Academic Year Pay Procedures

Ten-month academic faculty will receive a paycheck for the months August through May equal to one-tenth of their academic year salary. Fringe benefit deductions such as for annual health insurance coverage are deducted from the ten monthly paychecks.

Administrative officers of the University, and certain of their associates and assistants, as well as department heads, are appointed for the full fiscal year. Faculty members whose work requires continuous service may also be employed on this basis. Individuals on fiscal contracts receive his or her compensation in twelve equal installments commencing in July.

Employee payroll calendars are posted online.

Last updated March 24, 2022.

Summer Employment and Compensation

All faculty members employed under academic year contracts are eligible for employment during the summer term.  This extra compensation cannot exceed 33 1/3% of their salary for the immediately preceding academic year contract (BOR Policy 8.3.12.3). This maximum compensation percentage includes any funding source including grant funds or employment at another USG institution.

VSU makes no guarantee of the availability of summer employment. Any employment opportunities are dependent on enrollment and the best interests of the university. Summer employment opportunities may include instructional or non-instructional assignments. 

Compensation for instructional assignments is generally at the rate of 10% of the faculty member’s salary for a three semester hour course meeting established enrollment minimums; some rates may vary according to class size as calculated in the summer model (see https://www.valdosta.edu/academics/academic-affairs/documents/summer-model-19.pdf). Compensation for non-instructional assignments will vary with the assignment. Payment in the summer will be based on terms completed before July 1st and those completed after July 1st.

Last updated March 24, 2022.

Stipend and Overload Compensation Guidelines

Stipends

Stipends are a fixed amount of additional money for performing a specific non-teaching task; paid regularly; a stipend is a payment in addition to the base pay for an assignment which is not part of the employee’s ongoing faculty appointment, but which is part of the normal workload, i.e. within the assigned percent of full time. A stipend is used to separate the portion of compensation paid to an employee for the effort and responsibility related to a special assignment. If the special assignment ends, the stipend is removed and the salary will revert to the salary for the ongoing teaching faculty appointment.

A) Administrative Stipend – Faculty administrators who receive a Faculty Ranked

Administrator contract is defined as “administrative”; these faculty will receive 9- or 12- month Faculty Ranked Administrator contracts/administrative stipends serving in the role as an administrator. Given when a faculty member is asked to perform administrative duties that are outside the scope of the faculty member’s faculty position. PTR clock may be stopped for the duration of the assignment; faculty receiving administrative stipends are not eligible for teaching faculty awards nor may they serve on university/college/department committees as teaching faculty.

The BoR Academic & Student Affairs Handbook 4.3.5 states: “When a faculty member on an academic year contract is given a fiscal year administrative appointment, institutions should pay the faculty member an administrative stipend based on the job description and responsibilities related to their administrative role. The administrative stipend should be identified separately from the base salary amount in the faculty member’s contract and the contact should specify that the stipend will no longer be available when the administrative appointment ends.”

Positions in which faculty are eligible to receive administrative contracts and an administrative stipend include: Provost; Assistant/Associate/Vice Presidents; Assistant/Associate/Vice/Senior Provosts; Deans; Assistant/Associate Deans; Department/School Chairs/Directors; Assistant/Associate/Directors of Academic Units; Special Assistant to President/Provost; Others per President/Provost.

B) Non-Administrative Stipend - For non-administrators who receive a teaching contract; assignment is non-teaching and is expected to continue; these faculty will not receive administrative contracts but will remain on a 9- or 12-month teaching faculty contract. PTR clock does not stop. Faculty receiving non-administrative stipends are eligible for teaching faculty awards and may serve on University/college/department committees as teaching faculty.

Positions in which faculty may be eligible to receive non-administrative stipends include but are not limited to: Assistant/Associate Department Chairs; Program coordinators and others as determined by the Dean and/or Department Chair/School Director.

Stipends for 9-month faculty can be paid in the summer by putting the stipend amount on the summer payroll. Stipends count towards the 33.33% earning maximum for summer pay.

