Monday Matters
31 October 2005
The research supplement policy (located at http://www.ed.sc.edu/facinfo) was implemented “ to reward external funding efforts that benefit the College through salary savings or significant revenue generation from grants or contracts.” The policy provides for temporary salary increases for individuals who assume extraordinary workloads because of involvement in grants and contracts in addition to typical teaching and research loads. In this edition of Monday Matters I will discuss some of the subtleties of the policy and also give you an update on how we have implemented the policy.
It is important to note that research supplements are provided in the context of the entire faculty workload. That is why the policy refers to criteria for “eligibility” to receive a research supplement. Supplements are still recommended by department chairs and approved by the Dean and Provost. The salary savings percentages listed in the policy provide a starting point for establishing uniform supplement pay increases and will apply in most cases, but the full faculty workload must always be taken into account. Even within the policy some examples are provided to show how the amount of the temporary increase might be adjusted depending on whether or not the faculty member receives other benefits (e.g. a course release) for externally-funded work.
Another very important fact is that the supplement is provided by the College, not by the funded project. The College provides for these temporary pay increases as a means of rewarding heavy workloads that result in financial benefits to the College and the department. Pay increases come from College funds, not project funds. Though it is true that salary savings enhance College resources and this in turn makes it financially feasible for the College to provide productivity rewards, the savings could just as easily have been used for other enhancements so that other College funds are used to pay the supplements. This may seem like a trivial point, but it is a rather important one. In many cases funding guidelines do not allow for extra salary to be paid to project personnel. We will always abide by these regulations and will only pay supplements out of College funds as a type of bonus that recognizes productivity in targeted domains that match College priorities.
One logistical problem we encountered when trying to implement the current policy is that the policy is based on various levels of salary savings, but salary savings levels can change from month to month. For example, a faculty member who has 15% of his or her time committed to a funded project one month may add an additional project the next month so that now 30% or 40% of the faculty member's time is committed to funded projects. Similarly, the percentage time commitment to funded projects might decrease during the year. This is just the most obvious of several issues that we had to consider. We also had to take into account that some grant awards are promised but not funded on the project start date. In some instances, we back these projects with College money using so-called “risk accounts.” Other issues relate to University policies about supplements. For example, we cannot make supplements retroactive. Nor can we keep altering the amount of a supplement. The expectation is that every supplement will go through one approval process and will stay at that level for the specified time period.
The Administrative Council discussed these issues and voted that research supplements will be recommended each year based on the externally-funded projects of the previous year. (See the Ad Council Minutes for 14 September 2005 at http://www.ed.sc.edu/Documents.asp.) Although this means that there is a one-year delay for productivity rewards it addresses all of the problems discussed above. Supplement recommendations can be made after taking into account grants-based productivity fluctuations that occur throughout the year. Providing a supplement “bonus” to reward past work is also consistent with the way most company bonuses are awarded, including our own College staff bonuses.
When will this policy be implemented? It already has. Some faculty members are already receiving research supplements this year based on recommendations made at the end of the last academic year. At the end of this academic year and during the summer, I will be providing external-funding data to department chairs so that they can make recommendations for supplements to be awarded during the next year. If you believe that you will be eligible for a supplement or wish to become involved in externally-funded projects that can lead to a research supplement, I would encourage you to discuss this with your department chair during your annual review and goal-setting meetings. Keep in mind that class load and other aspects of your overall load must be considered when discussing appropriate research supplements. Also, supplements of any kind cannot be awarded during a sabbatical.
My goal of $10 million per year by 2010 is a realistic one, but it will require widespread participation by the faculty in grants and contracts. I am hopeful that the adoption of a research supplement policy and the creation of a grants and contracts support office will provide the additional incentive and support needed to secure additional funding for the research, instruction, and service provided by the College.
Until next time,
Mike