Faculty Merit Compensation 2025-26

Memorandum

I write to outline the 2025-2026 academic personnel merit increase guidelines and process.

This memo provides guidance on the merit increase process for all Salaried Faculty, Wage Faculty, and Graduate Assistants. Merit increases for Administrative and Professional Faculty and for Professional Research Staff should follow the guidelines for academic salaried faculty members given below, with the exception that those increases are processed through Workday.

Please note as well that the budget passed by the state includes an across-the-board 1.5% bonus for a specific subset of eligible employees. This bonus will be effective on May 25th and will pay out on July 1st for eligible members of the Faculty and the Professional Research Staff, regardless of whether they are employed on a 9-, 10-, 11-, or 12-month basis.

To be eligible for the bonus, as of May 25, 2025, employees must be actively employed, benefited with an effort of 75% (0.75 FTE) or greater, have worked for UVA continuously since February 25, 2025, and be in good standing. As such, members of the Faculty and Professional Research Staff with documented performance issues are not eligible for the bonus. Deans or their delegates should email vpfa@virginia.edu with a copy to their designated HR Business Partners as soon as possible, but no later than June 13, 2025, the rationale and names of any members of the Faculty and Professional Research Staff who they believe may not be eligible due to performance. UVA Human Resources (UVA HR) will work with each school on eligibility as needed and then implement these bonuses centrally.

Regarding merit, schools should use an average 3.0 percent increase, as authorized by the University for the 2025-2026 cycle.

I request that each dean, or their delegate, provide a merit increase narrative no later than Thursday, June 26, 2025. This narrative should contextualize the individual and cumulative merit recommendations for academic faculty, including any proposed deviation from the authorized average. In addition, deans should provide a brief description of their approach to increases for Wage Faculty, Graduate Teaching Assistants, and Graduate Research Assistants. These plans, and the associated specific merit recommendations which are submitted via spreadsheet, must be approved by the Provost.

Guidelines on staff merit will be forthcoming from UVA HR the week of May 12th.

 If you have any questions regarding the implementation of these guidelines, please contact Maggie Peña Harden. 

Academic Salaried Faculty 

In accordance with the Policy on University Faculty Salaries and Bonuses, all faculty salary increases are based on performance. Your narrative should focus on academic faculty and address how your school evaluates performance. It should also include how you incorporate considerations related to promotions, market, and parity in relation to performance for the purpose of salary setting. 

The following are additional guidelines to keep in mind: 

• Schools are required to submit both a narrative, as described above, and a spreadsheet (provided by UVA HR) with individual-level merit recommendations. Both the narrative and the spreadsheet are due by Thursday, June 26, 2025, but schools are encouraged to submit the narrative as soon as possible. 
• All salary increases are subject to the availability of funding. Merit increase proposals should correspond to each unit’s approved budget. 
• Increases should not be awarded “across the board” nor on a pre-determined scale. 
• Increase recommendations of zero percent (0%) or greater than 􀏐ifteen percent (15%) require narrative justi􀏐ication and supporting documentation. 
• Schools and units with faculty who are partially funded by the Dual Career Program (DCP) should consult the DCP MOU for merit funding implications. 
• Schools should coordinate salary recommendations for faculty who hold joint appointments. 
• On behalf of the President, the Provost’s Of􀏐ice will coordinate salary recommendations for faculty who hold University Professor appointments. Schools should submit these recommendations along with a narrative evaluation directly to Maggie Peña Harden by June 26 as well. 

Wage Faculty & Graduate Assistants 

As was true in 2024, the budget passed by the state includes a 3% increase for both Faculty Wage employees and Graduate Teaching Assistants. 

Schools must implement an across-the-board 3% increase for all Graduate Teaching Assistants regardless of start date, and an across-the-board increase for all continuing Faculty Wage Employees. This increase should be effective on or before August 25, 2025, the 􀏐first day of the 􀏐first full biweekly pay period during the upcoming academic year. 

Deans have the 􀏐flexibility to apply this increase to Graduate Research Assistants and all Faculty Wage Employees, regardless of start date. I encourage you to do this as appropriate and where there are sufficient financial resources. 

Schools will enter period activity pay (PAP) assignments inclusive of the 3% increase for all eligible Graduate Assistants and Wage faculty members in alignment with their usual process and University payroll deadlines. If your team has questions about the process, please direct them to reach out to their HR Business Partner.