Compensation policies, practices, and guidelines help determine pay and career development opportunities for the faculty and staff who support Virginia Commonwealth University's teaching, research, patient care, and public service activities.  As a public, research university, VCU uses compensation models that are unique to these diverse groups of faculty and staff.

In support of these efforts, VCU Human Resources can provide consultation to managers and supervisors on the following compensation models and related payment issues (click on one of the boxes below to find out more):

Classified and Hourly Employees

Faculty Positions and Salary Administration

Student
Hourly Workers

VCU
Summer Workers

Compensation Reform Training On-Line

  ** New ** 2005 Salary Adjustment Provisions

Classified and Hourly Employees

VCU operates its current compensation and classification activities for classified staff and most hourly employees under state guidelines (reformed effective September 25, 2000).  Our compensation system is designed to:

• Attract and retain qualified employees,
• Reward sustained high performance, and
• Support managers in achieving organizational objectives.

You can learn more about our compensation system from our on-line training sessions.

You can learn more about classifying positions by clicking here.

Classification and compensation are guided by VCU's Classified Salary Administration Plan and a variety of pay factors that can influence individual pay decisions.

Personal Service Agreements (PSAs) 4/2008:  PSAs are no longer in use; instead, follow the Overload Jobs policy or see Payment Methods for Non-Employees and Employees

Faculty Positions and Salary Administration

VCU Human Resources establishes faculty positions within the categories described below.  Faculty are recruited through search procedures established by the VCU Office of EEO/AA Services.  Call that office at 828-1347 for more information on these procedures.  A listing of current faculty vacancies is available on-line.

Detailed Faculty Salary Administration information is available from the Provost's office.  VCU's Board of Visitors approves final salaries upon the recommendation of the President.  

Starting Pay and Performance Increase:  These salary actions are established through a process of review and recommendation by the appropriate University administrators, including the Provost or Vice President, to whom the faculty member reports.

Other Increases:  Salary increases outside the performance increase cycle need to show approval authority on VCU's Request for Faculty Salary Increase form.  Approval authority includes the appropriate Vice President and the VCU Faculty Employment Committee, which is comprised of the Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration (Chair), the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the Vice President for Health Sciences.

Generally, salaries for teaching and research positions are based on the academic credentials of the incumbent and are set within established salary average authorizations.   The salary average authorizations are fixed for each institution of higher education.  They are derived from benchmark list of up to 25 institutions with salary information obtained from a national faculty salary survey commissioned by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) or from the National Center for Educational Statistics.

Additional salary benchmarks for administrative and professional faculty members are available through VCU Human Resources, which uses salary surveys conducted by the national College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR).  E-mail hrgen@vcu.edu for more information.

Bonus Awards:  one-time lump sum awards for exceptional performance beyond the prescribed expectations of a faculty member's duties may be awarded once each fiscal year coinciding with the university's salary administration process for faculty salary increases.  Detailed information is found in the Faculty Bonus Award Policy. 

VCU uses two primary categories for faculty appointments:

Teaching and Research Faculty
Also referred to as instructional faculty, teaching and research (T&R) faculty perform a variety of teaching, research, and service duties in support of the University's mission.  These faculty may hold tenure, serve in tenure-track positions that are eligible to receive tenure, or occupy collateral positions that are not tenure eligible.  These positions include academic titles such as Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Instructor, or Lecturer.  Candidates for teaching and research positions hold advanced degrees or have training and work experience at levels equal to advanced degrees.

Administrative and Professional Faculty
Administrative and professional (A&P) faculty appointments normally cover a specified period, not to exceed one year.  The appointment time period is stated in the contract appointment letter.

Administrative faculty positions require the performance of work directly related to the management of the educational and general activities of the institution.  Administrative faculty positions can be established no more than three reporting levels below the President.  In consultation with HR, the President and Vice Presidents can designate administrative positions reporting to them.  Although administrative faculty hold faculty rankings (i.e., Instructor, Assistant Professor, etc.), they carry administrative titles (i.e., Chair, Dean, Executive Director, etc.).  Incumbents may be active teaching or research faculty or hold tenure status based on previous teaching or research experience.

