UF trustees approve historic raises for faculty and staff, new bonuses for high-performing faculty

The University of Florida will use $25 million in overhead cost savings to create a 4% merit raise pool for out-of-unit faculty and a 3.75% merit raise pool for staff, UF’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously today.

“I asked the university to find savings of $25 million that we would then invest in our faculty,” board chairman Mori Hosseini said. “As a result of our $25 million in overhead savings, our state’s generous investment in the University of Florida, and our continued focus on making sure our faculty and staff are taken care of, we approved historic merit raise pools for our faculty and staff.  This is the largest raise pool in at least the past 20 years.”

"It makes a huge difference when our faculty and staff know that we care about their hard work and what they do each day for our university," said interim president Kent Fuchs. "As we look forward to the fall semester, there is a sense of excitement about our work to make sure that we elevate this great university."

In addition, the board approved a one-time $10,000 bonus to faculty who receive an “exceeds expectations” rating in their post-tenure review evaluations.

“We always want to recognize those that go over and above,” Hosseini said. “We approved a $10,000 bonus for each of our faculty members who achieved ‘exceeds expectations’ in their post-tenure review. We are very proud of our faculty and thrilled to be able to provide these bonuses. We truly prioritize our people.”

The raise pools will become effective Oct. 1; raises for union faculty will need to be bargained. The faculty bonuses also will begin Oct. 1.

In addition, in an effort to recruit and retain the very best faculty, Hosseini asked Trustee Patrick Zalupski, Sarah Lynn, Chair of the University of Florida Faculty Senate, and Melissa Curry, vice president for human resources, to expedite UF’s Baby Gator improvement projects “so we can provide the best childcare and support to our faculty and university community.”