FY15 Salary/Benefit Guidelines for Proposal Budgeting Effective July 1, 2014 1. General ARS/Post Doc Guidelines Support faculty at the Ph.D. level paid from grants will be appointed at the support faculty level of Assistant Research Scientist. The suggested base entry level (new Ph.D.) salary for this position is $44,100, but a higher salary of up to $57,330 may be offered based upon justification for special skills. Entry levels higher than $57,330 should first be discussed with the Laboratory Director. All potential salaries should be discussed with the Laboratory Director or Assistant Director before any salary discussions are initiated with candidates. FY15 ARS/Post Doc Salary Guidelines Suggested salary ranges for non-tenure track research support faculty are: Degree Year Base Base + 20% Base + 30% 2014 44,100 52,920 57,330 2013 46,305 55,566 60,197 2012 48,620 58,344 63,206 2011 51,051 61,262 66,367 2010 53,604 64,325 69,685 2009 56,284 67,541 73,169 2008 59,098 70,918 76,828 2007 62,053 74,464 80,669 2006 65,156 78,187 84,703 2005 68,414 82,096 88,938 2004 71,834 86,201 93,385 2003 75,426 90,511 98,054 2002 79,197 95,037 102,956 2001 83,157 99,789 108,104 2000 87,315 104,778 113,509 2. Graduate Research Assistants (12 month salary) Level I... 22,000 Level II... 23,000 Level III... 24,000
3. FRA series (ranks 1 through 4) The FRA ranks are as follows: Level 1. Level 2. Level 3. Level 4. Faculty Research Assistant (FRA) (see below for alternate hiring options) entry level with B.S./B.A. degree and up to 3 years of experience Advanced Faculty Research Assistant (AFRA) at least four and up to eight years experience beyond the B.S/B.A degree; work during and award of an M.S. degree counts as 4 years experience. Senior Faculty Research Assistant (SFRA) at least eight years experience beyond the B.S./B.A. degree; work during and award of an M.S. degree counts as 4 years experience; must demonstrate ability to exercise substantial research responsibilities and enjoy a record of reliable, timely, and consistently exceptional task completion. Advanced Senior Faculty Research Assistant (ASFRA) similar qualifications as for rank 3; must demonstrate high degree of specialty, superior ability and leadership, and be deemed qualified to supervise the activities of other FRAs comprising a technical support group; please note that this rank is not awarded automatically with years of service and is limited to a Senior Faculty Research Assistant who supervises other technical staff or who has special research roles. General FRA Guidelines The base, normal range (20%), and top annual salaries (30%), are based on years of experience past the B.S./B.A. degree. (note: an M.S. degree is credited with 4 years experience which includes time spent in training beyond the B.S./B.A. - i.e. you don't count graduate study time as additional years experience). For entry at the FRA I level (0 to 4 years experience), faculty may routinely propose, with justification based on special talents or expertise, a salary up to 20% above the base salary. For entry at the FRA 2 level and above (4 or more years of experience), faculty may also propose a salary with special documented justification up to 30% above the base salary. Subsequent increases to FRA salaries are regulated by UMCES policies: (1) they are, in almost all instances, only done annually at the beginning of the fiscal year (July 1); (2) increases have to be based on merit evaluations; and (3) the percent merit increases are determined for UMCES as a whole. You are encouraged to have your support staff use vacation time on a timely basis so as not to accrue inordinate amounts of time for which you are responsible on grant/contracts.
