  • Non-sponsored Project Classification
  • Payroll Projections
  • Award Status Filter
  • Drillthrough Report Structure
  • Project Notes
  • Subaward Details
  • Cost Detail Filtering
April 2023 Dedicated Email

The Business Intelligence (BI) and Financial Reporting team recently released the following enhancements to the Faculty and Researcher Dashboard as requested by faculty during financial report focus groups:

  • Sponsored projects that have ended and are not in deficit have been removed
  • A toggle at the top of the report allows you to view sponsored projects broken out by directs and indirects
  • Non-sponsored projects where no budget has been entered by a fund manager are excluded from the PPM section at the bottom of the report
  • Non-sponsored tasks that have ended have been removed from the PPM section
  • A toggle at the top of the Payroll page allows you to view historical payroll organized by project rather than by person
11/15/2022 Budget & Finance Weekly Digest

Expenditure comments with URLs are now hyperlinked in the Faculty and Researcher Dashboard Report.

Find answers, request services, or get help from our team at the UC San Diego Services & Support portal.