RF Human Resources

Summer Salary on Sponsored Awards FAQ's

The 2023 Research Foundation faculty summer appointment dates run from May 15th through August 11th. Summer salary must not exceed three months (13 weeks) and must not overlap any part of a faculty member’s academic year obligation. SUNY faculty members requesting summer salary beyond two months, must submit a Waiver Request approved and signed by your Chair, Dean, or VP.

Summer salary is based upon actual effort provided during the summer months, and should not be based upon effort provided during the prior or upcoming academic year. The summer session is often spent preparing and submitting proposals to funding agencies; this activity may not be compensated with summer salary from a sponsored program account. Only activities directly related to the research project such as research, writing progress reports, attending research-related conferences and/or holding research meetings can be charged to a sponsored project. Non-related activities, such as preparing/submitting competitive proposals, non-sponsor-related research, vacations, attending department/school faculty meetings, teaching, teaching preparation, administrative work, university service, and attending non-sponsor-related conferences cannot be charged to sponsored projects.

Summer salary from all SUNY and RF sources must not exceed the faculty member’s base full-time salary rate divided by the number of months covered by the faculty member’s academic year obligation. Summer salary is inclusive of all SUNY teaching and administrative stipends paid during the summer session. Summer salary charged to NIH or NSF, please be aware of the payout limitations. The NIH salary cap is currently $212,100. Salary charged to NSF grant is capped at 2/9ths of the Faculty Member’s Academic Year salary. Exceptions apply when the scope of work remains unchanged.   

In order to be placed on Research Foundation payroll, the following forms are required: 

• Employee Appointment Form: required for New Employees.
   
• Faculty Reappointment Form with Auto Salary Calculator: Replaces the regular Employee Appointment Form for faculty rehired summer to summer without gap. Also, can be used as a resource to calculate summer salary. (Instructions & Tips)
   
• Over 2 Month Waiver: Required for faculty to collect over 2 months summer salary.
   
• Patent Waiver and Release Agreement: not required, for reference only
   
• Job Description: required for all positions other than PI or Co-PI
   
• Address/Emergency Contact (Word doc) OR (fillable PDF): required for new employees or to update rehire information.
   
• Federal Withholding Allowance Certificate (IRS W-4) and
   
• NYS Withholding Allowance Certificate (IT-2104): required for new employees, rehired employees that have been off the payroll for 1 year or more, and any employee wishing to change exemptions.


• I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification: required for new employees (Note: Compatible browsers include Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.) Section 1 of the I-9 must be completed and signed on the first day of employment, and the remainder of the form completed no later than 3 business days after the hire date, or on the hire date if the appointment is for less than 3 days.
  • If you were appointed on the Research Foundation at UAlbany payroll for the prior summer, a new I-9 is NOT needed. Non-residents should contact HR to setup an appointment for document review.
  • If you were not appointed on the Research Foundation at UAlbany payroll for the prior summer, but were appointed years prior, please contact HR for an I-9 determination.
     
• Direct Deposit: New employees will need to provide a voided check or bank verification. Otherwise, direct deposit will automatically be reinstated for all returning employees; if you would like to discontinue participation, or if your account information has changed please makes the changes via RF Employee Self-Service.
   
• Employment Application-Summer Faculty or Employment Application-Summer Faculty-NYC (employees working in NYC): required for new employees
   
• Paid Family Leave Waiver: you can opt out of Paid Family Leave by completing the waiver you do not expect to work for your employer for the minimum amount of time required for eligibility. If a change in your schedule results in you working enough time to meet the eligibility requirements, your waiver will be automatically revoked. You may voluntarily revoke your waiver at any time. If your waiver is revoked, employers may begin taking payroll deductions and may retroactively collect deductions from the date you signed the waiver.

TIMELINESS

It is critical that PIs complete and submit the employment paperwork in a timely manner. We encourage paperwork to be submitted well in advance to the appointment period whenever possible, but not later than the first day of work.

The RF is required to electronically verify work authorization for all newly hired employees (including students) within 72 hours (3 days) of the 1st day of work. Research Foundation Human Resources will be responsible for performing verifications in the E-Verify system. This requirement applies to all SUNY faculty receiving summer salary through the RF payroll. 

To avoid payroll delays, please ensure that all forms are completed and submitted by the payroll deadlines listed on RF Biweekly Calendar Deadlines  FY 22-23 & FY23-24. Forms can be scanned and sent to [email protected].