FY15 FRA Salary Guidelines Suggested salary ranges for Faculty Research Assistants are: Years Exp Base Base + 20% Base + 30% 0 31,076 37,291 40,399 1 31,841 38,209 41,393 2 32,593 39,112 42,371 3 33,342 40,010 43,345 4 34,093 40,912 44,321 5 34,845 41,813 45,298 6 35,594 42,713 46,273 7 36,344 43,613 47,248 8 37,095 44,513 48,223 9 37,844 45,413 49,198 10 38,595 46,314 50,174 11 39,366 47,239 51,176 12 40,114 48,137 52,149 13 40,877 49,052 53,141 14 41,654 49,984 54,149 15 42,445 50,934 55,179 16 43,208 51,849 56,170 17 43,986 52,783 57,182 18 44,778 53,734 58,212 19 45,585 54,702 59,260 20 46,358 55,630 60,265 Alternatives to Hiring an FRA I You may also hire a Research Specialist or an hourly paid technician in lieu of an FRA I under certain circumstances. Research Specialists The Research Specialist title is for a salaried contractual employee and is intended for a limited term of at least six months but less than three years at a minimum of 50% time. The experience and education requirements are the same as those for an FRA I. These are non-faculty exempt Contingent II contractual positions and are not eligible for overtime payments. They require the completion of online timesheets which the supervisor must approve every pay period. The FRA salaries listed for zero through three years of experience also apply to this employee type. There are several significant differences between a Research Specialist and an FRA I. Leave accruals are less (5 annual, 3 sick, and 8 holiday) and, except for sick leave, balances do not carry forward into the new year. A health benefit must be offered and is paid as a stipend of approximately 80% of the least cost individual HMO coverage. The retirement benefit is paid as a stipend of 7.25% of salary and must be used for an SRA (Supplemental Retirement Account). The
retirement stipend must be provided and the health stipend must be offered. UMCES strongly encourages the employee to take the health stipend and obtain benefits. Tuition remission is available only for the employee. When the employee is promoted from level 1 to level 2, they will no longer receive the stipends and will no longer directly pay for these benefits. Hourly Technicians The hourly technician employee type is generally intended for short term and/or less than 50% time employment. These are non-faculty Contingent I contractual positions and are eligible for overtime payments but earn no leave or benefits. They require the completion of online timesheets which the supervisor must approve every pay period. 4. Fringe Rates Fringe rates vary based on the following Employee s health plan Health Plan Level of Coverage Retirement Selection When submitting a proposal, we should assume that an employee will select the maximum level of coverage and highest tier in a given plan as well as enrollment in an ORP (Optional Retirement Program) Fringe rates consist of the following Rates based on the salary Mandatory FICA/Unemployment insurance - 8% Optional Retirement Contribution 17% Set annual dollar amount (regardless of the salary paid/fte) Health Insurance $3,792.12 - $11,428.20 Dental Insurance - $91.80 - $523.20 Prescription Coverage - $1,926.24 - $3,852.60 Full time/benefit eligible employees (FRAs, Post Docs, Faculty) Salaries less than $40K assume a 40-60% fringe rate Salaries between $40-$60K assume a 30-50% fringe rate Salaries over $60K assume a 35%-40% fringe rate Part time employees with benefits (FRAs, Post Docs, Faculty) Assume a 60-65% fringe rate
GRAs not eligible for retirement and no FICA/Unemployment so percentage is based on health plan selection ONLY Assume a 40-50% fringe rate Hourly technicians not eligible for health benefits/retirement Assume an 8% fringe rate If the employee that you are budgeting for is ALREADY on AL payroll, we can give you a closer estimate to the appropriate fringe rate based on their current health/retirement enrollment and salary. If you are budgeting for a yet to be hired employee, then the maximum fringe assumption should be used. 5. Leave Benefits FRAs and Post Docs hired at 51% or greater accrue leave that becomes a liability on your grant/contract. UMCES is working on a leave payout pool which is an additional 1% tax on ALL salaries in a grant or contract this will be added to the fringe benefit category in grants contracts it is not been implemented yet. Until the leave payout pool is implemented, the grant that an employee is working on when he/she terminates is responsible for covering the final leave payout. Final leave payout consists of Annual, Personal and Holiday Leave remaining in an employee s bank when he/she terminates. Leave accrual for full time employees is as follows 22 days of annual leave per annum carryover max of 400 hours (subject to leave payout) 15 days of sick leave per annum (NOT subject to leave payout) 3 personal days in a calendar year - no carryover into new calendar year (subject to leave payout) Holiday Leave See current year UMCP holiday schedule (Subject to leave payout if an employee accrues a holiday leave day and terminates before the actual leave date, it is subject to payout) 6. Graduate Student Tuition Fall 2014 Spring 2015 - $602 per credit hour. For out years, estimated a 4% -5% increase per credit hour cost. Full-Time Graduate Assistants (20hrs) - Full-time graduate assistants are eligible for 10 credits of tuition remission for the Fall and Spring semesters, and 4 credits for the summer sessions combined. Part Time Graduate Assistants (10hrs) - Part Time Graduate Assistants are eligible for 5 credits of tuition remission for the Fall and Spring semesters and 2 credits of remission for the summer sessions combined.