Position Vacancies

Salary savings can occur when an employee resigns from a position and the affected position remains vacant for a portion of time. All salary savings (100%) generated as a result of position vacancies will be returned to the Dean’s Office.

Salary Savings through Entrepreneurship

Salary savings can also occur as a result of entrepreneurial activity. A common example of this is  when a sponsored project is used to pay for or “buy out” a portion of an existing employee’s  salary. In those cases, the exact nature of the salary savings depends upon the employee’s funding source (for example, General Purpose Revenue or Smith-Lever funding).

When entrepreneurial activity results in salary savings associated with General Purpose Revenue or Smith-Lever funding, those Extension salary savings (100%) will remain in the home Institute of the associated position that is being bought out. This is true for all positions, including co- funded positions.

Any generated salary savings as a result of entrepreneurial activity must be used within the State of Wisconsin fiscal year that they were generated. The amount of salary savings will be determined and tracked by the Office of Financial Services in consultation with the Institute Directors.

Institute Guidance for Use of Salary Savings

Use for “Backfill"

When a position  buyout is greater than 20% and the funding does not align with the current position description, the priority use for salary savings will be to provide backfill for the employee whose time is being bought out by the grant. This is particularly relevant for co-funded positions, where there is a commitment to fulfill contractual service obligations.

The percent of backfill should be commensurate with the percentage of FTE that is being bought out for the affected employee. If there are remaining salary savings after the backfill is executed, the remaining savings will be allocated consistent with the concepts outlined below in “Allocation of Funds.”

Allocation of Funds 

The Institute Director will determine the best allocation of the funds based upon an evaluation of the following considerations:

• Supporting the more comprehensive needs of the project that created the salary savings.
• Supporting Institute needs and critical functions that have a broader benefit for Institute employees.

Questions?

Contact hr@extension.wisc.edu.