Policy on Course Buy-Outs

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Academic Affairs Division

Policy on Course Buy-Outs 

GENERAL

Full-time Faculty are allowed to reduce their instructional load through course buy-outs to further the research and scholarship mission of the University. Course buy-outs can be charged to both externally awarded and internally awarded projects.  Principal Investigators are responsible for ensuring their grant budgets have the proper allocation of salary, fringe and indirect, and agency approvals needed for the buy-out. Course buy- outs on externally funded projects must be approved by the dean and the department chair at the time of the proposal via the Proposal Routing Form. Course buy-outs on internally funded projects must be approved by the dean and the department chair via email to the Office of Research Development when the internal proposal is submitted. Course buy-outs using PI’s indirect recovery accounts must be approved by the dean and the department chair. In addition, faculty seeking buy-outs should complete a Course Buy- out Request form at least 60 days prior to the start date of the proposed buy-out semester.

EXTERNAL BUY-OUTS

Externally funded buy-outs are provided to allow faculty additional time for research on externally sponsored projects. The salary, fringe, and indirect charges for the sponsored project must be based on the faculty member’s percentage of effort. External funds must provide 10% of the 9-month salary plus applicable fringe for a 3 TU (Teaching Unit) course buy-out. See the Appendix for the Conversion Table of Teaching Units to the percentage of effort or salary to be charged.

The salary budget released by the course buy-out will first be used to pay for the replacement cost of instruction. The remaining funding will be distributed equally between the college dean and the department.

INTERNAL BUY-OUTS

An internal buy-out to allow time on an internally sponsored project must have the faculty’s time charged to the internal award. The course buy-out amount must be sufficient to cover the total cost of the replacement, and the award budget must be adequate to cover the salary and fringe of the replacement faculty. Course buy-outs that use PI’s indirect recovery account follow the same guidelines as external buy-outs but will not be charged overhead or fringe. Indirect funds will be charged 10% of the 9-month salary for a 3 TU (Teaching Unit) course buy-out. See the Appendix for the Conversion Table of Teaching Units for the percentage of effort or salary to be charged. Department or startup funds may not be used for an internal course buy-out.

Guidelines

• Participation in the program does not reduce the faculty member’s undergraduate advising responsibilities, university service expectations, or efforts related to mentoring graduate
• Releases granted for purposes of carrying major service responsibilities (such as a Center director or department Chair) should not preclude a faculty member’s opportunity to buy out of a course on a grant to accomplish the funded
• Faculty members will not be able to buy out their entire teaching load in any semester. Faculty teaching load should not fall below a 1 + 1

APPENDIX

Course Credit Equivalency to Percent Effort and Percent Annual Salary Approved