Centrally Funded Compensation

How the Campus Budget Office funds compensation increases for recurring faculty and staff positions on core funds — what's covered, how rates are calculated, and how allocations reach your unit.

On this page

• What is funded
• How rates are calculated
• How funding is applied
• Funding eligibility
• Managing positions in UCPath
• Definitions

Overview

The Campus Budget Office centrally funds compensation and benefit inflation for recurring faculty and staff positions supported by core funds (13991, 13992, 14500, and 19924). Funding is distributed through the annual budget cycle and, when needed, through off-cycle adjustments, so that allocations align with centrally approved programs, are applied consistently across units, and support long-term planning.

These guidelines apply to recurring positions on core funds, including non-represented employees and represented employees with ratified contracts. Non-core-funded positions and one-time payments are excluded.

What is funded

Annual budget cycle. Compensation inflation is built into UCSDPLAN each year. Composite rates reflect finalized salary bases and approved systemwide salary programs — merit and step increases for policy-covered and represented staff, range adjustments, and across-the-board increases. Vacant positions are included in salary resource budgets and receive inflation in the annual cycle.

Off-cycle funding. Mid-year funding may be provided for faculty merits, promotions, step increases, and above-scale advancements; Health Sciences pay scale changes; and other centrally supported adjustments such as mid-year contract ratifications. Because off-cycle allocations are based on actual payroll increases, vacant positions do not receive off-cycle inflation.

Not funded centrally: locally approved staff equity increases, reclassifications, staff promotions, and one-time awards or lump-sum payments.

How rates are calculated

Resource side. Each Financial Unit receives a composite salary and benefit inflation rate based on its employee mix, with separate assumptions for policy-covered and represented staff. Rates are applied to the finalized prior-year salary and benefit resource budgets to determine each unit's eligible funding by core fund.

Expense side. Inflation follows how departments plan positions in UCSDPLAN: each position carries the rate for its bargaining unit rather than a composite rate applied to a base.

Faculty and staff rates. CBO calculates a faculty rate (academic positions with scale-based pay) and a staff rate (all other recurring positions, including academic titles without scale pay) for each Financial Unit. Units with multiple core funds receive a distinct faculty and staff rate for each fund.

How funding is applied

Composite rates allocate centrally funded inflation to each Financial Unit. Funding generally matches planned expenses unless there are major staffing or structural changes, in which case adjustments may be made. The increment becomes part of the unit's available Resource Allocation for planning the following year's expenditure budget.

Salary and benefit increments are allocated to:

• 774961 – Recurring Staff Salaries
• 774962 – Recurring Staff Benefits
• 774963 – Recurring Faculty Salaries
• 774964 – Recurring Faculty Benefits

Departments are expected to balance available resources with budgeted compensation and non-compensation expenses. Salary and benefit resource accounts should not be in deficit.

Funding eligibility

Academic Affairs and Marine Sciences

Health Sciences

Managing positions in UCPath

Budget Distribution Pages (BDP) in UCPath let units manage recurring filled and vacant positions paid on core funds, keeping compensation allocations aligned with budgeted positions. Keep budget distribution and compensation changes current; vacant position numbers must be added manually, since the initial load from UCSDPLAN excluded vacancies.

BDP Audit Report shows all positions entered in BDP, with emphasis on core-recurring, and updates as you make changes — nightly for the regular snapshot, monthly for the dated snapshot.

Staffing List reconciles core BDP positions to the core salary budget from UCSDPLAN. It stays static through the year and reflects the core-recurring expense accounts: 500099 (Faculty Salaries), 500999 (Other Academic Salaries), and 501099 (Staff Salaries).

Both reports are on the Compensation Planning Dashboard.

Definitions

• Core funds — funds supporting direct costs of instruction, research, and public service; centrally supported core funds are 13991, 13992, 14500, and 19924.
• Compensation inflation (or compensation adjustments) — weighted-average salary and benefit increases calculated by CBO for each Financial Unit and applied to salary and benefit resource budgets.
• Salary action — any change to an employee's base salary.