AA/PPS 03.01.10 - Start-Up Funds

POLICY STATEMENT

Texas State University is committed to providing start-up funds to pay for expenses incurred in support of new faculty member’s scholarly efforts and outcomes that support the mission of the university.

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

   1. Start-up funds are funds committed to faculty members at the point of hiring in order to build, develop, and enhance scholarly efforts and outcomes that are important to the ongoing mission of Texas State University. These funds represent a clear investment in the professional careers of faculty and are provided to ensure that new faculty members obtain necessary equipment, instrumentation, supplies, or other resources required to initiate a competitive research, scholarly, or creative agenda that will generate externally-funded grants or contracts.

2. ELIGIBILITY AND SOURCE OF FUNDS

   1. New tenure-track faculty members are eligible to receive start-up funding support. Other faculty members may be eligible. For any faculty member hired before completion of the terminal degree, start-up funds become available after the degree is completed.

   2. Start-up funds may be contributed by any administrative or academic unit, including the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, colleges, departments, schools, and other offices. This policy describes procedures for start-up funding provided by the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. In many cases, provost funds are supplemented by commitments from the hiring academic unit and others.

3. PROCEDURES FOR PROVIDING START-UP FUNDS

   1. Requests for start-up funds are structured for a two-year time frame and include the faculty member’s research goals, targeted funding sources and potential publication venues, and a description, time frame, justification, and proposed location for each requested resource. Faculty and Academic Resources maintains the template and guidelines for start-up requests, including allowable and unallowable expenses.

   2. During the faculty search process, academic units are encouraged to discuss university guidelines and general expectations associated with start-up packages with potential faculty candidates.

   3. As part of the interview process, the chair or director will discuss the candidate’s potential start-up needs and the performance expectations for scholarly productivity. Performance expectations may include annual publication rates, appropriate publication outlets, preferred funding sources, expected level of external funding awards, student research activities, and others relevant to the department and discipline.

   4. As part of the hiring negotiation process, the chair or director will work with the faculty candidate to complete the start-up request using the university’s template. The chair or director is responsible for ensuring that the start-up package is mindful of existing resources on campus and is ample, but not excessive, for meeting the start-up needs of the faculty member.

   5. The chair or director, in consultation with the dean, will forward the start-up request to the associate provost for review. The provost and vice president for Academic Affairs has final approval on the amount of start-up funds that will be offered to a prospective faculty member. After this approval, the chair or director may indicate the amount of start-up funds that will be made available to the candidate upon employment at the university.

   6. The formal written offer made to a candidate will clearly state the amount of the start-up package. The approved start-up fund request is structured for support within the first two full fiscal years of employment, but funds may be carried over for expenditure into the third year without prior approval by the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. After three years, remaining funds will return to the university’s central account for start-up packages. Faculty members approved to toll the tenure clock may be eligible for extensions upon request.

   7. The faculty member and chair or director are responsible for ensuring that funds are expended as outlined in the final approved start-up package and in compliance with all applicable policies, rules, and laws.

   8. The chair or director and dean, in consultation with the personnel committee, are responsible for monitoring the research and scholarly performance of new faculty members, including projects arising out of the effective use of start-up funds.

   9. In the event of a faculty member’s departure, unspent start-up funds, durable assets, and other items of value remain the property of Texas State. Ordinarily, no expenditures may be made from start-up funds after notice that the faculty member’s appointment is ending with the university. Under rare circumstances, the departing faculty member may request to continue using start-up funds. The departing faculty member is required to submit a justification memo to the associate provost via the dean and chair or director.

4. REVIEWERS OF THIS PPS

   1. Reviewers of this PPS include the following:

      Position	Date
      Associate Provost	December 1 E5Y
      Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs	December 1 E5Y

5. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

   This PPS has been approved by the following individual in their official capacity and represents Texas State Academic Affairs policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.

   Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs; senior reviewer of this PPS