In some situations, the use of an administrative supplement is an appropriate way to recognize a specific assignment for a faculty or exempt staff member. This mechanism allows a salary adjustment for increased or temporary duties to be tied to the specific administrative appointment or assignment. When the faculty or exempt staff member completes or relinquishes the appointment or assignment, the administrative supplement is removed.

For faculty members, administrative supplements are reserved for those holding administrative appointments as defined on the Faculty Administrative and Director Roles tab of the Purdue University Faculty Affairs website.

An administrative supplement may be considered in the following cases:

1. When a person assumes an administrative position with an increased level of responsibility but maintains the right or understanding that they can or will return to a prior position. This is more common with faculty, for example, where a faculty member becomes a department head, but can return to the faculty at some future time.
2. When a person assumes additional responsibilities over and above those of their current position. Often these are associated with an interim or temporary administrative appointment.

To maintain consistency across operating units, the following guidelines are offered to assist in determining an appropriate supplement amount. Administrative supplements should be reflective of the FTE assignment.

1. Appointments or assignments that can be related in scope to managing a small department/unit or less: Guideline = $3,000 – $10,000 annually.
2. Appointments or assignments that can be related in scope to managing an average to large department/unit: Guideline = $10,000 – $20,000 annually.
3. Appointments or assignments that can be related in scope to managing a college or school: Guideline = $20,000 – $35,000 annually.
4. Appointments or assignments that merit amounts outside of these guidelines require documented support from HR to accompany the request for approval by the Office of the Provost.

Administrative supplements must be approved by a recipient’s department head and the appropriate budget approver. Additionally for units under the provost, prior approval guidelines must also be followed when seeking approval.

Faculty and exempt staff who have been approved for an administrative supplement should be budgeted at their base salary, which is defined as the current salary less the applicable administrative supplement.

Approved new administrative supplement requests should follow the Request, Approve, and Process Administrative Supplements for Exempt Employees Business Process : https://www.purdue.edu/hr/paytimepractices/wagehourpro/exemptmin.php.

When an appointment is made that includes an approved administrative supplement, the offer letter should clearly state the amount of the supplement and the conditions for receiving it or termination of the supplement.

When an employment contract is required for an appointment that includes an administrative supplement, the contract should be prepared as follows:

1. The annual rate of pay reported on the contract should include the base salary plus the administrative supplement.
2. The “Attachments/Comments” section should state that the salary includes an administrative supplement of $xx,xxx.
3. The offer letter should be referenced on the contract and the offer letter should clearly note the amount of the administrative supplement.

Renewal administrative supplements should be processed through the annual merit process. Changes to existing administrative supplements should be recorded in Success Factors at the time of merit submission; increases should follow the approval and support procedures identified above.

A request for termination of an existing administrative supplement should be directed to the appropriate employment center based upon the individual’s appointment for processing.

Upon separation of employment from a fiscal year appointment, a Quota Payout Form is completed to pay the remaining vacation. Administrative supplements are not included when calculating a quota payout.

If current guidelines require effort reporting for a particular appointment, the combined amounts for base salary and administrative supplement for each position associated with the employee must be included for reporting purposes. Many staff members performing central administration functions are not currently required to complete an effort report.

An additional appointment must be created in SuccessFactors for faculty who are receiving an administrative supplement due to performing administrative duties. This will help ensure accurate FTE reporting. Please follow standard data entry procedures when entering administrative appointments for faculty. For descriptions of administrative and director roles refer to the Faculty Administrative and Director Roles tab on Purdue University Faculty Affairs website.

Administrative supplements are not included when calculating the overload limit for an employee.

As referenced above, administrative supplements are reviewed and approved as part of the budget process. Regardless of the source of funding, recurring or non-recurring, administrative supplements are included in the calculations for retirement fund contributions.

Questions concerning these procedures should be directed as follows:

West Lafayette:

1. Contact your business office for any budget related questions.
2. Contact hr@purdue.edu with any payroll related questions.
3. Contact your departmental business office or HR Business Partner with any additional questions.

Regional Campuses should direct all questions to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.