General Information
Merit and Performance Salary Adjustment (PSA) awards are granted at the discretion of the University when provided for in the annual bargained agreement. The Association negotiates the total amount to be allocated to such awards and the criteria for distributing the awards.
The amount of merit & PSA allocated to each unit is distributed on a pro-rata basis, based on the total academic dollars in each unit. For the purpose of the merit & PSA processes, unit includes all faculties, Extended Learning, the Library and the Office of the VP Academic. The allocation amounts are communicated individually to each Faculty by Faculty Relations.
It is expected that the cost of any merit awards or PSA allocations made to members who are partially or fully funded from non-university operating funds will be borne by the non-university funds.
Heads and Directors must distribute the written procedures to all members eligible to be considered for Merit and PSA. These procedures must address the process for Joint Appointments, if applicable. All faculty members eligible for consideration for merit or PSA shall submit to the Head a summary of their relevant scholarly, teaching and service activities and may include an indication of the nature and significance of the activities. After awards are confirmed and implemented, the Unit Head unit must distribute a list to all eligible faculty member of those faculty members who are awarded merit and a list of those awarded PSA (but not the amounts).
Eligibility
All continuing members of the bargaining unit who are active on both June 30 and July 1 are eligible for merit and PSA. This includes members in academic ranks (Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Acting Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Associate Professor of Teaching, Professor of Teaching), Librarians, Program Directors and Lecturers, as well as those on Reduced Appointments. Sessional Lecturers are not eligible for merit or PSA.
To be considered for merit members must have had active service during the merit review year (normally April 1 to March 31). Members continue to be eligible for consideration for merit awards and PSA while on leave, although leave may reduce the period of review.
Heads and Directors must consult with a reasonable number of colleagues within their unit prior to finalizing the unit’s policy or approach to the allocation of Merit and PSA. The finalized policy should be included with the procedures, which must be distributed as per below. Unit Heads/Directors of faculty members who hold Joint Appointments must confer regarding Joint Appointments. Primary responsibility for ensuring that the process is properly followed for a Joint Appointment rest with the Head/Director of the home Department.
Merit Awards
Review Period: For increases effective July 1, 2024, the review period is April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024.
Unit Value: The dollar amount of the Merit unit varies from year to year. The value of a Merit unit as of July 1, 2024 is $2,398.
Award amount: Awards will be composed of 0.5,1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 or 3.0 units. In the case of faculty members who hold joint appointments, it's important to remember that if merit is to be awarded it can't be less than 0.5 units in total.
For example if Dr. X is jointly appointed 75% in Department A and 25% in Department B, Department A cannot simply award 25% of a merit unit without Department B awarding 75% of a merit unit. Alternately, either Department A or B can award 100% of merit from their own merit pools.
In assessing merit, you should take into consideration the criteria for appointments set out in the relevant agreement:
- Article 4 of Part4: Conditions of Appointment for Faculty
- Article 3 of Part 5: Conditions of Appointment for Librarians
- Article 3 of Part 6: Conditions of Appointment for Program Directors in Continuing Studies
The assessment for awards shall be based on the duties expected of a faculty member in the period in question, i.e., April 1 to March 31 of the current review year.
It should not be based on activities in which the faculty member didn't have the opportunity to engage. For example, a faculty member who isn't expected to teach but is expected to carry out research and contribute service should be considered on the latter two criteria. A faculty member whose assigned duties consist of teaching and service should be considered only on those two criteria.
When considering teaching performance, the review must be based on formal procedures such as student and peer evaluations. The unit head shall consult with a reasonable number of colleagues representative of each of the ranks in the unit before making a recommendation on the award of merit. Note that this includes instructors and Lecturers where applicable. If the head cannot adequately assess the contribution outside the department of an individual for the purpose of merit he/she shall consult with the dean and vice president academic before making a recommendation.
Merit recommendations should be expressed in number of units and should be entered on a Merit and PSA Summary Form.. .
Performance Salary Adjustment
PSA awards are granted at the discretion of the University when provided for in the annual bargained agreement. The Association negotiates the total amount to be allocated to such awards and the criteria for distributing the awards.
Recommendations for PSA awards are made having regard to overall performance. The factors that should be taken into account are:
- performance over a period of time which is worthy of recognition;
- the relationship of a faculty member’s salary to that of other faculty taking into consideration total years of service at UBC; and
- market considerations.
PSA awards must be based on these three factors and may not be used as additional merit dollars.
In assessing a faculty member’s performance Heads shall take advice from a reasonable number of colleagues representative of each of the ranks in the unit before deciding whether to recommend PSA. In distributing PSA, faculties and departments shall give particular consideration to those who are beyond the career progress schedule for their current rank. It is inappropriate to recommend PSA to compensate for salary differentials that result from the differential award of merit.
Note that normally PSA is not awarded for members in their first 3 years of employment as a Faculty member at UBC.
Please note that the 0.5% PSA allocation for each faculty must first be reduced by the cost of carry-forward career progress increments and the LOS CP retro units.
The Merit-PSA Summary
Each faculty must complete a Merit-PSA Summary for Faculty Relations that provides a list of faculty members who are being provided merit and/or PSA by the Faculty with the amount of the award noted. Dean's Office (or equivalent office) administrators will need to run the report "Faculty Increase - Merit and PSA Form", complete and return to Faculty Relations at the same time as the faculty salary increase spreadsheets. Departments should not return their individual spreadsheets to Faculty Relations.
Processing merit and PSA awards
For the merit and PSA awards to be processed as part of the automatic increase process, all merit and PSA allocations must be entered on the Faculty Salary Increase spreadsheets before returning the spreadsheet to Faculty Relations. If the amounts are not entered on the spreadsheets, they will have to be processed manually. In the case of Joint Appointments the Home Unit is responsible for entering the merit and PSA awards on their spreadsheet.
After the increases are confirmed (normally the end of June), the unit head/director must arrange for a list of individuals receiving merit and PSA awards to be circulated individually to all members of the unit, including names of who received what type of increase, but not the actual amounts of the increase.