Overloads

Overloads are a temporary amendment to contract for additional teaching, research or service responsibilities; defined as those activities in excess of activities expected as part of the defined workload formula. Full-time faculty at Valdosta State University may be requested to perform service in excess of full-time effort for institutional-funded activities. Per BoR Policy (Academic & Student Affairs Handbook 4.10): “Under certain circumstances, qualified teaching faculty and administrative faculty may be called upon to take on additional teaching, research, or service responsibilities at the home institution. Whenever possible in this situation, the institution should consider adjusting the individual's primary duties to incorporate the extra duties associated with the overload(s). If it is determined that a workload adjustment cannot be made, the faculty member's contract should be amended to reflect a temporary change in compensation warranted by the additional responsibilities. A contract modification should also be done when faculty are involved in joint staffing agreements that warrant additional compensation at another USG institution (see Business Procedures Manual 5.3.3 in the Business Procedures Manual).”

Contract modifications should be done using the USG Contract Addendum for Temporary Overload Compensation. Because overloads involve a modification to a faculty member's VSU original contract, section 5.3.2 of the BoR Business Procedures Manual on Extra compensation does not apply to faculty overloads.

Conditions of an Overload Assignment

Faculty who assume overload assignments for overload pay must meet expectations in all of their normal in-load work assignments. In-load work assignments typically include the expected fulltime commitment of the faculty member to teaching, supervision and mentoring duties, professional service (including administration), scholarship and creative activity, and academic achievement and professional development. Overload pay is not appropriate for an individual if the work can be readily assigned on an in-load basis to another qualified person or if the individual’s existing assignments can accommodate the work or can be readily reduced, rearranged, or reassigned in order to accommodate the work on an in-load basis.

Since VSU is in full or partial operation seven days a week in the mornings, afternoons and evenings, many faculty do not share the same daily or weekly work schedules. A “normal full load” must take flexible scheduling into account, regardless of when and where an individual’s faculty-related work is done during the week.

Avoiding Conflicts with Regular Duties

Because faculty are salaried professional employees, overload assignments are most acceptable when the nature of the work in the overload assignment is significantly different from the nature of an individual’s work assignments in the normal full load. When the nature of the work is similar for in-load and overload pay, the potential for an appearance of a conflict of interest or conflict of obligation exists and should be avoided or thoroughly justified. Faculty members who write themselves into grants or contracts for services that involve overload pay create the potential for a perceived conflict of interest or obligation.

When an apparent conflict of interest exists within a department, college, or division, an administrator at another level of authority beyond that unit must confirm that the overload compensation is appropriate and does not constitute a conflict of interest or obligation.

Avoiding Conflicts with Grants

Faculty can perform work as additional pay from a grant provided that it is allowable by the grant. It is strongly encouraged that a dialogue should exist between the Dean/Department Head and faculty as to what their agreed time distribution should be at the beginning of each academic year (split between scholarship, service and teaching), and that no faculty member should need to regularly seek additional pay for work on a grant, rather, it should be a part of their expected duties outlined by the department head and dean. In short, use of the Contract Addendum (additional pay) for work on grants should not be an ongoing and predictable form of increasing total compensation. It would be most preferable for faculty that work on grants (and the grant pays for that time), that this be part of the faculty member's expected workload, and the off-set savings from the portion of salary paid by the grant be used by the dean or department head to offset loss in teaching or service capacity by the college or department by, for example, employing limited term professors.

Furthermore, it is important to note that federal grants explicitly do not allow for overload while working on a federal grant regardless of funding source for the overload. Some non-federal grants may also explicitly state such a restriction. Any non-federal grant supported by federal funds is also subject to federal grant restrictions. In short, there can be no additional pay for grant work unless the grant is a) non-federal, b) not supported by federal dollars, and c) does not explicitly restrict additional pay. For additional information, contact OSPRA.

Last updated March 24, 2022.

Teaching for eCore

Full-time faculty members are expected to make their principal time commitment to achieving their VSU duties and responsibilities. If an instructor desires to teach through eCore, a collaborative program of the University System of Georgia (USG) established with the goal to make higher education more accessible within our state, in addition to his/her full-time workload, he/she must secure the approval from their department head, dean, and provost. The eCore faculty application is located at https://ecore.usg.edu/

Last updated March 24, 2022.