Summer Effort and Summer Salary for Sponsored Research for Faculty with 9-Month Academic Appointments

Contents
Overview
Resources and Tools
Policy
FAQs

Overview

Summer salary is compensation paid to academic appointed 9-month faculty who perform research on a grant or contract during the summer months of June, July, and August or perform additional administrative duties.

Salary for the summer months is determined by dividing the base salary by nine (9) months, a summer month salary is referred to as 1/9th, two months as 2/9ths, and three months as 3/9ths

What documentation and approvals are required?

The Summer Salary Request Form should be completed by departments for all nine-month faculty taking greater than 2/9ths summer salary. The table below shows when that form should go for approval. The form goes to the Vice President/Associate Provost of Research when requesting more than 2/9ths summer salary from sponsored project, and to the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs when requesting more than 3/9ths total summer salary. Who sends the form on for approval will depend on your Department’s processes, please contact your financial administrator for internal policies, guidelines, and deadlines.

		Approval Required
Total Additional Salary	Sources of Funding	Summer Salary Request Form to VP of Research	Assoc Provost for Faculty Affairs
Up to 3/9ths	2/9ths or less from sponsored project	No	No
Up to 3/9ths	more than 2/9ths from sponsored project	Yes	No
More than 3/9ths	2/9ths or less from sponsored project	No	Yes – via memo
More than 3/9ths	more than 2/9ths from sponsored project	Yes	Yes – via form

Key points when requesting 3/9ths summer salary

100% effort: Faculty can’t claim 100% effort on sponsored research (i.e., get paid 3/9ths from sponsored research) if spending any part of the summer on any administrative or non-research activities (example: writing proposals; planning for courses, etc.).
Swap: In some instances it is possible for the institutional funds corresponding to 1/9 of the academic year salary to be used to cover one month of summer salary, this can be done with a swap. Ideally, the swap should happen within the same PARPersonnel Activity Report You can find details about Per... period as the payment.
Effort vs. salary: It is important to note that effort and salary don’t always match, especially in the case of summer salary. Effort is certified via the PAR process done bi-annually, every six months. The effort column listed on the form may not correspond directly to the salary % listed on the PAR.
Over the cap: If salary is over the DHHS Salary Cap then the salary up to the cap can be charged to sponsored research, but the amount over the cap needs to be charged to a non-sponsored research account. If the salary is unpaid by the department then the amount over the cap would not be included on the form.

Resources & Tools

Summer Salary Request Form (complete this form for faculty requesting more than 2/9ths salary over the summer)
How to use the form – training pack (this pack includes information on how to complete the form, and examples based on faculty under and over the cap)

BU Summer Salary Policy

During the academic year faculty compensated for nine-month academic appointments are expected to devote their effort in support of University activities, including teaching, research, and service. In addition, faculty with nine-month academic appointments are permitted to expend up to an additional two (2) months of compensated effort during the summer months, and earn up to two months (2/9ths) of additional salary for that effort from sponsored projects, subject to sponsor policies and the terms and conditions of the related awards. Please refer to the FAQs below for clarification around the general University overbase policy.

Consistent with his/her academic appointment, a faculty member may request permission to earn more than two months (2/9ths) of compensation during the months June, July, and August, up to a maximum of three full months (3/9ths), supported by sponsored projects by filling out the Summer Salary Request Form. The form should be completed by all faculty who are requesting more than two months (2/9ths) of summer salary funded by a sponsored project. Also note that if a faculty member is involved in administrative or other non-research activities, including teaching, or is directing his/her efforts toward other exploratory research or competitive or noncompetitive proposals outside the specific areas covered by the sponsored projects during this summer period, he/she is precluded from devoting 100% effort to or requesting three months of salary from those sponsored projects.

Faculty will be permitted to receive three full months of summer salary supported by sponsored projects if the following criteria are met:

Sponsor policies and individual award terms and conditions allow charging three months of salary during the summer period. For example, the National Science Foundation (NSFNational Science Foundation) limits the salary of a Principal Investigator to 2/9ths of the academic year salary from all NSF grants. These two months of effort may be expended either during the academic year, during the summer period, or split between the academic year and the summer.
The faculty member certifies that he/she will devote 100% of his/her University effort during the entire summer period in support of the sponsored projects. According to federal regulations, the only exception permitted is writing non-competitive renewal proposals directly connected to those projects.
The faculty member obtains approval of this level of effort from the appropriate Department Chair, Dean, and Vice President and Associate Provost for Research on the Summer Salary Request Form.

