Appendix 3: Policy on Compensation and Research Support

Quarterly Review of Compensation and Research Support:

The Fiscal Office of Geisel School of Medicine will perform quarterly assessments to determine whether faculty members are meeting their expectations for securing funding for their compensation from extramural (i.e., qualified) sources. Information obtained from the Geisel Fiscal Office will be reviewed with Department Chair(s).[1] The purpose of these quarterly reviews is to provide an assessment of the standing of individual faculty with respect to meeting compensation obligations and overall support for research activities. The purpose of these meetings is not to provide a full review of the academic progress and standing of each faculty member; a process that includes criteria beyond compensation recovery and sources of qualified support. As noted in the main body of the APT document (vide supra), such comprehensive reviews of faculty performance are mandated to occur at least annually and are performed with each faculty member and their Chair.

Expectations for Recovery of Compensation Support from Qualified Sources

With the exception of faculty hired solely for the purpose of teaching, all faculty members who are employed by Dartmouth College have expectations for the percentage of their compensation (salary and benefits) that they are expected to recover from sources that are external to central or department funds of the Medical School. Such sources are termed extramural (qualified) [see Subappendix A].

  1. Faculty members who are employees of Dartmouth College will receive a letter outlining their expectations for compensation recovery from extramural (qualified) sources, including expectations for sponsored research, at the time of their hire.
  2. The expected fractional compensation recovery (and the complementary level of subvention support for compensation offered by the School) will be scaled to the individual’s fractional FTE: for example, if a faculty member who is expected to derive 50% of compensation from qualified sources decreases their FTE from 1.0 to 0.8, they will be expected to recover 50% of the new compensation base (0.8 × annual compensation set for a 1.0 FTE) from extramural (qualified) sources and the subvention shall be correspondingly decreased to 50% of the new compensation base (@ 0.8 FTE).
  3. Historically, expected levels of compensation recovery varied from department to department for tenure-track/Tenured faculty members. Some individuals hired into Tenure-track/Tenure Faculty Line have offer letters that did not codify the expected level of compensation recovery. Other individuals hired into Tenure-track/Tenure Faculty Line have offer letters that codified the expected level of compensation recovery as greater or less than 50%. For individuals whose offer letters stipulate a level of expected compensation recovery that is not 50%, those terms remain in place unless superseded by new agreements approved by the Dean. However, this policy sets forth that unless otherwise specified (e.g., as stipulated in writing from the Dean that expectation is either greater or less than 50% of the fractional FTE), all faculty members in Tenure-track/Tenured Faculty Line will be expected to recover at least 50% of compensation for their fractional FTE from extramural (qualified) sources. [At the current time, faculty members in the Department of Medical Education in the Tenure-track/Tenure Line are exempt from this stipulation]. This base of expected compensation recovery may be adjusted under certain conditions (e.g., department chairs will be expected to recover 30% of their compensation from extramural (qualified) sources and will receive 70% subvention). Such increases in subvention are limited to the period of time that such additional duties are performed, unless otherwise approved by the Dean and stipulated in writing.
  4. In those cases for past hires where individuals hired as Instructors, Lecturers or other ranks of Non-tenure Line Faculty did not receive offer letters delineating expectations for compensation recovery from extramural (qualified) sources, it is the expectation that they derive all of their compensation from qualified sources unless there has been a specific contract subsequent to their hire that provides for direct support from the medical school for identified activities such as teaching or administration of an institutional core.
  5. As noted in the main body of this document, except in cases i) defined by the policies on Faculty Tenure (Appendix 1) and on Compensation and Research Support (Appendix 3); ii) when an individual is no longer performing assigned roles that were the basis for the subvention (e.g., ceases to be Chair); iii) when an individual moves to a position not in the Tenure-track/Tenure Faculty Line; or iv) when programmatic restructuring of the school is mandated by the Dean and/or the President, the defined level of subvention support (percentage of fractional FTE) for a Tenure-track/Tenure compensation shall not be reduced from that level defined as noted above in (3) for any single individual.
  6. The Dean, following review by the faculty, may modify the policies of the Medical School for setting general subvention levels for a given type of position (e.g., faculty members in the Educator-Scholar Track).
  7. Research-intensive individuals in the Non-tenure Faculty Line will be expected to develop and sustain robust research programs as PI/co-I/biostatistician. As such, faculty members who meet these expectations may be provided with 5 to 50% subvention of their fractional FTE (with concomitant decrease in expected recovery of salary from qualified sources to 95 -50%) according to guidelines set forth in Appendix 4 (Guidelines for Faculty Subvention Support). Research-intensive individuals in the Non-tenure faculty who contribute to ongoing programs, but do not meet the criteria above will be expected to derive 100% of their compensation from qualified sources unless otherwise specified as stipulated in writing from the Dean.
  8. In addition to faculty members in the Tenure-track/Tenure Faculty Line, faculty members in the Non-Tenure Faculty Line who are successful in obtaining recovery of compensation from qualified sources in excess of expectations set forth at the time of hire and/or according to guidelines in Appendix 4 may now also contribute funds to Faculty Research and Innovation Accounts (FRIAs) according to established policy outlined in that document.
  9. Faculty members may also be provided with Program Development Funds (PDFs). Allowable use of these funds is described in Subappendix B.
  10. A separate tenure policy approved by the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College was approved in 1993, describing the minimum compensation expectations for faculty who have been granted tenure at Dartmouth. Specifically, the 1993 tenure policy, as approved by the Trustees, sets forth the minimum expectations for a faculty member’s compensation recovery from extramural (qualified) sources, as well as the process by which a tenured faculty member’s salary may be decremented and the minimum compensation level that a tenured member of the faculty shall receive when such expectations have not been met.

