Grant or Contract Related Redistribution of Effort in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

The faculty member shall make a course buyout request to the unit chair or director for review and possible endorsement. In reviewing the request, the unit chair or director shall take the following into account:

• the teaching needs of the unit
• the unit’s overall credit-hour production
• the effect that the teaching reduction may have on the unit’s faculty to GTA credit-hour production ratio
• the effect on students’ timely completion of their degrees

If the chair or director endorses the request, the chair or director shall forward it to the associate dean assigned to their unit for review and possible approval.

The funds needed to buy out a course depend on the faculty member’s salary and the percentage of their position attributed to each of their courses. The following examples assume the standard distribution of effort of 40% teaching, 40% research, and 20% service. For a larger or smaller teaching percentage, the funds needed would be proportionally higher or lower.

• If a faculty member normally teaches four courses per year, a one-course reduction would require funds equal to 10% of the faculty member’s academic-year salary and fringe.
• If a faculty member normally teaches three courses per year, a one-course reduction would require funds equal to 13.33% of the faculty member’s academic-year salary and fringe.
• If a faculty member normally teaches two courses per year, a one-course reduction would require funds equal to 20% of the faculty member’s academic-year salary and fringe.

If the computation prescribed above does not equal at least $5,000, a higher percentage of the faculty member’s effort must be funded from the grant or contract. In addition, regardless of the computation described above, a maximum amount of $20,000 will be considered sufficient to fund a one-course reduction.

Salary that is released as a result of a grant- or contract-related redistribution of effort will be returned 100% back to the faculty member’s unit and will normally be used to hire instructors.