A. Program Development Funds
Faculty members hired by Geisel School of Medicine and current faculty members charged with building programs may be provided with Program Development Funds (PDFs). These institutional funds are intended to:
- facilitate the establishment of initial research programs of junior faculty members,
- further develop existing research programs of senior faculty members recruited to Geisel, and
- spearhead development of new research initiatives and programs for current members of the Geisel faculty
Except if otherwise stipulated (in offer letters, MOUs, or other supporting documents), the faculty member’s use of PDFs is generally not prescribed by the School and may be used at the discretion of the faculty member as long as those uses are commensurate with advancing their research program and consistent with the expectations set forth by Dartmouth College for the use of research funds.
If milestones or specific uses are set forth as part of such documents, discretionary use of PDFs must adhere to these milestones.
In providing these funds, it is the intent of the Geisel School of Medicine to support the investigator in the development of a research program and therefore the expectation is that PDFs will be used within a three (3)-year period unless a longer period of time is specified in an offer letter or MOU. Notwithstanding this expectation, and unless otherwise articulated in such documents or by decision of the Dean’s Office, the commitment of any unused PDF support will extend to faculty members beyond the initial three (3)-year period, and investigators may continue to use these resources at later times to pursue novel research avenues.
As noted above (see Subappendix A), faculty members may draw on PDFs to meet salary compensation shortfalls (much as they might personal reserves), but these funds are not considered a source of qualified support beyond the initial period set out in the offer letter/MOU. In the absence of a specific term set forth in the offer letter/MOU for use of the PDF funds, a three (3) year limit shall apply. Faculty members are not permitted to allocate any PDF funds to personal reserve accounts.
B. Program Development Funds for Multi-investigator Research Programs
PIs who are expected to develop large multi-investigator research programs may be provided PDFs that may be used to support compensation for Non-tenure Faculty Line, research associates, research assistants, and research scientists in their programs. However, offer letters or MOUs provided to PIs charged with developing these large programs will specify that PDFs may be used only to support compensation for these individuals for a specified period of time (e.g., three (3) years). Following this period, individuals who are members of this research team will be expected to recover compensation commensurate with their own individual conditions of hire (e.g., research scientists and Non-tenure Line faculty members will need to be covered 100% from qualified sources; Tenure-track/Tenure Line faculty members will be expected to meet compensation metrics set out in their individual offer letters). As above, although PDFs may be used to support personnel within a multi-PI research group, funds derived from qualified sources for these PIs are not eligible for FRIAs until the expectations for compensation recovery are fully met from qualified sources (exclusive of other personal reserves).
C. Salary Cap
Unless otherwise stated, individuals who use PDFs beyond the period specified in offer letters/MOUs, including providing monies to fund compensation which is in excess of the NIH cap, will not be considered as being compliant with the provisions of the compensation shortfall and tenure policies.
D. Use of PDFs Provided to Individuals Who Leave Geisel
If an individual who has been provided PDFs leaves the institution before the PDFs have been exhausted, those funds return to central accounts.
If an individual who has PDFs that derive secondarily from a larger PDF given from Geisel to a Center Director or Chair leaves before those funds are expended, those funds revert to that Center Director or Chair.