Supplemental pay for faculty policy summary

Overload assignment: In approved circumstances, faculty assignments might extend significantly beyond the scope of assigned and expected responsibilities, as outlined in the annual SOEs for faculty. Such assignments, when not balanced out in other ways, might warrant supplemental compensation.

Supplemental compensation: Any additional financial compensation above the amount stated in the annual notice of appointment. Supplemental compensation may be approved for special honors or acknowledgements or for overload assignments of work.

Term: For the purposes of this policy, overload work will be considered relative to workload assigned in the semester and the full AY. Occasionally, SOEs will assign work that balances over the full academic year with a higher load in one semester and an equally lower load in the other semester. For the purposes of approving overload assignment, both the full AY workload assigned in the SOE and the impact of additional workload during a given term will be considered.

1. Supplemental compensation is intended to provide appropriate compensation for full-time faculty who are assigned teaching or other activities beyond the scope of efforts specified in the SOE and where a change in the SOE to displace lower priority activities is not possible or appropriate.
2. Overload assignments may not be made without faculty consent, and such assignments may not adversely affect or displace the responsibilities outlined in the faculty member’s SOE.
3. Only one supplemental compensation request can be made per term (semester). When more than one overload assignment or supplemental pay activity is occurring in the same term all such activities should be part of the same request.
4. Overload assignments will be considered in the context of the full SOE. Supplemental compensation for teaching assignments that meet capacity demand will be prioritized over non-teaching assignments. Overload assignments and supplemental compensation for non-teaching work should be rare. Higher priority service or administrative work should be incorporated into the current workload (SOE) and displace lower priority work prior to assigning overload service or administrative assignment.
5. Authorization for supplemental pay must receive approval prior to initiating the activities for which the compensation is provided for any supplemental compensation greater than $1,150.
6. Academic unit chairs/directors are responsible for proportionally adjusting faculty members’ SOEs in cases where work is initiated for a non-approved supplemental pay request, as payment may not be possible if prior approval was not obtained.
7. Supplemental pay associated with teaching activities is limited to one 3- or 4-credit-hour course, or equivalent, per term (academic semester). Compensation for teaching NAU curricular coursework as an overload assignment will be at a rate of $2,000 per credit hour.
8. To be eligible for supplemental pay associated with a teaching assignment, tenured or tenure-track faculty must already be assigned to no fewer than 18 credit hours for the academic year. Career track (NTT) faculty must already be assigned to no fewer than 24 credit hours for the academic year.
9. Any exceptions to this policy must be approved in advance in writing by the chair/director, dean, or other chief academic officer, and the provost.
10. Winter session teaching by faculty is governed separately from these supplemental compensation policies, subject to the policies for summer sessions. While faculty are paid during winter break and that time is part of the contract period, courses taught during the winter session period are not currently considered as an overload assignment.

Academic unit chairs/directors: ensure that authorization for supplemental pay is received prior to activity initiation.

Faculty: ensure that they do not initiate work on not-yet-approved overload assignments.

All faculty supplemental pay must receive pre-approval prior to the performance of work through a two-step process:

Step 1: The Supplemental Compensation Pre-Approval Form must be completed and approved prior to the work being performed.

• It is the responsibility of the academic unit chair/director to ensure that this form is routed and signed before the work to be performed begins to avoid potential conflicts with contractual obligations, stipulations from granting agencies, and/or exceeding the maximum number of supplemental hours allowed per year.
• If the funding department (the department for which the work is being done) is different from the individual’s home department, signatures will be needed from both areas.
• If any portion of the individual’s salary or supplemental compensation is from a sponsored project, a signature is required from the Office of Grant and Contract Services.
• Once all parties have reviewed and signed the form, a copy should be sent to the funding department with the original being returned to the faculty member.
• If approved, the individual may proceed with the work as requested.
• Per the specific agreements or instructions governing the supplemental work, the faculty member can either contact the funding department to request the Payment Form be prepared and submitted, or payment will be initiated by the funding department.
• All payments will be subject to the payroll deadlines and payment dates established by the University Payroll Office as found on the Payroll Calendar.

Step 2: The Payment Form for Faculty and Academic Professionals is to be completed by the funding department, and a copy of the signed Pre-Approval form must accompany the payment form for final processing for those activities.