Extra Compensation Policy

Extra Compensation Policy Goals

The policy and its procedures provide a mechanism to ensure core functions are not impacted when faculty receive compensation beyond their institutional base salary for engaging in defined tasks beyond the core workload expectations and with a defined timeline. Any provision of extra compensation should support -and should not undermine - the dual goals of student success and faculty success. To ensure these goals are met, extra compensation should promote a balance of responsibilities, while maintaining the integrity of faculty roles and the institution's reputation, financial health, and legal/regulatory compliance. Extra compensation should not create unmanageable conflicts, including conflicts of commitment and conflicts of interest, and should not pose faculty or institutional financial, compliance or reputational risk. The policy is grounded in compliance with federal and state laws and regulations, is equitable and transparent, incentivizes and rewards faculty industriousness in support of NIU’s mission and/or priorities, and is focused on supporting faculty collaboration, entrepreneurship, innovation, cross-disciplinary partnerships and endeavors, and, ultimately, faculty success and retention.

Scope

This policy applies to all faculty (tenured/tenure-track, clinical, research, instructor) and all administrators in Supportive Professional Staff (SPS) positions who hold faculty rank.

Definitions

Institutional Base Salary

The starting point for any compensation policy is Institutional Base Salary (IBS). This is the annual compensation set by the University (through an academic unit or administrative unit) for an employee's regular appointment, whether that employee's professional effort for the University is spent on research, teaching, outreach, administration, or other activities, and whether that employee is appointed full-time or part-time.

Regular appointment

The regular appointment for faculty is defined by the workload policies which are relevant to the faculty member, inclusive of collective bargaining agreements, Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs), and other applicable workload policies. Specific workload responsibilities or duties beyond the employee’s regular appointment completed within a specific time period are often referred to as overload work.

Extra compensation

Payment above 100% of institutional base salary in any given pay period, including summer and off-contract periods, in return for specific responsibilities or dutiesbeyond the employee’s regular appointment completed within a specific time period.

Summer compensation

Employees who are not on a 12-month base contract may receive compensation during off-contract periods (typically, summer). Summer compensation is not considered extra compensation. However, faculty can earn extra compensation during the summer in return for specific duties.

Supplemental compensation

Supplemental compensation is additional pay received as an award, honorific such as a named professorship, or other mechanism for which no duties are assigned.

Additional pay

Additional pay (or “add pay”) is defined as any compensation received above an individual’s institutional base salary. It can include many types of compensation including: extra compensation; summer compensation;supplemental compensation.

Faculty

For the purposes of this policy, faculty is an inclusive term which includes the categories of faculty in the NIU Constitution (e.g. tenure-track, clinical, research, and instructors) as well as administrators in SPS who hold faculty rank unless otherwise noted. This includes faculty with varying employment terms (e.g. 9-, 10-, or 12-month).

Policy

Extra Compensation Policy Principles

All extra compensation should be consistent with the guiding principles. Within the framework of these guiding principles, relevant compliance regulations must be adhered to, following guidelines specified in procedures. The following principles provide the foundation for the Extra Compensation Policy and the relevant procedures:

• As a public institution, NIU has a responsibility to ensure taxpayers, students, and public officials that university funds fulfill its public mission and are not abused for private gain, in reality or appearance.
• The responsibility for honest dealings extends to other funding sources, including local, state, and federal government, foundation, and industry grants, contracts, agreements, or awards, where NIU has the responsibility for good stewardship and fiscal responsibility.
• Regardless of funding source, NIU and its faculty and staffhave a responsibility for the amount of effort an individual invests in an activity being aligned with the amount paid, and that compensation occurs in the time periodsimultaneous with the activity.
• Consistent with Board of Trustees and University policy, extra compensation should be for a specific operational need and limited in duration clearly beyond the employee’s regular appointment.
• For faculty, release time from academic year duties (inclusive of research, scholarship or artistry, teaching or librarianship, and service) or summer compensation are the typical mechanisms for accommodating externally funded activities.
• Earning summer salary, supplemental compensation, or participating in outside consulting does not preclude individuals from being eligible for extra compensation.
• All procedures should recognize the tensions between consistency and flexibility. There is an inherent need for flexibility in procedures due to the complexity of the institution which is made up of faculty with various identities and duties, and of various ways to fulfill duties as a faculty member. There is a similar need for consistency for compliance, for transparency, and to ensure all faculty members can reasonably understand the conditions for receiving extra compensation. Specific procedures may differ depending on the source of the funding, but all must align with the principles and policies laid out in this document.

Extra Compensation Policy

Extra Compensation Eligibility

Faculty are eligible for extra compensation in return for specific responsibilities or duties beyond the employee’s regular appointment completed within a specific time period.

Activities Eligible For Extra Compensation

Faculty can earn extra compensation through teaching or librarianship, through research, scholarship or creative activity, and through service orleadership. However, faculty should meet the expectations specified in the workload policies which are applicable to the faculty member in the relevant area (i.e. teaching, librarianship; research, scholarship, creative activity; service, leadership) before extra compensation should be considered.

Workload Releases and Adjustments

Workload releases and adjustments may pertain to teaching (e.g., non-teaching professional assignment) or research or service activities associated with one’s regular appointment.

Conflicts of Commitment

For those who receive extra compensation, there shall be a process which ensures a faculty member fulfills their primary responsibilities and core functions are met. This process shall be used to ensure the primary commitment of a full-time employee remains intact. The totality of commitments, whether compensated as extra compensation or not, must be taken into account to ensure that the individual is able to fulfill their primary responsibilities. The relevant workload load policies shall provide guidance on what satisfies expected effort towards various components of the faculty job requirements (i.e. teaching, librarianship; research, scholarship, creative activity; service, leadership).

Faculty Roles and Responsibilities

Faculty have the primary responsibility for disclosure of activities as well as accurate and timely reporting. Faculty have the responsibility to provide evidence that a task is eligible for extra compensation.

Administration Roles and Responsibilities

Administration has the primary responsibility for communicating the policy, any changes to policies, developing procedures and making them accessible, compliance monitoring, confirming employee performance is adequate for eligibility, and for adjudicating appeals.

Appealing Decisions

Where possible, disagreements in any extra compensation determination should be resolved by the parties involved in the decision. However, where this informal resolution is not possible, the faculty member has the right to appeal the decision. The principal objective of the appeal process is to provide for consideration of allegations by a faculty member who claims to have had their extra compensation unfairly denied. The Provost’s Office has the authority to adjudicate appeals of decisions and to set the procedures for the appeal.