OFFICIAL

GENERAL POLICY

1.  Unless otherwise mandated by the Texas Legislature or by the Board of Regents.  The Texas State University System, the primary methods used to award permanent faculty salary raises at Texas State University-San Marcos will be based upon merit and performance. 
2.   All continuing percentage-contract faculty are eligible for merit and performance raises awarded through the processes outlined in this PPS, with the exception of graduate instructional assistants, chairs/directors, deans, and a few specially assigned faculty identified annually by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
3.  Merit and performance raises are unrelated to tenure and promotion; faculty who receive merit and performance may not necessarily receive tenure and promotion..
4.  As soon as practical after available funding is known, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will announce the institution's decision regarding the distribution of new faculty salary dollars, i.e., the amounts to be spent on performance, merit, promotions, salary adjustments, and new faculty positions.  The President shall determine the percentage of the money that will be allocated to performance and the percentage that will be allocated to merit and the evaluation period to be considered.

PERFORMANCE

5.  A performance raise shall be defined as salary awarded to faculty whose performance during the identified evaluation period meets or exceeds departmental expectations.
6.  In evaluating annual performance, the departmental personnel committee, the chair/director, and the college dean will consider the faculty member's contributions in the context of departmental, college, and institutional needs and the faculty member's own past performance and career path.  This evaluation will be conducted in accordance with the department's/school’s approved policy for the performance evaluation of faculty.
7. Any faculty member denied a performance raise will be counseled personally by the departmental chair/school director who will provide specific written suggestions for improvement.

MERIT

8. A merit raise shall be defined as additional salary to be awarded to faculty whose performance is clearly exceptional during the preceding merit evaluation period. 
9. When merit raises are to be given, faculty will be evaluated for merit purposes on the basis of accomplishments at Texas State during the identified evaluation period. The merit process is not the appropriate vehicle to redress perceived salary inequities prior to the current merit cycle.

a. Each department/school should adopt criteria that reflects faculty responsibilities in the three areas of teaching, scholarly/creative activities, and service.  The criteria and processes that are adopted and approved by the college dean must be clearly documented out, disseminated to all faculty, and followed rigorously.
b. Merit awards should be based on meritorious performance for the identified evaluation period. Merit increases awarded should be based on the faculty member’s assigned duties, past performance and career path.  For example, a Senior Lecturer whose primary responsibilities are teaching and service should not be penalized for lack of scholarship/creative activity.
c. Faculty members should not be denied merit they would otherwise receive simply because they have been promoted during the year in which merit is awarded and received a salary increase as a result of promotion.
d. All merit determinations including those resulting from an appeal must be finalized and merit awards made, during the current merit cycle.  No merit increase resulting from an appeal shall be withheld until the next merit cycle.
e. The department/school is the most appropriate level for making merit determinations and resolving complaints about them.  In developing merit recommendations to the dean, the department chair/school director shall convene the departmental personnel committee, or its designee, to review the annual evaluations of eligible faculty for the relevant period and to secure the advice of that group regarding merit salary increase recommendations.  Before making final merit recommendations, chairs/directors shall be required to indicate to each faculty member, without necessarily mentioning a specific amount or percentage of increase, whether the chair/director intends to recommend that faculty member for merit and the approximate level of merit determined for that faculty member (e.g., high, medium, low).  After receiving the chair’s/director’s preliminary recommendations, faculty who believe their accomplishments have been overlooked or undervalued may, within five working days, request a meeting with the chair/director.  At this meeting, the chair/director shall explain the reasons for the level of merit or for denying merit, and the faculty member may ask the chair/director to reconsider the preliminary decision on the basis of accomplishments or achievements that may have been initially overlooked or undervalued.  After reconsidering the accomplishments of all faculty who requested a review of their activities, the chair/director will proceed to make final merit recommendations to the dean.
f. Faculty who are dissatisfied with the chair’s/director’s final merit recommendation may appeal to the college dean and shall be afforded an opportunity to meet with the dean to offer information in support of their position; if the dean upholds the chair/director, he or she shall be required to explain why.  The decision is not subject to grievance.  A summary of all appeals to the dean, however they are resolved, must be forwarded with the dean’s decision, to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs for final approval (Attachment A).
g. Chairs/directors may, but are not required to, inform their faculty of the final merit award for all faculty members in the department/school.

10. The Provost will distribute the funds available for merit raises to the colleges by a formula based primarily upon the budgeted salaries of continuing percentage- contract faculty in those colleges.
11. College deans will distribute merit monies among departments/schools, retaining no more than 10% of each department’s total to make other adjustments the dean deems necessary following review of the departmental recommendations.  The college dean may not add merit unilaterally for individual faculty, but may make adjustments deemed appropriate following consultation with the chair/director.
12. All merit raises from funds allocated to departments/schools will be recommended by departmental chairs/school directors on the basis of policies adopted by departments in conformity with procedures specified in the Faculty Handbook.  These recommendations will be based on annual evaluations conducted in accordance with the department's/school’s approved policy for the performance evaluation of faculty.
13. College deans and the Provost have the responsibility to approve and review periodically departmental evaluation policies, including policies and procedures for awarding merit and performance raises, and to approve or disapprove specific merit recommendations.

APPEALS

14. Appeals of performance decisions may be made through the normal faculty grievance machinery as provided in the Faculty Handbook.  Individual appeals of the chair’s/director’s final merit recommendation may be made to the college dean, whose decision is final. The overall distribution of merit is approved by the Provost.

CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

This PPS has been approved by the reviewer listed below and represents Texas State’s Division of Academic Affairs policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.

Review Cycle: ________________________       Review Date: _______________
Reviewer: ___________________________        Date: ______________________
Approved: ___________________________        Date: _____________________

Gene Bourgeois
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Texas State University-San Marcos
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Last Updated: April 8, 2013
Send comments and questions to: tg12@txstate.edu