Although expectations for recovery of compensation are established at the time of hire, a formal policy outlining a mechanism for assessing whether expectations are being met and conditions governing compensation support during a shortfall had not heretofore been established. This policy (implemented January 2015) formalizes these conditions and mechanisms.

A. Assistant Professors:

Assistant Professors are expected to first establish and then sustain a robust research program and meet their expected compensation recovery from qualified sources.

1. Non-tenure Faculty Line: Individuals at the rank of Assistant Professor in Non-tenure Faculty Line who (based on the quarterly review of compensation and external support) are not meeting the criteria for qualified support:

  1. May, if approved by the Dean, opt (following consultation and mutual agreement with their Chair) to voluntarily reduce their fractional FTE to match available levels of qualified funding. Such individuals would not be deemed in shortfall. Restoration of qualified support would permit the faculty member to restore their FTE to the prior level.
  2. If currently being provided subvention, may experience the elimination of, or a reduction in that subvention (See Appendix 4 for related guidelines).
  3. May be subject to appointment termination as delineated in their offer letters. Individuals must be provided with a minimum of 30 days’ notice of appointment termination, unless otherwise agreed upon by the Dean.

2. Tenure-track/Tenure Faculty Line: Individuals at the rank of Assistant Professor in the Tenure-track/Tenure Faculty Line will be exempted from the Shortfall Policy during the duration of their appointments.

a. For Assistant Professors appointed with 0 years in rank, offer letters will stipulate:

  1. Expectations for recovery of fractional compensation from extramural (qualified) sources (e.g., 50%);
  2. Time frame for establishing support from extramural (qualified) sources; with rare exception, this will be three (3) years for those hired at the rank of Assistant Professor with 0 prior years in rank;
  3. That if the assistant professor is successful in obtaining support from extramural (qualified) sources prior to the stipulated number of years (with few exceptions, no more than three), then they will be obligated to draw salary support from those sources, but also;
  4. Any incentives that may be provided (e.g., in terms of support for program or one-time bonus for compensation) if individuals are successful in establishing support for compensation prior to the stipulated number of years.

b. For Assistant Professors appointed with time in rank at a previous institution, the offer letters shall stipulate the period (if any) by which they will be expected to reach compensation expectations, as well as any performance incentives.

c. Assistant Professors who are not successful in meeting their compensation expectations during the initial term as specified in their offer letters may be provided with a second term (of one to three (1-3) years). Under such conditions:

  1. If the faculty member's offer letter contained the provision that their full salary would be backstopped (up to 100%) during the first 3-year appointment term should they not be able to meet the 50% expectation for recovery of compensation from qualified source, they will continue to receive compensation at this level indicated in the offer letter (e.g., if it was for a 1.0 FTE, they will receive 100% support for compensation) until the end of their appointment time as Assistant Professor; i.e., for the second term, whether 1-3 years).
  2. Central subvention support will continue to be provided at the level established in the offer letter and from the original source for that subvention (e.g., if conditions of hire were for 50% subvention, 50% would be provided from central sources).
  3. Funds required to provide for the identified level of funding for the faculty member’s FTE that is not covered by subvention will be drawn from sources in the following order:
    • personal reserves and/or PDFs, if available,
    • department reserves.
  4. With limited exceptions and upon agreement by the Dean, bridge funding may be provided from sources other than i and ii above to supplement subvention to the full level of expected compensation until compensation is obtained from qualified sources or the appointment is terminated.

