Dear USF community,
Over the last several months, I have had the honor of meeting many of you and hearing about all the ways you have worked to support our university through an intensely challenging period. It is clearer to me than ever that our people are at the heart of everything we do. It is our talented employees who power our trajectory as the nation’s fastest-rising university.
As such, I’d like to recognize and reward these efforts in tangible ways by implementing targeted 1.5% base salary increases from a discretionary pool for eligible out-of-unit employees.
In addition to base salary adjustments, individuals holding safety, cleaning and maintenance-related roles during the COVID-19 pandemic may be eligible to receive a one-time bonus of up to 2% paid from federal COVID relief funds. A rigorous process will be used to identify the specific roles and work that allowed our physical campuses to stay healthy and safe during the pandemic. Details and eligibility for the pay increases are here.
USF is also increasing its investment in employee development and career growth by expanding our tuition-waiver program to include employees’ family, partners and dependents. Currently, employees may be awarded a waiver of up to six credit hours of tuition-free courses per term. The expanded program would permit employees to transfer this tuition waiver to a spouse, partner or dependent child for the purpose of enrolling in eligible undergraduate courses. Program details are described here. We believe this benefit will increase our competitiveness in recruiting and retaining our most valuable assets, our people.
These increases in pay and benefits, along with our extended winter break, signify our deep appreciation after a long year of significant challenges and change.
These pay and benefit increases currently apply only to administrative and staff out-of-unit employees, which means any employees who are not represented by a union. We are committed to bargaining in good faith with USF employee unions to provide similar benefits to unionized employees.
For more information or questions, contact USF Human Resources.
Thank you for everything you do for our great university, and I wish you a restful and restorative holiday season.
Rhea F. Law
USF President