The Faculty Research Incentive Pay Program (FRIPP) which will recognize and reward recipients who have received external funding. FRIPP will allow A&M-Commerce to provide incentive payments to faculty who receive external funding.

Eligibility

To be eligible to participate in the program, the following minimum criteria must be met:

• The participant must be a Texas A&M University-Commerce tenure-track or tenured faculty member, director of a department, or an administrator with teaching responsibilities serving as a principal investigator on an externally-sponsored project on an extramurally-sponsored project that covers a portion of their 9-month salary.

• At least a portion of the participant’s institutional base salary must be paid from state-appropriated funds.

• Individuals who are split-funded from appropriated and other sources shall be eligible to participate in that portion of their salary supported by appropriated funds.
• Grant or extramural funder must generate F&A cost.
• Grant or extramural funder must not require cost sharing.

Provisions

Incentive payments are contingent upon the faculty member meeting the eligibility requirements and complying with the terms and conditions of the program. Incentive payments are limited to up to 50% of the “recovered” or “bought out” salary and cumulative payments shall not exceed 25% of the faculty member’s institutional base salary per fiscal year. The amount of the incentive payment shall be estimated before the beginning of the associated academic semester and reconciled to the actual amount of salary paid by the grant or external funding before a payment is issued. The incentive payment will be placed in an RIA or F&A account under the participant’s name and may be used for research-related expenses. Examples include professional travel, publishing costs, undergraduate or graduate student stipends, and supplies. Neither food/beverage purchases nor faculty stipends are allowed. Purchases made with FRIP funds must follow university rules and procedures and will be considered university property.

Terms and Conditions

Faculty Research Incentive Pay Program participants must comply with the following terms and conditions to receive incentive payments:

• The faculty member must fulfill all expectations for performance established through a written work assignment that is agreed upon in advance by the faculty member, the faculty member’s Department Head or other immediate supervisor, and the faculty member’s Dean, according to the University Procedure 12.03.99.R1 Faculty Workload.
• The faculty member must exhibit satisfactory performance in all assigned duties as determined by his or her Department Head and Dean, including good fiscal and administrative management of all extramural funds for which the faculty member is the principal investigator or co-principal investigator, and completion of necessary reports promptly.
• The incentive program applies to salary that is funded by external sources during the on-contract period.
• Incentive payment(s) shall not be paid from sponsored project funds.
• Participation in the program is voluntary and is not mandated upon either the faculty member or the University. Participation is not an entitlement but may be made available to eligible faculty members when both the University and the faculty member determine that it is in their mutual best interest to do so. Furthermore, the University reserves the right to suspend or terminate this program or the participation of any faculty member at any time. No verbal commitment to participate or pay under the program is binding and only the final signatures of all required parties shall constitute a commitment under the program.
• Availability of any payments under the program is subject to the availability of state appropriations and any applicable state or federal laws, regulations, or policies.
• Modifications to any aspect of this program may be implemented at any time, as determined by the VPRED (Vice President for Research and Economic Development). Such modifications may occur through amendment of this program or through written notice to the deans of affected academic units.
• Final approval for participation in this program shall be granted by the VPRED.

Incentive Pay Calculations

The maximum amount of the incentive payment is 50% of the net salary savings to the appropriated funding source.

The following costs may be factored into the incentive payment calculation.

1. Compensation to the department for costs incurred to replace the faculty member’s contributions to the department.
2. Other costs incurred by the department for support of the sponsored project are not recovered elsewhere.

Examples of Incentive Pay Calculation

Teaching Workload Buyout

A faculty member with a 9-month appointment receives $8000 in external funding to pay a portion of their salary to work on a sponsored project during the fall semester and negotiates with their Department Head to reduce their teaching workload proportionally. The amount of salary savings is $8,000. The cost of an adjunct instructor to teach the faculty member’s class is $3,000.

Salary savings: $8,000
Instructor costs: $3,000
Net salary savings: $5,000

Result: The faculty member may receive up to $2,500 in incentive pay (50% of the net salary savings), which will be placed in an RIA or F&A account.

Process for Calculation and Disbursement of Incentive Payments

• At least one month before the start of the anticipated buyout period, the faculty member works with his or her Department Head and college Budget Specialist to complete the Faculty Research Incentive Pay Program Agreement form (link below).
• The Department Head signs the request to confirm that eligibility requirements are met, the request is consistent with the faculty member’s written workload assignment, and any courses being bought out will be taught by another instructor.
• The FRIP Program Agreement form is routed to obtain the college Budget Specialist’s and Dean’s signature and then forwarded to Sponsored Programs for review and approval.
• The VPRED signs the form and sends the original form back to the Department Head with a copy to the faculty member and the Budget Specialist.
• After the semester has ended, the Budget Specialist or departmental Administrative Associate initiates an incentive payment, which will be placed in the RIA or F&A account.

Faculty Research Incentive Pay Program Form 

15.01.01.R0.05 Sponsored Research Incentive Programs