Under the terms of the 2022-2026 UUP Agreement, discretionary awards will be additions to base salary rather than lump sum payments. The Agreement provides for a pool equal to 0.5% of the total basic annual salaries of UUP employees as of June 30, 2024.
Discretionary salary increases will be processed in payroll 18 and appear in paychecks dated December 18, 2024.
For the portion of the 0.5% pool that is to be distributed at the discretion of the President, we will follow guidelines used for past discretionary awards.
Discretionary Award Schedule and Nomination Form:
Discretionary Award Schedule
Nomination Form
I. Purpose
To reward and encourage excellence in:
II. Eligibility
All employees in the UUP bargaining unit (faculty, librarians and professional staff) on the payroll as of June 30, 2024 (or April 30, 2024, for part-time employees whose employment expires prior to July 1, 2024) AND active at the time of payment are eligible for discretionary award consideration.
Part-time employees and temporary employees are eligible for discretionary awards and must be considered. Note: To be eligible for an award in 2024, part-time lecturers must be on payroll for both the Spring 2024 AND Fall 2024 semesters.
UUP employees on paid leave of absence are eligible for discretionary award consideration. If an employee is on a leave without pay at the time of payment, the employee will be eligible to receive the raise upon his/her return to the payroll.
NEW THIS YEAR: Preference will be given to employees who have completed the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 training by September 30, 2024 and all other compliance training requirements by October 11, 2024 (refer to training announcement). In addition, if you are a supervisor of professional or classified employees, all your direct reports must have a current performance program and an up-to-date job description in place (see this link for forms and details). If you do not have these documents in place for your direct reports, you have until October 11, 2024 to prepare and send these documents through the approval process. Your Vice President’s Office can provide copies of performance documents on file.
III. Award Guidelines
Discretionary salary awards for 2024 will be added to base salary.
The evaluation period for 2024 discretionary awards is July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024.
The total available for discretionary awards is 0.5% of the total salaries of UUP employees as of June 30, 2024.
There is no specified portion of the total amount available for awards that is designated for distribution to part-time employees only, although part-time employees are eligible for awards as noted above.
Given the scarcity of funds, it is not possible to recognize and reward all of the meritorious faculty and staff who are nominated.
IV. Award Process
Faculty and professional staff may submit a self-nomination for a discretionary award by completing the Nomination Form and submitting it to their department head by September 27, 2024. Self-nominations and nominations initiated by supervisors and department heads will be forwarded through all appropriate approval levels.
For employees who have self-nominated, each level should forward the form with a notation "recommend" or "unable to recommend" to the next level.
Employees will not be notified of the recommendation at each level. There will be an opportunity to appeal after the Interim President has made her decisions and sent out letters to employees informing them of their awards.
Justification for Award Nomination: We are no longer requiring that employees (or nominating supervisors/department heads) submit copies of performance evaluations or individual annual reports with nominations. Instead, we ask that a very brief summary highlighting outstanding accomplishments be noted in the Justification section (3) on the Nomination Form. No additional attachments are required, but if submitted, should be limited to one (1) page. The justification should list examples of excellence in one or more of the award criteria (teaching, scholarship or creative activity, campus and community service, professional performance or any other that you feel should be considered).
Department Heads (department chairs, directors or associate vice presidents) are responsible for forwarding Nomination Forms for any of their employees who have submitted a self-nomination (indicating whether they recommend or are unable to recommend an award), and should complete a Nomination Form for any other employee they wish to nominate. All nominations should be forwarded to the next level according to the discretionary award schedule.
Deans and vice presidents are responsible for reviewing self-nominations and nominations recommended by department heads according to the discretionary award schedule.
V. Appeal Process
Award letters will be sent electronically to employees at their campus e-mail addresses on November 1, 2024 by close of business.
Any eligible faculty or professional staff member who is not notified by the Interim President of an award by the designated date should assume that his/her name is not on the preliminary list. Employees not scheduled for an award may file an appeal with the Appeals Board.
The Appeals Board includes the Interim President, Interim Provost, vice presidents, deans and other administrative staff selected by the Interim President. The Board will consider written appeals of no more than 600 words. The Board meets in closed session and testimony or personal appeals will be by invitation only.
Written appeals, addressed to the Interim President, must be delivered no later than 5:00 p.m. November 8, 2024, via e-mail. Please do not deliver hard copy appeals to the President’s Office. All appeals should be sent electronically to uupdiscretionary@buffalostate.edu. Only appeals sent to that address will be considered.
Appeal candidates will be notified of the outcome of the appeal by e-mail on November 20, 2024.
Discretionary salary increases will appear in paychecks dated December 18, 2024.
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