Through discussions with The University of Alabama Tax Office, Human Resources and Office of Academic Affairs, an action plan has been developed for a centralized and more formal salary deferral election process and record keeping for nine-month faculty.
Nine-month faculty in regular tenured/tenure-track and renewable contract appointments must select either a non-deferred pay distribution cycle (9-over-9) or deferred pay distribution cycle (9-over-12) through the Employee Tab of myBama by May 15 for the 2023-2024 academic year.
With a non-deferred pay distribution cycle (9-over-9), salary is fully disbursed as it is earned during the 9-month appointment. In a deferred pay distribution cycle (9-over-12), a portion of the salary is held back, or deferred, from the payments made during the academic year period, August 16-May 15, and paid during the non-academic year period, May 16-August 15.
If a faculty member does not elect a pay distribution cycle, the faculty member’s pay distribution cycle will default to the deferred pay distribution cycle (9-over-12). Changes to elections after the May 15 deadline will be applied to the next election deadline for the following academic year.
Per IRS guidelines, elections are irrevocable once the work period has started and cannot be changed throughout the year.
More information on the updates to the nine-month pay distribution election process can be found on the faculty pay website.