FY22 BPSS

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

As the FY 2022 budget planning and salary setting process begins today, we are pleased to announce that no additional budget reductions are required for FY21 or FY22 and that UGA is receiving formula growth funding for both years. We are grateful that the General Assembly supported the Governor’s recommendation for these formula growth funds, which will enable UGA to fund several strategic priorities, including those outlined below, without the need for unit budget reductions or redirections. The Board of Regents’ 2022 Salary and Wage Administration guidance does not authorize University System of Georgia institutions to provide merit-based salary increases; therefore, no merit-based salary increases shall be granted to University of Georgia employees for FY 2022. However, the University is pleased that we have been granted the ability to provide limited salary adjustments for targeted populations to address market and compression issues. 

Staff Salaries – Minimum Hiring Rate and Compression/Inversion Adjustments: For the ninth time in the last ten years, UGA is directing additional funds in its FY 2022 budget to increase its minimum hiring rate (MHR) for benefits-eligible staff; the MHR will rise from $25,175 to $26,175 ($12.58 per hour) on July 1, 2021. The University will also be implementing compression adjustments related to increasing the MHR. Adjustments to benefits-eligible staff will include:

• Staff earning less than $26,175 receive a 4% increase
• Staff earning between $26,176 and $28,175 receive a 3% increase
• Staff earning between $28,176 and $30,175 receive 2% increase
• Staff earning between $30,176 and $32,175 receive a 1% increase

In addition to the tiered compression adjustments above, funding will be included in the FY 2022 budget to help further address staff compression and inversion issues due to this increase in the MHR and also as recommended by the external review of the salary administration plan for staff. Consistent with the process we followed in FY 2020, these staff compression and inversion funds will be allocated to UGA’s Resident Instruction (RI) and B-Unit budgets after the budget planning and salary setting process and after UGA’s Human Resources office works with Deans and Vice Presidents to confirm individual calculations for a limited number of regular, benefits-eligible staff who are at the lowest end of the pay scale. We are coordinating final details of this program with USG and will share updates as they are available regarding staff eligibility. 

The FY 2022 budget also will include additional funding to ensure that all non-benefits-eligible, part-time staff are earning a minimum of $11.00 per hour (current minimum is $10.25) and that all student employees are earning a minimum of $9.00 per hour (current minimum is $7.75).

Faculty Salary Compression and Market-based Salary Inequity: The University is also strategically directing additional funding in the FY 2022 budget to provide academic units with limited capacity to address faculty salary compression and market-based salary inequities.  Academic Vice Presidents and Deans will be asked to submit proposals for the President and Provost to review to help them address their most critical compression and market-based inequity cases for full-time faculty within all non-administrative faculty ranks. Detailed instructions will be forthcoming. These salary adjustments will be handled after the budget planning and salary setting process.

Graduate Assistantship Stipends: To recognize the importance of graduate students and their contributions to teaching, research, and service and to assist in offsetting fees and other educational expenses, UGA is providing additional funds in its FY 2022 budget to increase the University’s graduate student assistantship rates by 4%, as announced yesterday. The University is providing 3% of this funding to RI units from central University sources, with units agreeing to cover the remaining 1% through existing resources for a total of 4%. This will increase the minimum fiscal-year, full-time rates from $52,378 to $54,500 for master’s students and from $56,613 to $58,900 for doctoral students. For a nine-month academic year appointment at 50% effort, this will increase the stipend by $796 for master’s students and $858 for doctoral students. Individual units, at their discretion, can raise their portion of the stipend increase to greater than 1% but must first clearly document and receive approval for how this additional increase will not adversely impact the instructional mission. Additional information is provided in the Salary Guidelines noted below. 

We are also pleased to announce that no redirection of funds from within your individual Resident Instruction budgets will be required at this time and that UGA plans to fully fund its internal credit hour allocation model for FY22, including the 25% not originally included in the FY21 budgets of schools and colleges. Please continue to manage your resources thoughtfully and use them to strategically support the educational experience of our students by enhancing the quality of our academic programs.

For more detailed information on salary administration, please refer to the Salary Increase Guidelines. These comprehensive guidelines can be found on the University Budget Office website at https://busfin.uga.edu/budget/pdf/Salary_Increase_Guidelines.pdf. As noted in these guidelines, salary increases for employees paid on the academic payroll (including promotions) will go into effect at the beginning of the academic year; salary increases (including promotions and reclassifications) for fiscal year employees paid on the monthly, salaried bi-weekly and hourly payrolls will go into effect July 1, 2021.

In order to meet budget submission deadlines set by the Board of Regents in preparation for the May 2021 Board meeting, your assistance in completing budget planning and salary setting before April 26, 2021 is appreciated. 

The official FY 2022 budget planning and salary setting schedule can be found on the University Budget Office website at https://busfin.uga.edu/budget/pdf/BPSSSchedule22.pdf.

If you have questions regarding the FY 2022 budget planning and salary setting process or the information included on your Allocation Sheet, please contact the University Budget Office at (706) 542-2802 or email budgets@uga.edu. Thank you for your leadership, efforts, and assistance in the University’s budget planning and salary setting process.

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Administrative Memos are coordinated through the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost. For more information, contact Sam Fahmy at sfahmy@uga.edu.