B. Senior Faculty:

1. Non-tenure Faculty Line: Individuals at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor in Non-tenure Faculty Line who (based on the quarterly review of compensation and external support) are not meeting the criteria for qualified support:

  1. May, if approved by the Dean, opt (following consultation and mutual agreement with their Chair) to voluntarily reduce their fractional FTE to match available levels of qualified funding. Such individuals would not be deemed in shortfall. Restoration of qualified support would permit the faculty member to restore their FTE to the prior level.
  2. If currently being provided subvention (or other institutional) support for their compensation, may experience the elimination of, or a reduction in that institutional support (See Appendix 4 for related guidelines).
  3. May be subject to appointment termination as delineated in their offer letters. Individuals must be provided with a minimum of 30 days’ notice of appointment termination, unless otherwise agreed upon by the Dean.

2. Tenure-track/Tenure Faculty Line: For non-tenured faculty members of the Tenure-track/Tenure Faculty Line at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor who (based on the quarterly review of compensation and external support) are not meeting the criteria for qualified support as

  1. enumerated in their offer letters; or
  2. subsequently amended through agreements with the Dean’s Office

the following applies:

  1. A faculty member shall be deemed to have a shortfall when, based on a rolling four (4) quarter (average) assessment of their compensation support, they have not met expectations for recovery of salary from qualified funds. At the time this is noted, the Dean’s Office will consult with the Chair to affirm that this shortfall is genuine (as assessed by a four (4)-quarter rolling average of extramural support and personal reserves as made evident in records of the Fiscal Office) and to discount any perceived shortfalls that may reflect transient budgeting processes or non-conventional, but approved, funding sources that are being used to meet compensation expectations.
  2. If extramural (qualified) resources are not sufficient to meet expectations for compensation recovery, the faculty member will be expected to draw on funds from designated personal reserve accounts, if such reserves exist. Use of faculty members’ personal reserves (inclusive of, but not limited to, Faculty Research and Innovation Accounts--FRIAs) is considered a qualified, but not sustainable, source of support in terms of meeting expectations for external funding for a faculty member’s compensation.
  3. Although FRIAs or other designated personal reserve funds are also considered qualified, use of these funds beyond a period of six (6) months to cover expected compensation will also necessitate a documented plan approved by the Chair and the Dean towards re-establishing the necessary level of qualified support for compensation and broader support for the faculty member’s research program.
  4. At the time that a faculty member begins to draw on their personal reserves to meet compensation expectations, The Dean’s Office will determine in cooperation with the Chair(s) the amount of funds that the faculty member has in their personal reserve accounts and the expected time period for which those personal reserves may cover the difference between the expected level of support from qualified sources other than personal reserves and what the faculty member is able to currently provide from those sources. As above, when a faculty member can no longer meet compensation expectations from reserves and/or other extramural (qualified) sources, they will be informed, in writing, that they are “in shortfall” and may be subject to a decrement in salary and a commensurate decrease in fractional FTE.
  5. If agreed upon by the faculty member their Chair, and the Dean, a faculty member who is not meeting expectations may choose to not draw on personal reserves to meet compensation expectations (e.g., to continue to have funds to run the lab during the shortfall period). In such cases, even if personal reserves are not exhausted, when the individual needs to draw on unqualified sources for their compensation, they will be said to be “in shortfall” and may be subject to a decrement in salary and a commensurate decrease in fractional FTE.
  6. If senior members of the faculty experience a shortfall and require funds from nonqualified sources to support their expected level of compensation and/or their research programs for a period exceeding twelve (12) months, their level of compensation will be subjected to a decrement in salary as described below.

Mechanisms of Shortfall Support

  1. As noted above, except under circumstances agreed upon by the faculty member, the Chair and the Dean, faculty members will be expected to use their personal reserve funds to meet compensation expectations if other qualified/extramural sources of funds are insufficient.
  2. If the faculty member’s own personal reserve funds are not adequate to meet any insufficiency in support from other qualified sources for their compensation, departmental or other reserves (including personal reserves of other faculty members) shall be used to cover the shortfall in funding, unless there is agreement by the Dean and/or a Bridging Mechanism that specifically delineates alternatives.
  3. Any level of shortfall support that is provided through department or other (not central) reserves requires notification to and approval from the Dean’s Office, but does not necessitate approval through the Dean’s Academic Board (DAB). Support from the designated (personal) reserves of other faculty members may be considered as a means of shortfall support, but is not considered as qualified funding for the faculty member experiencing a shortfall.
  4. Request for Central Support: When departmental or other reserve funds are not sufficient to make up the shortfall without imposing substantive negative outcomes on other commitments deemed critical by the Chair(s) and the Dean, and/or when the Chair(s) and the Dean’s Office agree that it is in the best interest of the institution to share in the shortfall, support may be provided according to the policies for bridging support outlined below:
    1. A request for bridging support (Subappendix C) must be presented to and approved by the DAB.
    2. Prior to a request being submitted to the DAB, the Chair and the Dean of Faculty Affairs, the Executive Dean for Administration and Finance, and the Senior Associate Dean for Research should work with the mentoring committee to ascertain that the metrics presented to the DAB in the bridge funding request are feasible and will optimize the probability of restoration of funding for the faculty member (Subappendix D).
    3. Central monies must be used in accordance with the approved plan.
    4. Ongoing support for the faculty member during the bridging period will be dependent upon the faculty member meeting milestones set out in that agreement (Subappendix D).
    5. NOTE: If the faculty member does not meet milestones, support provided through this bridging mechanism may be withdrawn before end of the approved duration of bridging agreement.