In addition, in order to maintain flexibility and assure compliance with federal regulations and the institution’s Effort Certification Policy, Boston University is establishing an amendment to this policy related to 9-month faculty who have successfully secured three full months of compensation from sponsored projects during a single summer period. This amendment will allow such faculty to devote up to 1/3rd of summer effort working in support of his/her academic appointment at Boston University, including work on new proposals, competitive renewals, and/or teaching and administrative activities:

A faculty member that has successfully obtained three full months of summer compensation from sponsored projects may use up to one month (1/3rd) of the summer salary to cover the equivalent amount of effort devoted to the sponsored projects during the academic year. The institutional funds that would have covered that month (1/9th) of the academic-year salary would be used to support the same amount of salary during the summer period. This allows the faculty member to devote up to 1/3rd of the summer period in support of academic and research activities not related to the sponsored project.

Faculty may choose this option on the Summer Salary Request Form and will be allowed the split of summer effort in a manner explained above provided that the following criteria are met:

The sponsor and individual sponsored award terms and conditions allow budgeted salary support and effort to be applied to the given sponsored project(s) at any time, including during the academic year.
The faculty member certifies that he/she will devote 100% effort during the summer to research and other university related activities. Two of these months must be expended in support of sponsored projects and the additional third month in support of academic and other research activities not related to the sponsored project.
During the summer period, the distribution of salary between sponsored and non-sponsored funding sources should be based on a reasonable estimate of how the faculty member will be spending his/her effort. Generally, it is likely that in each summer month, the faculty member will be conducting sponsored and non-sponsored activities concurrently. As such, a recommended salary distribution would be to charge 2/3rds of the faculty member’s salary to sponsored projects and 1/3rd to institutional funds during each of the summer months. It would be acceptable to distribute the sponsored and non-sponsored effort either over the summer months June, July and August following the academic year, thus budgeting it across two fiscal years, or to plan it for the summer months July, August preceding the academic year and June following it in order to maintain all payments in the same fiscal year as long as the distribution of the salary is a reasonable estimate of the effort expended.
The equivalent percentage of the latter third month of effort must then be devoted to sponsored projects over the following academic year. For example, a full month of summer effort requires at least 11% effort to be expended over the academic year in support of the sponsored project(s). The equivalent salary shifted to the academic year must be charged according to when the effort is being expended.
The faculty member has obtained approval of this split of summer effort from the appropriate Department Chair, Dean, and Associate Provost for Research on the Commitment of Summer Effort Request Form.

Note: This policy should not be regarded as a mechanism for turning grant dollars into discretionary resources. The institutional funds corresponding to 1/9th of the academic year salary can only be used to cover one month of summer salary and cannot be recovered by the PIPrincipal Investigator View Boston University's policy on... in any other form and for any other purpose.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the University definition of overbase?

2. What is the general overbase policy for faculty with 9-month academic appointments?

3. When is Provost approval required for earning overbase, stipends, and/or summer salary?

Provost approval is required in scenarios B and C, below: (also refer to table in Q5):

A. If a 9-month faculty member is appointed in a part-time administrative role (for example Chair, Director, Associate Director, Associate Dean) for a duration of at least one academic year and paid over 12 months, the additional effort in this position is considered to be part of the faculty member’s overall institutional effort and the stipend is considered to be part of his/her overall institutional base salaryInstitutional Base Salary, or “IBS,” is annual compensat... More. Under these circumstances, the faculty member may earn up to an additional 3/9ths of summer salary without special approval by the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs. Additionally, if the summer salary is funded from a sponsored award in an amount equal or less than 2/9ths, the faculty member also does not need to complete the Summer Salary Request Form. However, if a sponsored award is funding greater than 2/9ths of the summer salary, then although approval by the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs is not required, the faculty member must complete the Summer Salary Request Form. Note the summer salary is calculated based on the 9-month base rate.

B. If a 9-month faculty member wishes to be paid greater than a total of 3/9ths additional salary through a combination of piecemeal activities (for example, overbase teaching, specialized course development, or other special compensated assignments, etc.) special approval from the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs is required. In this case, if the total funding from a sponsored award is equal to or less than 2/9ths, then the faculty member does not also need to complete the Summer Salary Request Form. A detailed memo should be submitted by the appropriate Dean’s Office to the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs requesting approval for the faculty member to exceed 3/9ths additional salary.

C. If a 9-month faculty member needs to request approval to earn greater than a total of 3/9ths additional salary and the portion of the funding from sponsored projects exceeds 2/9ths, then the faculty member requires approval from both the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and the Vice President and Associate Provost for Research. The Summer Salary Request Form should be used for both requests. The formula at the bottom of the form indicates if the faculty member’s total request exceeds 3/9ths; all overbase activities should be included on the form. The form should be submitted by the appropriate Dean’s Office to the Office of the Vice President and Associate Provost for Research and it will be forwarded internally for review by the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs.

4. How do I determine what is “recurring” effort for reporting purposes (PARs) versus what is “incidental” effort?

5. How does the determination of whether work is incidental or recurring affect how much additional salary a faculty member can earn and the approval routing?