General Principles

The History Department will use the salary pool designated for merit to recognize documented faculty excellence in performance, achievement, and contribution. Each faculty member will receive awards in the category of Scholarship, Teaching, and Service. To determine each faculty member's share of each category of the allocated pool, the department will adhere to the general principles outlined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The expectation is that 30 percent (30%) of the pool will be used to recognize documented meritorious performance in Teaching, 20 percent (20%) of the pool will be used to recognize documented meritorious performance in Service (including service to the department, college, university, and profession), and 50 percent (50%) will be used to recognize documented meritorious performance in Research.

The FAC will meet within the time frame designated by the university to consider the applications for merit (Merit Submission Form) submitted by individual faculty members and for each faculty member will recommend to the chair the total scores to be awarded in each category . The chair will notify faculty of the preliminary determination. The chair should not subtract points nor add additional points so that the awards are fair and the math is meaningful. The procedure for appeals and the final determination of the award will proceed according to the CBA.

All parties involved in the awarding of merit should strive to provide a fair and transparent determination of points and final salary awards. To do so, the FAC and chair should follow the Merit Submission Form exactly. These parties should apply consistently the rationale for awards in individual categories and should calculate points and final awards accurately. All parties should be aware that those faculty not employed by the department during the entire merit period may score lower in some categories than those employed for the entire period. Such an outcome adheres to the thrust of the CBA and to intuitive concepts of fairness. No extra points outside of the categories of the Merit Submission Form should be added to any individual's score or to the scores of a category of individuals. For instance, no awards to ensure faculty retention, adjustments for compression, or bolster retirement should be made. Nor should any rank be singled out for special treatment.