Summer salary is compensation paid to faculty with 9-month academic appointments who are teaching, performing other service work and/or working on sponsored research activities during the summer period. For Georgia Tech, the summer period is from May 16 through August 15 of each calendar year. Potential salary for each summer month is calculated by dividing faculty contracted salary by nine months, with a maximum of 3/9ths of base pay available to be paid over the course of the summer.

Please note that faculty cannot claim 100% effort on sponsored research (e.g., get paid 3/9ths) if any part of the time period noted above is spent on administrative or other non-research activities.  As an example, writing proposals for new awards does not constitute research activities.

Key things to remember:

  • Any summer salary charged to sponsored awards should align with monthly effort expended on the sponsored award. For example, if 100% of July summer salary is on a sponsored award, then 100% of July effort should be on that sponsored award. Conversely, salary charged to sponsored projects in the summer must represent research performed in the summer. Effort spent on sponsored awards during the academic year should be charged to those awards during the academic year or be considered cost sharing (typically, voluntary uncommitted cost share).
  • If possible, avoid funding summer pay on undesignated worktags at the end of the fiscal year. There is less time to move summer salary off of undesignated worktags at the end of the year.
  • If working on NIH grants, summer salary can impact required cost share related to the PHS (U.S. Public Health Service) salary cap.
  • Please be aware of any specific sponsor policies as they apply to effort and salary during the academic year and the summer.
  • Summer salary needs to be entered as soon as possible when the summer pay panel (see graphic below) in One USG opens for the fiscal year (usually it will be in late January, early February). This is its own panel and not on the change position funding (CPF) page. CPF will only update and encumber regular salary regarding 9-month faculty.

 

If you have any questions, please contact Josh Rosenberg at josh.rosenberg@business.gatech.edu.