Vacancy Savings Plan

This guide will cover:

• Scope
• Salary Savings Capture Methodology
• Administration and Tracking
• Exception and Replenishment Process
  • TD Request Process
• Timing
• Use of Captured Vacancy Savings
• Reporting

 

Executive Summary:

The Board of Trustees approved a salary vacancy savings plan at their July 2026 meeting. Under this plan, central administration will retain salary savings generated by vacant positions within Fund Class 105 unrestricted operating budgets. The objective of this plan is to improve institutional financial stewardship, create a consistent university-wide approach to vacancy savings, and provide additional resources to address strategic priorities and emerging institutional needs, when appropriate.

This plan establishes a standardized methodology for capturing salary savings while maintaining a mechanism for colleges and divisions to request access to a portion or all of the retained funds when operational needs are justified.

 

Scope

This plan applies to:

• All budgeted, full-time benefited positions that are partially or fully funded through Fund Class 105 unrestricted operating budgets.
• Academic departments in colleges.
• Non-academic units in divisions supported by Fund Class 105 resources.
• Faculty, staff, and administrative positions.
• Fiscal year, academic year, and alternative calendar appointments
• Entity 10

 

This plan does not apply to:

• Grant funds.
• Foundation funds.
• Designated operating funds.
• Part-time temporary positions, student employees, or other non-benefited positions
• Non-base salary payroll elements
• Non-entity 10

 

Salary Savings Capture Methodology

Effective July 1, 2026, salary savings associated with vacant positions, funded through Fund Class 105 (unrestricted operating), will be retained within the General University Organization’s operating budget.

For each vacant position:

• One-twelfth (1/12) of the position's annual budgeted salary will be captured for each full month when the position remains vacant.
• Salary savings capture will begin on the first day of the month following the employee's separation date. For example, if a position is vacated on September 12 and remains vacant through October, the one-twelfth capture will begin in October.
• The salary savings capture will cease in the month prior to the month in which the employee starts. Example: The position is vacant in July and filled by an employee with a start date of August 10^th. Vacancy savings captured will apply only to the month of July.
• Associated budgeted fringe benefits will be captured and deposited into the Central Fringe Benefit Reserve FC_110 FS_005003. Fringe vacancy funds will not be returned to organizations once captured.

 

Administration and Tracking

The Division of Budget & Finance will:

1. Monitor all Fund Class 105 budgeted positions on a monthly basis to identify vacant positions and applicable vacancy dates.
2. Calculate the monthly salary savings capture amount.
3. A journal entry will be posted identifying the appropriate amount from the budgeted organization to the General University Organization using a new fund source number that will only be used for this purpose.
4. Annually, remove inactive position numbers in the human resource records system.
5. Maintain records documenting:
   • Position number.
   • Position title.
   • Organizational unit.
   • Vacancy start date.
   • Budgeted salary amount.
   • Monthly and cumulative salary savings captured.
   • Any approved exceptions or replenishments.

 

Exception and Replenishment Process

Recognizing that vacancies create operational challenges and unanticipated expenses, an exception process has been established through a TeamDynamix workflow to provide transparency and track all requests and subsequent actions.

TeamDynamix ticket requests should be submitted at the Dean/Vice President level, requesting replenishment of all or a portion of captured salary savings by organization number.

 

Return of Salary Vacancy Funds Request

Select "Request Service"

Requests require the following information:

• Academic vs. non-academic area.
• Continuity of services justification.
• Position number(s) and amounts requested. Each request may submit up to ten position numbers.

Examples of appropriate requests may include:

• Self-Sustaining Fund Class 105 positions (Costing tied to Tuition and Fee Revenue, Sales of Goods and Services, interdepartmental transfer revenue)
• Temporary staffing support.
• Overtime costs resulting from the vacancy.
• Contracted services necessary to maintain operations.
• Position recruitment expenses.
• Critical student-facing services.
• Accreditation or compliance-related activities.
• Short-term operational needs directly resulting from the vacancy.

 

Requests will be submitted by the Vice President or Dean and initially reviewed by the Budget Office. The Provost will make final recommendations for academic units, and the Vice President of Budget & Finance, in consultation with the Executive Vice President, will make final recommendations for non-academic units.

Vice President/Dean-approved requests may result in the full or partial restoration of captured salary savings, or in the denial of the request. Replenishment will be funded from the centrally retained vacancy savings pool.

 

Timing

No later than the 10^th of the month, the previous month’s position vacancy report will be available for campus review. This report can be on the restricted financial dashboard.

Vice President or Dean exception requests must be submitted no later than the 20^th of the month to allow for review.

 

Use of Captured Vacancy Savings

Salary savings retained through this process may be used to support institutional priorities such as the following:

• One-time strategic investments approved by university leadership and, when appropriate, the Board of Trustees.
• Cover revenue shortfalls
• Deferred maintenance needs.
• Technology investments
• Strategic enrollment initiatives.
• Student success and retention programs.
• Compensation initiatives.
• Institutional risk management activities.

Because vacancy savings are inherently non-recurring, these funds should generally be used for one-time expenditures rather than ongoing commitments.

 

Reporting

Administration will provide regular reporting to the Board of Trustees’ Budget Committee that includes, but is not limited to:

• Total vacancy savings captured.
• Vacancy savings captured by division and college.
• Number and value of approved replenishment requests.
• Number and value of denied requests.
• Uses of retained vacancy savings.
• Net financial impact to the General University Operating Budget.

This reporting will promote transparency and enable the Board to evaluate the program's effectiveness.