Faculty Pay Cycle Change FAQ

As is common in higher education, workload for most IC faculty on 24-credit workloads falls within the academic year. Presently for most faculty the default option for faculty pay is that it be disbursed only during the academic year, but faculty are given the option to select “summer reserves” whereby some pay is withheld during the academic year and distributed over the ensuing summer.  

 

Recognizing the vast majority of faculty prefer to be paid over 12 months instead of only during the academic year, and to improve administrative processes in support of this, beginning in Summer 2025 the default arrangement for faculty will be a 12 month pay schedule, with 2025-26 salary disbursed evenly through the July 2025 through June 2026 timeframe. Faculty on 24-credit workloads who would prefer to have their 2025-26 pay disbursed only within the academic year (August through May) can select that option, but July through June will be the new default schedule.  

 

 

The provost’s office and the Office of Human Resources are happy to answer questions; below are answers to some of the questions we anticipate: 

Which faculty are impacted by this change?

• This change applies to continuing (tenured, tenure-eligible, and multi-year renewable notice “MYRN”) faculty on 24-credit workloads.  
• Full-time term [FTT] faculty will have salaries disbursed over the academic year (August through May), unless they request their pay instead to be disbursed over 12 months (in which case pay would be disbursed August through subsequent August) by completing an election form. This form will be made available in Spring 2025; we will send an announcement when it is published.  
• Faculty on 30-credit workloads already have their salary disbursed over the 12-month span encompassing July through June; there are no changes for these faculty. 

 

Does the change in dates for pay entail any change in job expectations? 

• No, the change is purely about pay schedules and has no implications for job expectations. Faculty with 24-credit workloads are treated as 9-month employees with no teaching or service obligations over the summer, and that will continue unchanged. 

 

Does the change in dates for pay entail any change in the total amount faculty will be paid? 

• No, the change impacts when the new increment would first appear in payroll, but will have no impact on the total amount faculty are paid for the year. 

 

What are the salary disbursement options? 

• Beginning with the 2025-26 year, faculty salaries will by default be disbursed over the 12-month span encompassing July through June. Faculty who prefer their salaries to be disbursed only over the academic year (August through May) can request this by completing the “Academic Year Pay Election” form, which will become available in Spring 2025). 

 

When will 2025-26 salary go into effect?  

• Your 2025-26 salary will apply effective July 1, 2025, so for those on the 12-month pay schedule, the first July 2025 pay period will be the first one to incorporate the new increment. 

 

When and how will 2025-26 Faculty Salary Letters be generated? 

• In the coming cycle, faculty salary letters will be distributed via email attachment; we are striving for June 15, 2025 as a release date. 

 

For faculty who had elected the summer reserves option for the 2024-25 year, how will 2025 summer reserves pay be impacted by this change? 

• Summer reserve pay for the two June 2025 pay periods will be processed as in past years. The balance of summer reserve pay that would have been disbursed over the three pay periods in July and August 2025 will be instead disbursed in lump sum through a separate payment at the end of June 2025. 

 

How might tax withholding be impacted by the lump sum payment?  

• In order to mitigate tax implications, lump sum payments will be issued separately from the regular June 30th paycheck.  If you wish to change your withholding at any time, please find instructions here:  https://help.ithaca.edu/TDClient/34/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=706.  The IRS has a Tax Withholding Estimator that you may want to use as a resource:  Tax Withholding Estimator | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov).

 

How would compensation for Summer and/or Winter term teaching that historically has not been in load be affected by this change?  

• Additional compensation for Summer and Winter terms has historically been processed via the “additional pay” process for faculty with 24-credit workloads, not as part of regular salary. That process will continue; for faculty with 24-credit workloads, summer/winter teaching will continue to be compensated as overload.  

 

For faculty who are retiring or departing, what will be the date of departure and when will benefits end? 

• For those with an agreement in place on or before August 16, 2024 

For employees who prior to August 16, 2024 entered into an agreement to retire or transition to retirement agreement, that agreement specifies dates for the end of benefits and the last paycheck. The dates named in those agreements will be upheld, and the retirement date will likewise correspond with the agreement that is on file. 

• All others 

For employees who had not entered into any agreement as of August 16, 2024, presuming the final term of employment is a spring semester, benefits would end on June 30 of their final academic year. For faculty on the 12-month pay schedule, the last payroll would be in June, and for faculty on the academic year pay schedule, the last payroll would be in May.  

 

How would a faculty member elect the Academic Year Pay schedule (August through May)? 

• The Academic Year Pay Election form is under construction and will be published in Spring 2025; we will announce when it becomes available.  

 

How are benefit calculations impacted?   

• Benefit deductions are spread evenly across all pay periods, whether payment is spread over 12 months or only during the academic year.