Change in Effort Expectations:

In some circumstances, the Chair(s) and the Dean’s Office may agree that the faculty member has an important role with the institution that warrants support even if the faculty member is not meeting expectations for qualified compensation recovery. In such cases, a new agreement (letter) will be prepared, outlining the expected duties of that faculty member in exchange for a specified fractional FTE of continued support of compensation from non-qualified sources.

Notification of Changes in the Level of Central Compensation Support

1. For Associate Professors who are not meeting compensation expectations and for whom no alternative allocation of effort has been agreed to by the Dean and the Department Chair at the time that the faculty member experiences a shortfall in garnering the expected level of qualified support and they need to draw on departmental or central funds to cover compensation or program expenditures (without prior exemption of the use of such funds), a letter (Subappendix E) will be provided to the faculty member co-signed by the Chair(s) and the Dean that indicates that:

  1. In twelve (12) months, support of compensation for the faculty member will be decremented by 10%, and may continue to be decremented by 10% per year (to no lower than 50% of initial support) until the time that the shortfall is remedied; that the term of the appointment ends; or that the faculty member is required to come before the APT Committee for review (and a decision made on promotion, abbreviated reappointment, or a terminal appointment).
  2. The faculty member’s fractional FTE will be reduced concomitantly with the decrease in compensation.
  3. Compensation and FTE will be restored to their original base when the shortfall ends, as further denoted in paragraph #3, below.

2. For tenured faculty, at the time that the faculty member experiences a shortfall in garnering the expected level of qualified support and they need to draw on departmental or central funds to cover compensation expectations (without prior exemption of the use of such funds), a letter (Subappendix E) will be provided to the faculty member co-signed by the Chair(s) and the Dean that indicates that:

  1. Provisions of the tenure document will go into effect in twelve (12) months from the time that the faculty member exhausts personal reserves and is required to draw on departmental or central funds to cover the compensation shortfall [Subappendix F].
  2. Compensation and FTE will be restored to their original base when the shortfall ends, as further denoted in paragraph #3, below.
  3. It is important to note, as indicated in the main body of this document (Tenure), that the tenure policy established by the Board of Trustees in 1993 is for full time faculty, however, tenured faculty members who voluntarily reduce their FTE from 1.0 in order to address compensation shortfall and who remain solely Dartmouth College employees do not jeopardize their tenure status by this FTE reduction.

3. For non-tenured Associate Professors/Professors in the Tenure-track/Tenure Faculty Line or tenured Professors, faculty members will need to obtain a commitment of funding from qualified sources (e.g., a notice of grant award) at the level expected prior to the onset of the shortfall or as established by criteria in the Geisel tenure document for a period of at least two (2) full years to restore compensation to its full level prior to the shortfall, and the faculty member’s research program will need to operate independently of supplemental departmental/central funds (unless such funds were designated for specific program objectives that are independent of the shortfall).

These provisions relate only to the obligation to cover the shortfall in compensation for the individual faculty member. Support for students, employees (e.g., research associates, research scientists and fellows), supplies, and other costs of the faculty member’s scientific enterprise must derive from qualified sources or, in the case of shortfall, upon resources available from sponsoring graduate programs (for students) and in accordance with the specific parameters set out in the Bridge Funding document (Subappendix D) with respect to lab personnel, supplies, and other costs.

Exceptions to the provisions of this policy may be made upon agreement by the Dean’s Office. Exceptions may be granted for individuals who have been supporting themselves well above expected levels for extended periods, but due to department policies or having to fund the portion of their salary that is over the (NIH) cap, have not been able to accrue personal reserves; individuals whose research programs are deemed critical to larger efforts that have been identified as key priorities of Geisel.

The Dean may declare a moratorium on providing coverage of compensation shortfalls if such shortfalls cannot be supported by non-central reserves, and if the President and Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College will not support the financial obligation required to provide this 12-month support, if the Medical School is unable to do so.

The provisions of this policy do not apply to those who are separated for cause or those who voluntarily accept employment elsewhere.

[1] Chairs refers to Department Chairs and to Institute and Center Directors who hold financial responsibility for the ongoing compensation support of the faculty member.