Academic Policy 1405.18
Summer Sessions Allocation and Appointment Policies and Procedures
Budget
Each fiscal year, the vice provost for academic affairs allocates a budget to all colleges and schools for summer teaching with the goal to support student success and timely degree completion. The allocation funds summer teaching for July and August as well as the following May and June of the same fiscal year. Funding is provided for organized, on-campus credit-bearing courses and approved study abroad programs. Funding approval is typically contingent on courses generating sufficient tuition revenue to offset instructional costs.
When available, funding for summer orientation and advising will be based on a centrally identified budget and allocated proportionally to participating colleges according to either the previous year’s official orientation attendance numbers or other relevant criteria, such as past expenditures. The orientation and advising budget will be pre-approved and communicated to the college prior to the start of the summer term.
Courses offered through distance education in the summer are funded through a separate budget. They, however, are expected to abide by the summer session policies and procedures set forth below.
Employee Appointments and Payments
To be eligible for summer pay, faculty or graduate assistants teaching summer courses must be appointed in an appropriate nine-month faculty position or nine-month graduate assistant position. Adjunct faculty and appointed university staff members hired as adjunct faculty temporarily for summer teaching are also eligible for summer pay. Summer payments are issued via Period Activity Pay according to Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 407.1. Summer instructional activities must end before the start of the August intersession.
Summer salary is calculated based on the following for instructors of record assigned to summer courses:
A) For 50%-100% appointed faculty, salary is based on the instructor’s previous academic year full-time equivalent salary at 2.5% per credit hour. Appointed faculty teaching a summer course shall be compensated no less than $5,000 for a three-credit-hour course or $1,666.67 per credit hour.
B) For adjunct faculty, including appointed University staff scheduled to teach a course, salary is calculated on a per-course basis and set by the college/department based on the instructors’ qualifications, experience, and projected enrollment of the course. Instructors in this category should be compensated at no less than $5,000 for a three-credit-hour course or $1,666.67 per credit hour.
C) For nine-month-appointed graduate assistants assigned to teach a summer course, a different base wage rate formula is used and detailed below.
Note, the pay rates indicated above are contingent on the course generating sufficient tuition revenue to cover instructional costs. On-campus courses with a projected deficit will be communicated to the college or school by the Office of the Provost before the start of classes, or, in the case of study abroad, before travel arrangements have been finalized. The college or school will be asked to decide on how best to address the projected deficit, which, with approval of the Office of the Provost, may include reducing instructor pay, covering the projected deficit with unit funds, or cancelling the course. Online courses shall be fully reviewed by the college or school to ensure fiscal responsibility and viability, as they operate under a different budget and funding structure.
If there are two 9-month instructors co-teaching teaching a course, each instructor shall receive 50% of their regular summer pay rate. Any other special pay situations or variations from the above should be submitted to the Office of the Provost for review and approval during the designated review period. Approved exceptions are granted for the specified summer term and must be resubmitted each year, if deemed appropriate, as there are no standing payment exceptions.
In all cases, total compensation for summer employment may not exceed 33 1/3 percent of the previous nine-month salary and is subject to applicable line-item maximum restrictions as per Board Policy 435.1.
No payments may be made from summer teaching funds for research, general administrative duties, directing of individual or independent studies/readings courses, low-enrollment practicums, theses or dissertation hours. Payment for supervision of internships must be pre-approved by the Office of the Provost annually. There should be no compensation for courses that do not pay during the academic year
Twelve-Month Appointed Faculty and Staff
In general, twelve-month 100%-appointed faculty who participate in summer teaching should not be paid from the summer budget. Their entry on the workload spreadsheet should reflect no additional compensation, as it is assumed they are teaching as part of their normal workload.
In rare cases, well-justified requests for twelve-month 100%-appointed faculty to teach an overload course may be reviewed and approved by the Office of the Provost. Such requests for extra compensation are subject to Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 407.0.
Twelve-month less-than-100%-appointed faculty for whom summer teaching is an additional duty should receive an increase in percentage of appointment and a salary adjustment, if needed. Contact the Office of the Provost for guidance if seeking funding from the summer budget to support these additional efforts.
Twelve-month 100%-appointed University staff for whom summer teaching is an additional duty must be seated in an adjunct faculty position and meet faculty qualification requirements as per Academic Policy 1435.50. Extra compensation payments are subject to Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 407.0.
Graduate Assistants
Nine-month-appointed graduate assistants’ summer teaching pay is calculated using a formula that factors in their regular monthly base wage rate as set by their college/department and the number of weeks assigned to teach. The Office of the Provost, in consultation with the Graduate School, will publish guidance each year outlining the details for graduate assistants’ summer pay.
Nine-month-appointed graduate assistants may be assigned as the instructor of record and receive pay for teaching a summer course. With approval from the Office of the Provost, non-teaching instructional support (for example, graduate assistants assigned to support a course’s instructor of record as a Teaching Assistant or Class Assistant) may be compensated provided the course(s) they are assigned to generate(s) sufficient revenue to cover both instructor costs and graduate assistant instructional support costs.
Nine-month-appointed graduate assistants who work over the summer, as per the Graduate School's enrollment requirements, must work a minimum of 30 days, be enrolled in at least three hours of coursework during May intersession or any summer term to qualify to receive wages as a graduate assistant during the summer, and must be provided a tuition waiver by the unit that employs them. With pre-approval, the Graduate School may waive the 30-day work requirement for graduate assistants who teach over May intersession.
Twelve-month-appointed graduate assistants may be assigned to teach a course as an instructor of record as part of their normal workload. In those cases, no extra compensation shall be paid. A twelve-month-appointed graduate assistant may teach up to one three-credit summer course in addition to their existing load as an overload if approved by the Graduate School and the Office of the Provost. This may be paid as Period Activity Pay according to appropriate college policies. The summer teaching load portion of their salary should be entered using the appropriate summer worktag.
