UT Board of Trustees Update

The UT Board of Trustees held its annual meeting last week in Knoxville.  Among the many important agenda items was approval of the FY2015 budget.

All IPS agency budgets were approved as submitted during our budget hearings. Among the good news for employees is that the state has agreed to fund the increase in insurance premiums that will go into effect January 1. Normally these increases are passed on to employees, but given that no cost of living adjustment was made in salaries this year, the state is providing funding for the increase.

Although COLA increases were not in the budget, the board did vote to allow the campuses and institutes to fund limited salary increases during the year. These include promotions (Robin Roberts appreciates this!), adjustments due to change in classification, and other increases approved in the Compensation Guidelines adopted by the Board.

The IPS senior leadership team will review budgets in early fall to determine if we have sufficient one-time funding for mid-year merit bonus payments. If we have funding available, then we will develop a plan to be approved by the president and CFO prior to implementing it.

Stay tuned for more news to come.