Effective September 1, 2018, CU Boulder adopted policy statements addressing Institutional Base Salary and Summer Salary Limits. Federal requirements, through the Uniform Guidance, require the University to clearly define what is included in Institutional Base Salary (IBS) and apply it consistently for all tenured and tenure-track faculty. IBS is used to calculate maximum permissible summer salary and prior to the new policies, was defined in a single, lengthy guidance and procedure statement.
These policies change how the IBS is calculated and specifically affect faculty with regular academic year salary plus academic year administrative and/or endowed position salary, involving fewer than 10% of the tenured and tenure-track faculty. There is no change or impact to faculty on 12-month appointments or to faculty who have only academic year salary. The Summer Salary Limits policy clearly outlines responsibilities for those faculty earning summer salary and articulates restrictions imposed on the salary that is earned.
A working group from the Research & Innovation Office, Human Resources, Office of Faculty Affairs, the Provost’s Office, and the Office of Contracts and Grants collaborated on the development of these policies. The following outcomes resulted from their work in creating them:
- Two clear policies separate responsibilities from procedure
- Earning potential is the same for those affected by the new calculations
- The updated IBS calculations have been tested against numerous real scenarios
- Effort and earning remain congruent
- New tools have been created to allow easy determination of IBS
Policy and Resource Links:
Institutional Base Salary Quick Guide