Possible Faculty Contracts in CMPS

New Faculty Contracts

Answers to FAQs

Winter 2001

1. Q. To whom does the CMPS policy apply?

A. The CMPS policy applies to all academic faculty whose tenure home is in a CMPS unit.

2. Q. Years ago the university offered me the opportunity to change my academic year contract from 10 months to 9.5 months. I decided to stay with a 10-month contract. Can I make the same choice now, and what are the consequences?

A. Faculty who elected years ago to maintain a 10-month academic year appointment may continue to do so. Those individuals may earn up to 2 months summer salary (20% of the state-supported academic year salary). The State will contribute toward health benefits on that summer salary, but not toward retirement benefits, and said earnings do not count toward pension benefit computations. These individuals may also elect to seek employment at an unrelated off-campus site during the two summer months.

3. Q. I have a 9.5-month contract (either because I switched from a 10-month contract years ago, or because I was hired since then). Can I stay with that contract, and what are the consequences?

A. Faculty who have a 9.5-month academic year appointment may continue in that mode. Those individuals may earn up to 2.5 months summer salary (26.3% of the state-supported academic year salary). The State will contribute toward health benefits on that summer salary, but not toward retirement benefits, and said earnings do not count toward pension benefit computations. These individuals may also elect to seek employment at an unrelated off-campus site during the two and one-half summer months.

4. Q. What if I decide to switch to a 9-month contract?

A. Any academic faculty member may elect to switch to a 9-month academic year appointment. The total annual State salary will not change. These individuals may earn up to 3 months summer salary (33.3% of the State academic year salary). The State will contribute toward health benefits on that summer salary, but not toward retirement benefits, and said earnings do not count toward pension benefit computations. These individuals may also seek employment at an unrelated off-campus site during the three summer months.

5. Q. Can I switch from a 10-month contract to a 9.5-month contract?

A. No. Neither the 10-month nor the 9.5-month contract will be an option for a new contract. The only people who can have such a contract are those who choose to maintain their present arrangements.

6. Q. I want to switch to a 12-month fiscal year contract. What are the implications?

A. Faculty may elect to have a 12-month fiscal year appointment. The total annual State-supported portion of the salary will not change, but will be attributed to the 9-month academic year. The 12-month salary will then be 4/3 times this amount, and an individual may earn up to the remaining third from grants and contracts—including summer school contracts. The State will contribute toward BOTH health and retirement benefits for 12-month employees, based on the total actual earnings from State sources, and grants and contracts will be billed for their portion of these benefits. The total actual earnings will count toward pension benefit computations. Faculty on 12-month appointments are university employees throughout the year, and are governed by university leave and consulting rules for the entire year.

7. Q. Please explain the 75-25 terminology.

A. Faculty who elect a 12-month appointment will be considered "75-25" in the sense that the State covers 75% of their fiscal year salary; the individual covers up to the remaining 25% through grants and contracts.

8. Q. Can there be other ratios?

A. Yes, but only for faculty who are maintaining their current arrangements. Some faculty with current 12-month appointments have ratios in which the state component is higher than 75, in fact 79 and 82 are fairly common.

9. Q. Please confirm: If I switch to a fiscal year appointment with a 75-25 ratio, then I maintain my current state salary and it becomes the 75% portion of my fiscal year salary; moreover, I can in addition apply to granting agencies for 3 months of support to obtain the remaining 25% portion. Furthermore, the whole 12-month salary counts toward my retirement benefits.

A. That is correct.

10. Q. But what if I can't get three months support from my program? I may only be able to get 1-2 months. What can I do?

A. Don't do anything different from what you would do if you could get the full three months. Your actual salary will turn out to be the state-supported 75% plus whatever you can get from your program. The extra money will still count toward your retirement benefits.

11. Q. But if I only get 2 months salary from grants, then I will only be paid for 11 of 12 months, that is 92% of what would nominally be my full 12 month salary. Doesn't that mean that the retirement system will only credit me with 92% of a year in computing my retirement benefits?
A. No, it does not. You will be considered a 100% time employee, even if you cannot secure the full 25% of your non-state support funds.

12. Q. How does a summer school contract work in relation to the 12-month contract?

A. If you have a 12-month appointment, you can use summer school contracts in the same way as you would a research contract. In fact, the university will now allow a faculty member to teach three courses in summer school. Each course normally allows for a maximum payment of 10% of academic year salary; but note that three courses for 30% of the academic year salary translates into 23% of the fiscal year salary.

Note: The "employer" portion of the retirement benefit for a summer school contract will be paid out of the normal state pool. However, in order to effect that payment, the summer school contract will be between the Office of Continuing Education (OCE) and the faculty member's department. Since summer school contracts are contingent on enrollment, if any course is cancelled, the faculty member will forfeit the amount of money (in the 25% "non-state" portion) that was due for that course. The final decision on course cancellation rests with the department and OCE.

Each department will develop a policy for summer school assignments that serve the best educational interests of the undergraduate students, as well as the income needs of graduate students. It is expected that all future summer school contracts will be contingent on enrollment.

13. Q. My granting agency is sometimes slow in announcing awards; I might not know until late spring or even early summer, what they will be willing to pay me for the summer. How does that impact this policy?

A. The budget officers in the College are charged with working out schemes for dealing with that, and other, scenarios which might cause the actual salary of a faculty member to be a moving target during the year. Your chair and budget officer will publicize widely the practices they arrive at.

14. Q. Please explain the policy statement concerning "…compensation for accrued leave…"

A. All personnel on a 12-month contract accrue, on an annual basis, 22 days of annual leave and 3 days of personal leave. Annual leave may be "carried over" from one year to the next up to a maximum of 50 days. All faculty that are currently on 12-month contracts are eligible, upon a change to an academic year contract, or retirement or resignation, to be compensated for their accrued annual leave, up to a maximum of 45 days—unless a different maximum is specified in the current contract. Henceforth, new faculty on 12-month contracts, faculty switching from an academic year contract to a 12-month contract, or faculty currently on a 12-month contract switching to a new ratio, will not be eligible for compensation for any leave accrued after June 30, 2001.

15. Q. Where can I get more information about the changes to university policy on faculty contracts as proposed by the Provost?

Go to the web site