SIMBA: Search, Filter, Sort, and Customize 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 - My Grants View
• Effort Certification - Person View
• EC Research Admin Batch Verification
  
  
  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.

Contents

• Step 1. Set Search Parameters
  • LD Plans Search
  • EC Records Search
• Step 2. Filter Results
• Step 3. Sort Results
• Step 4. Customize Data Display

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. 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, enter values in any of the following fields and click the green Search button. (See Figure 3.)

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, enter a PERNR and click the green Search button. (See Figure 4.)

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: The top left corner includes the total number of items in the results list.
   
   
   Figure 5. Labor Distribution Overview screen.
   
   
   Figure 6. Effort Certification Grant Overview screen.
   
   
   
2. In the LD or EC Overview Filter Menu dialog, click the down caret to display options for each filter criterion. Select a check box to include an option as a filter. (See Figure 7.)
   
   Figure 7. EC and LD Overview Filter Menu dialogs.
   
   
   • LD Overview Filter Menu criteria 
     • Status (LD plan status)
     • Fiscal Year
     • Last Name
     • PSUID
     • PERNR
     • Home Cost Collector
     • Salary Plan
     • Position Type
     • Department
       
   • EC Overview Filter Menu criteria
     • Grant #
     • Sponsored Program
     • Certification Status
     • User Status Description (Note: The options available to you depend upon your assigned role and your business area.)
       
       
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. (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 on the LD plans or EC screen. (Note: This button appears on all LD screens but only some EC screens.)

Step 3. Sort Results

To sort data alphabetically or numerically by a particular column, click the up/down arrow . After sorting by a particular column, the up/down arrow changes to be one-directional; click the one direction arrow to reverse the order. (See Figure 8.)

Figure 8. Sort data within a column.

Step 4. 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 Column Selector icon to view available columns (see Figures 8 and 9).
2. Select the check box for each column you want to show in the plan overview.
   
   Figure 9. Labor Distribution Overview show/hide columns.
   
   
   Figure 10. Effort Certification Grant Overview show/hide columns.
   
   
3. Click the Column Selector icon again to hide the list of available columns.
   
   
   

SIMBA Support website

SIMBA Support > Labor Distribution & Effort Certification

LD - Plan Status Review KB article

Certify Effort - Research Administrator KB article