Paperwork that is received late will require the Operation Managers approval, as failure to properly use E-Verify can lead to penalties and debarment from federal contracts.

FRINGE BENEFIT RATES

Fiscal year 2023 - effective July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023

Estimated Fiscal year 2024 - effective July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024

TIME REPORTING REQUIREMENT

RF Time Reporting Policy requires all Research Foundation employees, including students and summer faculty, to complete an electronic timecard as their exception report for each calendar month during their appointment. PI's are required to have time reporting approved by an appropriate level of authority which has been deemed by the University at Albany as the Chair, Dean, or VP for their department. To complete time reporting please log-in to RF Self-Service and select "My Time" to complete your timecard. All time reports are due at the close of the reporting month. For guidance and tutorials on how to register, complete, and submit timecards, please see E-Time Reporting on this website.

BENEFITS

Summer Research Foundation employees may be eligible for the following benefits, depending on eligibility requirements:

• Social Security
• Unemployment Insurance
• Workers' Compensation
• New York State Disability
• Basic Retirement Plan
• Optional Retirement Plan - employees who meet the eligibility criteria can make voluntary before-tax contributions to the Research Foundation's Optional Retirement Plan. Please contact Benefits Department at (518) 437-4500 with any questions.

To determine eligibility for participation in any of the benefit programs, please contact Research Foundation Benefits at (518) 437-4500.    

H-1B VISA HOLDERS

A full-time SUNY employee, holding an H-1B visa for work at SUNY, must obtain a concurrent H-1B visa for Research Foundation work. The H-1B is an employment based petition. Because SUNY and the Research Foundation are separate employers, an H-1B obtained by SUNY does not authorize the person to work for any other employer, including the Research Foundation. The immigration law firm, Harris Beach, LLC, prepares all H1B petitions for Research Foundation employees. In addition to the H1B filing fees of $960 paid to USCIS (United States Citizen and Immigration Services), the initial legal fees charged by Harris Beach may be up to $2,000. In addition, there is the possibility that additional legal fees will be incurred, for example, for complex matters that require additional analysis or research (e.g., research for alternative wage surveys to address prevailing wage issues) or to respond to any requests for evidence (RFE) that may be received from USCIS.
 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Why are approvals needed for summer salary over 2 months?
   Research Foundation policy requires a waiver to extend summer employment for a SUNY faculty member beyond two months. In addition, federal auditors are closely reviewing summer salaries to ensure they are fairly charged for costs of research. Yale University announced a $7.6 million settlement with the Justice Department for, among other issues, allegations that summer salary was charged 100 percent when actual effort was spent during the academic year, or on unrelated grants, or not directly related to grant activity. UAlbany needs to ensure that our policies protect faculty members and the institution.
    
2. Is there any case in which a faculty member can take three months of summer research salary from sponsored projects?
   Yes, faculty can submit a Waiver Request approved and signed by your Chair, Dean, or VP. You will need certify that only activities directly related to the research project such as research, writing progress reports, attending research-related conferences and/or holding research meetings will be charged to a sponsored project.
    
3. Can I go to a conference while I am being paid from a sponsored project?
   Yes, if the conference is related to the sponsored project; you must certify that the effort (time spent) at the conference is relevant to the sponsored project.
    
4. If I receive three months of summer salary from sponsored projects can I write proposals or do administrative work?
   No. If an investigator receives three months of summer salary from sponsored projects, the funding agencies do not allow for time to write proposals, work on other research, or do significant administrative work beyond de minimis activity (e.g. brief consultation with graduate students, handling an occasional non-project-related phone call or email, or attending a short, rare administrative meeting).
5. What should be considered as part of my University effort?
   Your total University effort is made up of whatever research, teaching and administrative activities are necessary to fulfill your University responsibilities. Activities that generally should not be thought of as being part of your University responsibilities include: external consulting; serving on external boards, study sections, or national committees; community service; professional societies; and editorial and journal reviews.
    
6. Why can't faculty use a 40-hour week as a base for their sponsored project reporting and then consider the additional hours needed to fulfill their other University responsibilities (e.g., teaching activities) as time that they "volunteered" to the University? Aren't the sponsors getting what they paid for?
   There is no standard faculty work week. Faculty members--and other salaried employees--are compensated not for a standard work week, but for the duties they are expected to perform under the terms of their employment. Sponsors are paying for a percentage of the faculty member's total University effort, whatever that may be.

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