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Office of Sponsored Programs

Faculty Research Incentive Program (FRIP)

The Faculty Research Incentive Program (FRIP) is managed by the Office of the Provost.  For questions, please contact Jolyn Schleiffarth in the Office of the Provost.

Guidelines

The University of Montana Faculty Research Incentive Program (FRIP) has been developed to encourage sponsored research and scholarly activities. By providing the opportunity for annual incentive payments, the program incentivizes faculty to secure externally funded research grants and contracts. The program is in addition to and complements existing academic year (AY) and fiscal year (FY) faculty compensation. FRIP is a University of Montana financial incentive program. It is not paid by grants.

Purpose

  1. The purpose of the program is to encourage faculty to secure externally funded research,scholarship and grants/contracts projects, and reward those who successfully secure extramural funds.
  2. The incentive payment is intended as a one-time, annual supplement to the recipient’s regular base salary (Institutional Base Salary or IBS). The payment is not part of the IBS for any purpose. The incentive payment is subject to the applicable federal and state taxes and FICA withholdings. The incentive payment does not affect a recipient’s eligibility for merit or other salary increases.
  3. The expected outcomes of this program include:
    • Increased number of extramural funding proposal submissions
    • Improved success rate for extramural funding awards
    • Improved recruitment and retention of research‐active faculty
    • Increased compensation for participating employees
    • Increased generation of institutional facility and administrative (F&A) cost recovery

Participation in the Program

  1. Participation in the program requires eligible faculty to charge at least $1,000 of his/her Institutional Base Salary, and related portion of fringe benefits, to a federal or state grant/contract budget. The faculty member will draw salary from the grant/contract account proportionate to his/her effort devoted to the project (per the obligation made to the sponsoring agency), thereby creating fund savings for this incentive program. B.
  2. Incentive payments are contingent upon the faculty member meeting the eligibility requirements and complying with the terms and conditions of the Program. The incentive payment made under the program shall not exceed:
    • 70 percent of the net recovered salary savings for the participant and 30 percent to the college to support research and creative scholarship, and
    • 25 percent of the faculty member’s institutional base salary for the year in which the incentive payment is earned.
    • The faculty member and Dean may mutually agree to a lesser return of recovered salary.

      The payment will be subject to all normal withholding for taxes and benefits.
  3. Incentive payments may not be paid from federal or state grants/contracts. The source of funds for the payment will normally be institutional salary savings recovered from charging a portion of the faculty member’s salary to grant/contract funds. The payment may not be made by offsetting salary from one grant/contract account to another grant/contract.
  4. Under typical circumstances, a faculty member’s effort charged to a grant/contract will be attributed to the research portion of the faculty member’s workload. 
    • For pre-approved cases where the faculty member has already fulfilled the effort related to the research portion of his/her workload, incentive payments from recovered salary will occur only after the amount of funds necessary to acquire the services needed to fulfill the teaching, advising, and other responsibilities of the faculty member carrying out the grant/contract funded research has been determined and set aside for such purposes.
    • Faculty members should consult with their dean regarding expectations of external grant support within their College.

Program Terms and Conditions

  1. All faculty members supported by institutional funds are eligible for the program. The program will be implemented in compliance with all applicable federal regulations and policies of UM. The program is in addition to and complements existing summer salary policies and procedures for AY and FY faculty.
  2. To be approved, eligible faculty members must have:
    1. received a “normal” or “satisfactory” in their most recent annual review in all assigned duties; and
    2. demonstrated proper fiscal and administrative management of all grants/contracts for which he/she is/was principal investigator, including: compliance with all relevant institutional, state, and federal research-related policies; and completion of time and effort reports in a timely and accurate manner, as determined by their department head/director and UM Office of Sponsored Programs.
  3. To be eligible for the incentive program, a grant or contract must pay all direct costs, and the maximum facility and administrative (F&A) costs. Except that, in cases where the funding agency has a written F&A limit that is less than the institution’s officially negotiated rates, the program will apply.
  4. To be eligible for the incentive program, a grant or contract must have been routed and approved by the official University processes established by the UM Office of Sponsored Programs.
  5. To be eligible for the incentive program, a grant or contract may not include provisions for voluntary cost sharing or voluntary in-kind matching. For grants or contracts that involve multiple institutions, this requirement will be enforced for only the UM portion of the project budget.
  6. The amount of the incentive payment may not exceed 70% of the net salary savings recovered through effort charged to extramural sponsored project funding that is available for distribution. Effort applied to grants to support reduced teaching responsibilities (i.e., course buy-out) is not included in the calculation of the incentive payment.
  7. The incentive program does not apply to external funds obtained from gifts, testing service contracts, private sponsors or contracts or fees for services. Any exception must be explicitly granted by the Provost.
  8. The program will not apply to grants that have been secured by College or University administrators to support faculty positions.
  9. Faculty on a full-year sabbatical (.75 FTE), and faculty with an overall FTE less than 1.0 may participate in FRIP only after they have funded their remaining FTE (to 1.0). Any savings recovered beyond that point will be subject to the % return stipulated in this policy.
  10. Academic administrative personnel are eligible for incentive compensation under this program only with the prior written approval of the Provost.
  11. All incentive payments under the program shall be subject to the availability of financial resources for the program and to any applicable state or federal laws, regulations or policies.