Professional faculty positions support the professional functions of the University, and their designations are normally limited to librarians and other professional duties.  By definition, professional faculty positions:

• Require an advanced degree, training, or work experience at a level that equates to an advanced degree.

• Involve no-teaching duties and responsibilities 50 percent of the time.
• Require the incumbent to regularly exercise professional discretion and judgment and to produce work that is intellectual and varied and is not standardized.

Additional information regarding VCU faculty policies, procedures, and guidelines is available on-line (see Faculty Handbook and updates). 

Personal Service Agreements (PSAs) 4/2008:  PSAs are no longer in use; instead, follow the Overload Jobs policy or see Payment Methods for Non-Employees and Employees

Student Hourly Workers

VCU hires student workers as hourly employees to perform a variety of duties ranging from entry-level service jobs to office support and professional activities.  Because the work situations in which the University employs student workers are not standard, hiring departments may set wages within certain parameters.

• Students must be paid at least minimum wage, currently $5.15 ($5.85 effective July 24, 2007) an hour, not to exceed a maximum of $15 an hour.

• The hourly rate paid to students must not exceed the hourly rate paid to classified staff performing similar work.
• Most student workers are enrolled at VCU, but they may attend other colleges or secondary schools.  To be FICA exempt, student workers must be enrolled in classes at VCU. 

Hiring student workers does not require a formal search process.  Some VCU departments post student worker vacancies on eJobs; the VCU Career Center also posts vacancies to assist students in locating suitable employment.

Student workers are paid on the 1st of the month for the pay period of the 10th through the 24th and on the 16th of the month for the pay period of the 25th through the 9th.   

Some student workers will qualify for participation in VCU's Work-Study Program, which also will reimburse hiring departments for 50 percent of the wages up to a predetermined limit. 

 Important Personnel Administrator (PA) Information Regarding Tax Withholding for Student Workers 

• When are student workers not exempt from FICA/Medicare?  

Student workers are not allowed exemptions from paying FICA/Medicare withholding tax if the following conditions apply:

• They enroll in classes less than half-time (6 undergraduate credit hours; 4.5 graduate credit hours).  An allowable exception - it is the student's last semester to complete degree requirements.

• During the summer:  They attend classes in fewer than eight of the 12 weeks between May 21 and August 11, 2007.

• They have more than a five-week break between classes.

NOTE:  IRS regulations stipulate that all student workers and graduate assistants must be enrolled at the institution at which they are working to be eligible for the FICA exemption.

• How do department PAs change a student worker from FICA exempt to FICA taxable?  

Prepare a PAF as follows and send to HR Operations at P. O. Box 842511 to change the student worker's status from FICA exempt to FICA taxable and change the EClass from SW to H1:  

• Use action code FIC - "FICA Change in Taxable Status."

• Use the effective date that the student class status is changing.  

• In the NBAJOBS section, list the position number and suffix of the student job in your department

• How will this affect timekeeping?

• When keying time for student workers who are not exempt from FICA (see criteria above), timekeepers will need to use WAG as the earnings code while they are reclassified as H1.

• If the student worker is exempt from FICA and Medicare taxes and stays in the SW EClass, timekeepers continue to key time as REG.

• How do department PAs change a student worker back from FICA taxable to FICA exempt?  

• Department PAs WILL need to submit PAFs (change the FICA Exempt box) to change the status back to exempt and the EClass back to SW for student workers who will be continuing employment in the fall and who register for class loads that are at least half-time.

• When necessary, also use the PAF to change the job end dates to cover the extended period.

In summary, student workers employed in the SW EClass as shown on NBAJOBS will not have FICA or Medicare deductions, and department budgets will not be charged the 7.9% fringe rate.  Student workers in the H1 EClass as shown on NBAJOBS will have FICA and Medicare deductions, and department budgets will be charged the 7.9% fringe rate.

Mailing address:  Virginia Commonwealth University  |  Human Resources - Compensation Management
Human Resources Building, 104 North Belvidere Street, P.O. Box 842511  |  Richmond, VA  USA  23284-2511
Phone:  (804) 827-1770 (Voice)  |  (800) 828-1120 (TDD)  |  Email:  hrgen@vcu.edu
                    
This page is maintained by the VCU Human Resources web team   |   Revised:  April 09, 2008

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