Purpose: To support excellence in research activity and outcomes, the Dean of the College of Education has approved a process for Tenured/Tenure Track COE faculty to request using their faculty Indirect Cost (IDC) account funds to buy out a course in fall or spring semester at the per course instructor rate for the purpose of increasing research time. Approval by the department chair is required and restrictions apply.
Guidelines: College of Education Tenured/Tenure Track faculty researchers may request to use the faculty member’s IDC account to buy out one course in the fall and/or spring semesters for the purpose of increasing research time by an additional 25% FTE. This time must be used for research activity. Pre-approval by the Department Chair is required via Dynamic Form. To fund summer research pay, use the Stipend Request form and do NOT use this form.
To support increased research time and activity, the College Dean has approved charging only the per course faculty salary rate to the faculty member’s IDC account rather than 25% FTE + fringe that is otherwise required for grant-funded course buyouts.
The per course rate is $4,500 if a grad course is being replaced, or $4,000 for an undergrad course. Funds must be currently available and unencumbered within the faculty member’s IDC account. IDC accounts include distributed F&A as well as any Non-Workload Buyout Incentives that may have been awarded.
The assigned replacement instructor will be a per course faculty member.
This research course buyout is not eligible for the Workload or Non-Workload Buyout Incentive or any related incentives.
Grant proposal budgets may not propose fewer externally funded buyouts with the intent of using the faculty IDC funds at the per course rate instead. The intent of this initiative is to provide a mechanism to help researchers “bridge” those times when grant funded buyouts are not available for all or part of the research time requested.
This faculty IDC funding may be used in combination with grant course buyouts (example: 25% grant funded course buyout, 25% faculty IDC account buyout, 25% teaching one course, 25% assigned research time via waiver 21 = 100% FTE).
Procedure and Due Date: The Faculty IDC Account Funded Course Release Request Dynamic Form should ordinarily be submitted and approved before the class schedule goes live for the semester in which the buyout is requested, and it must be submitted no later than 12 weeks prior to the first-class day. This is to ensure that arrangements can be made for an appropriate instructor to pick up the course. The form is finalized once it has been signed and submitted by the Department Chair. Funds will not be encumbered in the account until close to or after the start of classes. Because the approval is done much earlier than the semester start, faculty members must ensure they do not spend funds allocated for this purpose. If sufficient funds are not available in the account at the start of the semester, the approved course release would have to be rescinded.
This buyout is NOT eligible for the Workload or Non-Workload Buyout Incentive or any related incentives.
