Applies to: (examples; Faculty,Staff, Students, etc)
Faculty
Faculty
The purpose of the Faculty Research Incentive Program is to reward faculty for sustained externally funded productivity and scholarly activities. This program will stimulate scholarly activity associated with performing externally funded research in all units.
As a means of encouraging active participation in competing for extramural support for research projects, University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis (UHSP) has developed guidelines for an incentive program (the “Program”) for faculty. The Program permits, within limits under the Program, a choice between a salary supplement or the establishment of a designated, discretionary research expense account to eligible principal investigators (PI) who have been awarded a competitive research grant or contract from outside funding sources and, according to the Program, who have earned a right to the funds. The Program is not a contract and is subject to change, with or without notice, at the University’s sole discretion.
All full-time faculty who have secured extramural funds while maintaining their other scholarly responsibilities are eligible for the Program.
Term |
Definition |
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) |
Full-time equivalent is a unit that indicates the workload of an employed person in a way that makes workloads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to measure a worker’s involvement in a project. An FTE of 1.0 is equivalent to a full-time worker, while an FTE of 0.5 signals half of a full work load. |
Indirect (facilities & administrative (F&A)) costs |
Indirect (F&A) costs means those costs incurred for the common or joint purpose benefitting more than one cost objective, and not readily assignable to the cost objectives specifically benefitted, without effort disproportionate to the results achieved. |
Salary cap |
A legislatively-mandated provision limiting the direct salary (also known as salary or institutional base salary, but excluding any fringe benefits and F&A costs) for individuals working on NIH grants, cooperative agreement awards, and extramural research and development contracts. |
Salary Recovery |
Salary recovery is the amount of one's effort that is recouped from an extramural funding sources. |
Sponsored Projects |
A Sponsored Project is any externally funded research, instruction, public service or scholarly activity that has a defined scope of work and set of objectives which provide a basis for accountability and sponsor expectations. Typically a sponsored project is awarded by the sponsor through an award document which specifies the terms and conditions of the award. |
PI |
Principal Investigator is defined as the individual judged by the applicant organization to have the appropriate level of authority and responsibility to direct the project or program supported by the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement. |
The University has developed following guidelines for the administration of the Program:
Departments may develop department-specific research incentive policies designed to incentivize faculty with non-remunerative research incentives (e.g. extra professional development opportunities, release from service activities, fewer advisee/mentorship responsibilities, extra vacation days, etc.). This may be independent of or in addition to monetary incentive derived from the University's Faculty Research Incentive Policy. These policies may also be used to incentivize faculty with sponsored funding that does not meet the funding criteria listed in this policy.
Research Incentive Program payments are outlined below:
Total Salary Recovery |
Percent Bonus |
15%-24% |
5% |
25%-49% |
8% |
50%-69% |
10% |
70% or more |
15% |
*dependent on PI F&A distribution from grants
Statement of Understanding:
Investigators with sponsored funding that includes salary recovery and significant teaching responsibilities are encouraged to negotiate course release for this covered time with their Department Chair. Faculty who receive salary recovery funding but do not receive a teaching release are eligible for discretionary funds, such as an assistant’s salary, research supplies, or travel funds. Investigators may also consult with their Dean and the VP of Research to negotiate a consensus agreement.
Position/Office/Department |
Responsibility |
Business Office |
Calculate and distribute the payments |
Research Office |
Identify all projects and PIs that qualify for the incentive |
Examples:
Dr. M has a base salary of $60,000. He/she has a grant committing 15% of his/her time during the academic year. According to the chart, he/she will be eligible for a 5% incentive payment, or $3,000 ($60,000 X 0.05 = $3,000), provided that sufficient indirect cost recoveries of the PI can fund the supplement.
Dr. P also has a base salary of $60,000. He/she is involved in two grants, the first covers 15% of his/her time and the second covers 20% of his/her time. According to the chart, he/she will be eligible for a 8% incentive payment, or $4,800 ($60,000 X 0.08 = $4,800), provided that sufficient indirect cost recoveries of the PI can fund the supplement.
Name |
Contact Information |
Chief Financial Officer |
Lisa Vansickle lisa.vansickle@uhsp.edu |
Assistant Vice President, Research Administration |
Brandi Clements brandi.clements@uhsp.edu |