Procedure

  1. The intent to participate form must be completed and signed by September 15 each academic year, or for new awards, before the RPT to update the labor distribution is completed.
  2. After a grant proposal has been successfully awarded, the faculty member and department head, dean or director will process an RPT to charge the correct proportion of salary to the appropriate grant or contract. The incentive payment will be contingent upon completion of the approval process, which includes approvals by the faculty member’s Department Head/Director (if applicable), Dean, and Provost.
  3. The first obligation on recovered salary is the payment of any costs incurred to provide services a faculty member will not be providing because of the responsibilities to the grant/contract research/scholarly activities. Only after these obligations have been fully and completely accounted for shall the net recovered salary be available to fund an incentive payment. For the purposes of this incentive program, teaching buyouts are a separate process and are excluded from the “net recovered salary” calculation.
    1. Faculty members should consult with their dean regarding expectations of external grant support within their College.
    2. A faculty member and Dean may mutually agree to a lesser incentive payment than the 70% net recovered savings. Any such agreement should be documented and attached to the FRIP form.
  4. To request an incentive payment for the current academic year, the faculty member andhis/her department head/director will initiate the Intent to Participate Form, Part I, and circulate to all signatories for approval.
    • Part 1 of the request shall be submitted to the Office of the Provost with signatures at the beginning of the academic year (by September 15) or as soon as a sponsored project is awarded. Mid-year changes to the intended incentive are allowed with approval from the Dean and Academic Finance Officer (with documentation attached to FRIP form).
    • Part II (verification) should be attached to the RPT that will initiate the incentive payment and should be completed no later than April 15 for timely submission of the FRIP payment. Incentive payments will be made before the end of the fiscal year. RPT’s must be submitted by May 15, and must be approved by the College’s Academic Finance Officer, Dean (or designee) and Assistant Vice Provost for Finance and Personnel. Late requests will not be approved.
    • No RPT for FRIP payment will be honored without a fully approved FRIP form.
  5. No incentive payment shall exceed 70% of the net recovered salary generated and the total incentive payment shall not exceed 25% of the employee’s Institutional Base Salary (IBS) for the year in which the incentive payment is earned.
  6. Eligible faculty must be employed by UM at the time of the pay-out (through the end of Spring semester) to receive any incentive payment.

Grandfathered Awards

  1. Grants that are currently established (as of March 1, 2026) are eligible to continue under the following guidelines:

    For grandfathered awards only, the incentive payment made under the program shall not exceed:
    • 90 percent of the net recovered salary savings for the participant and 10 percent to the college to support research and creative scholarship, and
    • 25 percent of the faculty member’s institutional base salary for the year in which the incentive payment is earned.
    • The faculty member and Dean may mutually agree to a lesser return of recovered salary.

The Office of the Provost will maintain a list of grandfathered awards. Any grandfathered arrangement will end on June 30, 2028. As of July 1, 2028, all FRIP payments will be subject to the revised schedule and guidelines.

Program Termination

The Faculty Research Incentive Program may be terminated at any time by the President or  Provost of the University of Montana after consultation with the Vice President for Research and Creative Scholarship.

Updated as of FY26