A unit may request to compensate a graduate assistant at a higher rate based on the type of class taught, experience of the graduate assistant, and other relevant factors. Instances of graduate student appointment increases over the summer term must be pre-approved by the Office of the Provost and the Graduate School Dean. In all cases, total compensation for summer employment may not exceed 33 1/3 percent of the previous nine-month salary and is subject to applicable line-item maximum restrictions as per Board Policy 435.1. With pre-approval from the Office of the Provost and Graduate School, a graduate assistant may be allowed to exceed the 33 1/3 percent of their previous 9-month salary if the graduate assistant increases their workload to 75% full-time equivalent over the summer term from the typical 50% full-time equivalent during the regular academic year.
Graduate assistants who have graduated in May and are no longer enrolled as a student are not eligible to teach as a graduate assistant under this policy. If a unit wishes to employ a former student to teach during the summer term, they must be placed in an appointed faculty position or paid as an adjunct faculty member according to the above policies. To be eligible, individuals must have an appropriate degree credential consistent with APS 1435.50. To be eligible for summer teaching pay, the position change from graduate assistant to an appointed faculty position or as an adjunct faculty member should be dated the weekend before the start of the summer session.
Workload Spreadsheet
Each March, an updated workload spreadsheet with instructions will be distributed to college budget officers and/or HR or related staff. The workload spreadsheet is designed to report all summer course offerings, instructors of record, estimated course revenues, and instructor pay within each college or school and their respective departments. Each college or school submits their completed workload spreadsheet to the Office of the Provost for review and approval. Note, courses offered by distance education shall be reviewed by the college or school to ensure fiscal responsibility and submitted to Global Campus.
Period Activity Pay transactions related to summer teaching are initiated and approved using the data from the workload spreadsheet and, for twelve-month faculty and staff assigned to teach, governed by the extra compensation policy (Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 407.0). The first tab in the workload will contain updated directions for the current summer’s entries.
Interdisciplinary cross-college efforts should be reported on the workload form by the home college of the instructor. In the case of course cancellations and other course-related changes throughout the summer term, the workload must be updated according to the directions tab and resubmitted before payment can be entered in Workday.
Course Offerings, Class Sizes, and Course Revenue
Summer class sizes should be consistent with the sizes of courses offered during the academic year within the same department and follow the class size standards in Academic Policy 1640.10. Extra sections of a course should not be added for additional payment to instructors. They should only be added if enrollment creates the need and there is no option for increasing the enrollment cap due to pedagogical concerns within the course.
For pay approval from the summer budget, each course offering should be, at minimum, revenue neutral. This means the tuition revenue generated by the course should cover the instructional costs associated with the course. Course revenue estimates populated in the workload are based on standard tuition rates. Because students do not generate tuition revenue in an equal manner, revenue projections estimated in the workload may be higher than actual revenue generated from a course. Some classes may need to be offered regardless of net/gain loss. The University has a responsibility to offer and staff classes needed for degree progress and completion. The college or school is encouraged to work with programmatic faculty to analyze essential course offerings while also reflecting fiscal responsibility. If other available options to address a projected deficit are not tenable, and a college or school wishes to keep a course open and instructional costs paid from the summer budget in order to support students’ timely degree progress, well-documented evidence of the need for the course to remain open must be submitted to the Office of the Provost during the designated review period for review and approval.
Timeline
Timeline information for each summer will be distributed to colleges and schools with specific due dates by the Office of the Provost. General guidance is included below:
Mid-March: Workload spreadsheets and instructions distributed.
Mid-April: The first workload submission is due to the Office of the Provost for review.
May to August: Following workload approval, updates provided as changes occur to the Office of the Provost for immediate review.
Payment Worktags
Summer teaching pay is processed via the Workday Period Activity Pay business process. Training on this business process is available and will be provided each spring.
Payment worktag numbers for each college or school are located in the SUMM budgetary unit, which is managed in the Office of the Provost. There are different worktags within each college for:
- Employees teaching courses as an instructor of record—Teaching
- Employees who support a course and perform directly related administrative functions without teaching (subject to approval)—Support
- Employees who provide summer orientation and/or advising services; paid advising must be directly related to summer orientation and not be part of the employee’s regular duties—Advising
- Employees teaching study abroad courses (off-campus)—Study Abroad
The current worktags are:
| Label | Worktags |
|---|---|
| Summer Agriculture Teaching | PG002591 |
| Summer Agriculture Support | PG104531 |
| Summer Agriculture Study Abroad | PG104535 |
| Summer Agriculture Advising | PG002592 |
| Summer Architecture Teaching | PG002588 |
| Summer Architecture Support | PG002589 |
| Summer Architecture Study Abroad | PG002590 |
| Summer Arts and Sciences Teaching | PG002593 |
| Summer Arts and Sciences Support | PG002594 |
| Summer Arts and Sciences Study Abroad | PG104536 |
| Summer Arts and Sciences Advising | PG002595 |
| Summer Business Teaching | PG002596 |
| Summer Business Support | PG104532 |
| Summer Business Advising | PG002598 |
| Summer Business Study Abroad | PG002597 |
| Summer Education Teaching | PG002599 |
| Summer Education Support | PG104533 |
| Summer Education Study Abroad | PG104537 |
| Summer Education Advising | PG002600 |
| Summer Engineering Teaching | PG002601 |
| Summer Engineering Support | PG002602 |
| Summer Engineering Advising | PG002604 |
| Summer Engineering Study Abroad | PG002603 |
| Summer Law Teaching | PG002605 |
| Summer Law Support | PG104534 |
| Summer Law Study Abroad | PG104538 |