Faculty Startup Account Extension Policy

The purpose of this memo is to clearly delineate the faculty startup account extension policy within the College of Engineering. This policy is consistent with both past practice and current policies of the Provost and Controller’s Office.

Faculty startup (FSU) represents an investment by the funding entities (typically the Provost, Dean, and department) in new faculty hires to provide them with seed funding to establish their research endeavors at UMass. It is not the intent of these funds to act as “rainy day” funds when a faculty member has established an ongoing sponsored research portfolio.

Faculty offer letters with startup agreements include language similar to the following:

“Start-up Funds: You will be provided $  in startup funds. These funds are intended to establish your research and/or laboratory at UMass, including equipment purchases, salaries, supplies, graduate assistantships, research-related travel, and other similar research expenses, but not to further augment your own academic-year salary. In the event that you cannot cover your full summer salary from external grants (and/or AY recovery funds), you may pay for up to 2 months in summer salary during each of your first two years and up to one month in your third year out of your startup funds. All start-up funds must be expended by the end of your third year; any unspent funds at the end of your third year or at the end of your employment (whichever occurs first) will be diverted to other uses by the University. All equipment purchased with University funds, though for your use, will remain the property of the University. Should you decide to accept a position at another institution prior to the expiration of your start-up funds, you are required to promptly engage in discussions with your dean regarding the disposition of any unallocated portions of the start-up funds.”

This offer letter language aligns with the Provost Office expectation that startup funds be used within the first three years of hire and that the faculty startup account will be closed upon its expiration date, which is tracked using the class code. The department will retain a portion of any remaining balances in closed faculty startup accounts in proportion to their contributions to the account, and the remainder will be returned to the College. These start-up fund balances must be prioritized to address startup debt/unmet obligations.

In addition, the expiration of FSU funds in the College of Engineering will be governed by the following:

• One-year FSU extensions beyond the third year may be granted upon request at the discretion of the Department Head, Dean, and Provost. These extension requests will be recommended for approval at the Dean’s level in most cases on a pro forma basis.
• Requests for an FSU extension for a fifth year for may be considered under exceptional circumstances with detailed justification provided. In extremely rare circumstances, a sixth-year extension may be considered. For faculty hired at the associate or full professor levels, extensions for a fifth or sixth year must meet an even higher bar.
• For assistant professors hired without tenure, all remaining FSU funds will expire upon the date tenured.
• Effective immediately, the Dean will no longer consider FSU extension requests that would extend the expiration date beyond the pre-tenure period for assistant professor hires, or a total of 6 years for associate or full professor hires.
• This policy does not alter the FSU extensions negotiated by the Provost’s Office with the Massachusetts Society of Professors (MSP) due to COVID pandemic impact response, or other unusual circumstances.