Supplemental Salary Funding (SSF) Policy

To encourage faculty to apply for nationally-competitive fellowships, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, has established a “Supplemental Salary Fund” (SSF) program for qualifying faculty members who receive fellowship stipend awards that are less than their full salary and fringe benefits. Faculty members can apply to their college/school to make up the difference between the fellowship stipend and the amount of their salary and fringe benefits. Insurance, retirement, and other fringe benefit costs are eligible for coverage by the faculty member’s college/school even though most fellowship awards do not cover these costs.

SSF support is available only to help mitigate academic-year salary shortfalls. SSF support is not available to bridge summer salary. All decisions concerning SSF are at the discretion of the pertinent college/school dean’s office, which may draw any SSF support awarded from a variety of sources.

In addition, if a fellowship does not cover a period of time that matches the university’s semesters, the college/school will provide SSF support (for one semester) as long as the following conditions are met:

1. the overall length of the award is approximately the same as a full semester (4.5 months), and
2. the dates of the award fall within more than half of a semester (e.g., award dates of February through June would qualify).

In the case of Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) Fulbright awards, both the amounts allocated as “base or stipend” and those provided as “housing and subsistence” by the Fulbright Scholar Program will be considered stipendiary for purposes of determining eligibility for SSF.

Stipulations of Awarding the SSF

To be eligible for SSF support, the following conditions must be met:

1. The faculty member must hold a tenured or tenure-track position at the University of Kansas and must have completed at least one full academic year of teaching, research, and service at KU.
2. The awarded external fellowship for which the faculty member is seeking SSF support normally must cover at least 50% of the applicant’s academic year or semester base salary.
3. The fellowship must be judged by the college/school to be a nationally competitive award or a postdoctoral research appointment from a national or internationally recognized institute. 
4. Faculty members hoping to obtain SSF support for fellowships not on the list, but otherwise meeting the criteria, should contact the dean’s office regarding eligibility before applying for the fellowship. The determination to provide SSF should be made by the dean's office in advance of application by the faculty member.
5. The fellowship or appointment requires the individual to be released from university responsibilities to pursue the obligations associated with the award or appointment.
6. SSF is not available to support faculty teaching at another institution, except in the case of Fulbright or equivalent international teaching awards that enhance the faculty member's research or teaching expertise.
7. A faculty member normally may receive supplemental funds only once every five years.
8. At the discretion of the college/school dean’s office, a faculty member who has been awarded a one-semester sabbatical leave at full pay may apply for a fellowship and SSF support for the other semester of the academic year.
9. A faculty member who applies for and is awarded an academic-year sabbatical is not eligible for SSF support for the same academic year.
10. A faculty member who has been awarded a sabbatical leave or SSF support for the academic year will not be eligible to apply for sabbatical leave or supplemental funding for the following academic year.
11. Faculty members on phased retirement will not normally be eligible for SSF support; however, eligibility will be determined on a case-by-case basis by the college/school dean’s office. If SSF support is approved in such a case, it will be adjusted according to the salary on phased retirement.
12. The approved period of release from university responsibilities will be treated the same as leave without pay and will not count toward eligibility for sabbatical leave. For tenure-track faculty, the approved period of release from university responsibilities will not extend either the progress toward tenure review or the mandatory tenure review dates.
13. As a condition of receiving SSF support, faculty members are expected to return to their full-time university responsibilities for at least one academic year immediately following the fellowship period. Persons failing to return to the institution at the end of the fellowship period shall refund to the university in full the funds provided for supplemental salary and fringe benefits.

For additional information, see the SSF application procedures.