A faculty member is an individual who holds an academic appointment, either full-time or part-time, and performs a combination of teaching, research, clinical, and/or service functions. These appointments typically fall in three broad categories: tenured/tenure-track, renewable term, and temporary. Regular tenured/tenure-track and renewable term appointments will be twelve-month or nine-month faculty as outlined below.
Twelve-month faculty provide services year-round, during both the academic year and non-academic year periods. These employees are paid on the biweekly payroll schedule over a period of 12 months or 26 biweekly pay periods.
Nine-month faculty provide services during the academic year period (August 16 – May 15). These employees are paid on a biweekly payroll schedule. There are two payment options in which nine-month faculty can be paid: non-deferred pay (9-over-9 or 20 biweekly pay periods) and deferred pay (9-over-12 or 26 biweekly pay periods).
Non-Deferred Pay Option (20 biweekly pay periods or 9-over-9)
Nine-month faculty members have the option of receiving the nine months of pay over the 20 academic-year biweekly pay periods. With this option, salary is fully disbursed as it is earned during the nine-month appointment.
Deferred Pay Option (26 biweekly pay periods or 9-over-12)
Nine-month faculty members also have the option of receiving nine months of pay over a twelve-month period (26 biweekly pay periods). With the deferred pay (9-over-12 option), salary is not fully disbursed as it is earned. That is, a portion of the salary is held back or “deferred” from the payments made during the academic year period and paid during the non-academic year period. The term “deferred compensation” is used to distinguish between the amount earned versus the amount paid.
4.5 contracts are distributed over a single academic semester (Fall or Spring) and are paid through a total of 10 biweekly paychecks. Please see the academic payroll calendar for a complete list of pay days.
Nine-month faculty members in regular tenured/tenure-track and renewable contract appointments will have the option to elect their pay distribution cycle per the guidelines below. The faculty payment option is not available to faculty members in temporary appointments as they are paid in full during the terms of their appointment.
Faculty may only change their pay distribution at the start of each academic year. Changes must be submitted by the August 1st deadline.
For questions about the Faculty Payment Option form, please refer to this FAQ or email payroll@ou.edu.
Nine month faculty members in benefits eligible positions are eligible to participate in benefits throughout the entire calendar year. Participation is not limited to the nine month service period. Your payment election will have no impact on your benefits coverage, if enrolled, but will change the amount of premiums deducted from your paychecks:
Premiums for benefits deducted over the 20 paychecks will be higher to allow for the value of the full calendar year premium to be deducted over the academic year. The higher premiums collected during the academic year will be used to maintain employee benefit coverage during the non-academic year period.
Nine month faculty may receive summer salary during the non-academic pay periods for doing work outside of their regular contract. Summer salary is typically related to teaching or research beyond their regular contract and is paid via a supplemental payment.
For more information on summer salary paid on sponsored projects, please download the Summer Salary FAQ page from the Grants & Contracts Accounting site.
The maximum summer salary a 9-month faculty member can receive is one-third or 3-months of their annual academic year or contract salary.
To calculate the maximum total summer salary you will take one-third of the annual academic year salary (NPBR field in Job Data divided by three).
To calculate the maximum biweekly rate for summer salary take the figure above (maximum total for summer salary) and divide by six (there are six biweekly pay periods during the summer).
If you are calculating two months of summer salary, it would look like this:
Annual Academic Year Salary (NPBR): $150,000
1/3 of Annual Salary/Max Summer Salary: $50,000
Summer Biweekly Rate: $8333.33
Two Months of Summer Salary: $33,333.33
(Total summer salary/3 months)*2 months OR biweekly rate * 4
Two biweekly pay periods below = one month of summer salary. If the faculty member is to get half a month of summer salary for May, then you would take the summer biweekly rate and process on the pay period ending 5/30/25.
Please note that the faculty member’s summer biweekly rate is different than their academic year biweekly rate. So, please make sure you follow the instructions provided above to calculate the correct summer salary rate.
| Payroll Begin Date | Payroll End Date | Check Issue Date |
|---|---|---|
| 05/17/25 | 05/30/25 | 06/13/25 |
| 05/31/25 | 06/13/25 | 06/27/25 |
| 06/14/25 | 06/27/25 | 07/11/25 |
| 06/28/25 | 07/11/25 | 07/25/25 |
| 07/12/25 | 07/25/25 | 08/08/25 |
| 07/26/25 | 08/08/25 | 08/22/25 |
For questions about summer salary please contact the Director of Academic Personnel Records and Finance in the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost.
