SIMBA: Searching and Filtering LD Plans and Effort Certifications

SIMBA supports the ability to search for particular LD plans and effort certifications from the following SIMBA tiles.

Labor Distribution tiles

• Labor Distribution Approvals
• Newest Fiscal Year LD Plans
• Labor Distribution Plans in Error
• All Labor Distribution Plans
• PI Labor Distribution Plans (View Only)
  
  Figure 1. Labor Distribution tiles that support search.

Effort Certification tiles

• Pending Effort Certifications
• Effort Certification - Person View
• Effort Certification - My Grants View
  
  
  Figure 2. Effort Certification tiles that support search.

Note: Mendix filtering capabilities were updated in November 2024 and April 2025. Effort Certification filtering was added in April 2025.

Step 1. Set Search Parameters

If you have more than 1,000 LD plans or more than 5,000 EC records, you must set search parameters to generate results of less than 1,000/5,000.

Note: If you have fewer than 1,000/5,000, the Search Parameters screen is bypassed and the Overview screen appears when you select the SIMBA tile. In this case, start with Step 2 to filter the available results.

LD Plans Search

On the Search Parameters screen (see Figure 3), enter values in any of the following fields and click the green Search button.

Figure 3. LD Search Parameters screen. 

• • Fiscal Year: four-digit year available for viewing
  • Last Name: employee last name (case sensitive, initial capital)
  • PERNR: employee personnel number
  • PSUID: nine-digit University personnel number (always begins with 9)
  • Business Area: four-digit College, Campus, or Administrative Unit number
  • Department: first three digits of business area plus two-digit department number
  • Position Type: employee type (only one) for current primary position from Workday

• • • Academic (e.g., faculty, post-doctoral scholar)
    • Academic Administrator (e.g., department head)
    • Administrator
    • Affiliates (no plans for this position type)
    • Contingent Worker (no plans for this position type)
    • Executive (e.g., dean, vice president)
    • Part-Time Academic-B (faculty paid hourly)
    • Part-Time Academic-M (faculty paid monthly; e.g., adjunct lecturer)
    • Part-Time Non-Acad-B (staff paid hourly; e.g., PT teaching assistant)
    • Part-Time Non-Acad-M (staff paid monthly; e.g., PT coach, PT camp counselor)
    • Penn State Health-BW (clinical staff on biweekly plan)
    • Staff
    • Student-B (student paid hourly; e.g., federal work study)
    • Student-M (student paid monthly; e.g., graduate assistant, fellow)
    • Technical Service

EC Records Search

On the Search Parameters screen (see Figure 4), enter a PERNR and click the green Search button.

Figure 4. EC Search Parameters screen.

Step 2. Filter Results

When the list of LD plans is less than 1,000 and the list of EC records is less than 5,000, you can further refine the results by filtering.

Note: If more than 1,000 LD plans or 5,000 EC records are generated, complete Step 1 to set search parameters.

1. From the Labor Distribution Overview screen (Figure 5) or the Effort Certification Grant Overview screen (Figure 6), click the blue Open Filter button to further filter the LD plan/EC records results.
   
   Note: (#) in the top left corner identifies the number of plans in the results list.
   
   
   Figure 5. Labor Distribution Overview screen.
   
   
   Figure 6. Effort Certification Grant Overview screen.
   
   
   
2. In the LD/EC Overview Filter Menu dialog, click the down caret to set each desired filter criteria.
   • LD Overview Filter Menu criteria (see Figure 7)
     • Status (LD plan status)
     • Fiscal Year
     • Last Name
     • PSUID
     • PERNR
     • Home Cost Collector
     • Salary Plan
     • Position Type
     • Department
       
       Figure 7. LD Filter Menu dialog.
       
       
   • EC Overview Filter Menu criteria (see Figure 8)
     • Grant #
     • Sponsored Program
     • Certification Status
     • User Status Description
       
       Figure 8. EC Overview Filter Menu dialog.
       
       
3.  Click the green Filter button to apply the new criteria and regenerate your filtered list of plans. If no results are found, adjust your filter criteria or consider using fewer filters.
   
   
4. (Optional) To clear this additional filter criteria and return to all record results, click the blue Reset button. This reset takes approximately 5 seconds to take effect.
   
   
5. Click the blue Close button to close the filter menu dialog.
   
   
6. (LD only, Optional) To update your results list to reflect plans whose status may have been edited in SIMBA, click the blue Refresh List from SIMBA button .

Step 3. Customize Data Display

Users can select which data columns to display on the Labor Distribution Overview screen or the Effort Certification Grant Overview screen.

1. Click the eye icon to view available columns.
   
   
2. Select the check box for each column you want to show in the plan overview (see Figures 9 and 10).
   
   
   Figure 9. Labor Distribution Overview show/hide columns.
   
   
   Figure 10. Effort Certification Grant Overview show/hide columns.
   
   
3. Click the eye icon again to hide the list of available columns.
   
   
4. To sort data within a column, click the up/down arrow to sort alphabetically or numerically (see Figure 6).
   
   Figure 11. Sort data within a column.
   
   

SIMBA Support website

SIMBA Support > Labor Distribution & Effort Certification

LD - Plan Status Review KB article