I. Overview

Purpose: This article provides College of Liberal Arts (COLA)-specific information about Soft Money distribution and use and includes the COLA Soft Money Instructional Funds Allocation Guidelines.

 Effective: AY 2024-25

 Revised: AY 2026-27

 Scope: This policy applies to departments and units that hire Professional-Track Faculty, AI/TA, and/or Undergraduate Graders.

II. Relevant Definitions

Soft Money Instructional Funds are one-time funds for instructional support purposes, primarily used to hire Professional-Track Faculty (PTF), AI/TA, and/or Undergraduate Graders. These funds are allocated to units each year and funded via the Dean’s Office.

The College uses College of Liberal Arts Strategic Planning (CLASP) FileMaker database to display PTF, AI/TA, Signature Course, and summer instructional allocations approved for the unit. CLASP is also used for recording faculty leaves. Although this data is constantly being updated throughout the year, it provides the opportunity to see a snapshot of future commitments made to the unit.

If a department or unit would like to review their current balances, this can be accessed via Tableau. Note: authorization is limited to chairs, department managers, and directors as applicable.

III. Guidelines

• Soft Money Instructional Funds are for instructional purposes only. These funds cannot be used for anything other than Professional Track Faculty (PTF) instruction, Assistant Instructor/Teaching Assistant (AI/TA) teaching assignments, and/or Undergraduate Graders. Units cannot use Soft Money Instructional Funds to appoint Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs), to fund fellowships, or to appoint other non-instructional support positions.

• Units may be allowed to use Soft Money AI/TA funds toward Undergraduate Graders and/or to hire non-COLA graduate students. To hire Undergraduate Graders, Chairs or Directors must notify the Associate Deans for Graduate Education and Academic & Faculty Affairs prior to making any funding commitments to ensure appropriate accounts are used, aligning with institutional policies. To hire a non-COLA graduate student in any capacity, units must have approval from the Associate Dean for Graduate Education.

• PTF and AI/TAs funded on grants, endowments, or other external resources are not included in a unit’s COLA-funded allocations but will continue to be funded via those other resources if available.

• “Conditional Recurring” commitments such as spousal commitments are listed as separate line items from a unit’s base allocations within CLASP. These commitments are funded per individual agreements approved by the Dean’s Office, subject to annual review.

• COLA funds actual expenditures up to a unit’s approved allocation. Any unspent funds are returned to the Dean’s Office at the end of the fiscal year.

• Units that spend above their allocation will need to use other internal or departmental resources, including Signature Course reserves, to fund the additional expenditures. Units should not expect to receive additional COLA funds to cover overspending. Future allocations may be reduced as needed if deficits occur.

• Units with a PhD graduate student program now receive a Graduate Cohort AI/TA allocation that includes funding for AI/TA instructional appointments as well as fellowships. This Cohort allocation replaces the unit’s previous Soft Money AI/TA allocation. Note: units are not allowed to transfer funds between Graduate Cohort AI/TA accounts and regular Soft Money AI/TA accounts or Soft Money PTF accounts.

• Units that do not have a PhD graduate student program but do have a recurring AI/TA instructional allocation will continue to receive their regular Soft Money AI/TA allocation.

IV. Signature Courses

• COLA Finance will transfer Signature Course funds each academic year based on the home department of the instructor of record: currently $10,000 faculty replacement cost per course.

• Signature Course funds are intended for instructional use to support a unit’s PTF and AI/TA instructional needs. Units may also apply to use funds for graduate student support if needed. Chairs or Directors must submit a proposal to the Associate Dean for Academic & Faculty Affairs (and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, as appropriate) for approval prior to making any funding commitments. Signature Course balances may accumulate, up to $150,000. Units may not request additional instructional funds as a result of transferring Signature Course balances.

• Signature Course TA assignments are funded via COLA Signature Course funds and/or Graduate Cohort AI/TA funds. Units will appoint TAs on their regular Soft Money AI/TA account. The cost of each appointment is based on one semester of TA funding (for large-format courses only; one TA for every 50 students), detailed in Table 1.

Table 1.

V. AI/TA Assignment Requirements

• AIs and TAs must be appointed at a minimum of 20 hours (50%) per course. Any exceptions must be pre-approved by the Associate Dean for Graduate Education.

• Units should prioritize COLA graduate students for TA positions; however, if qualified COLA students are not available, units may employ qualified COLA undergraduate students or request approval to hire qualified non-COLA graduate students. Note: units may not use Graduate Cohort allocations to employ non-COLA students.

• Units should refer to Student Employment Guidelines provided by COLA HR for current details on AI and TA rates. Information is available on the upcoming semester student employment guidance here.

• Units should adhere to the Closing Limit and Enrollment minimum requirements for TA assignments detailed in Table 2.

Table 2.

• Units that do not follow these guidelines may receive reduced funding in future years.

• Units must report all AI and TA assignments in FaSET each fall and spring semester. More on this process can be found here. 

• Reminder: AI/TA assignments for students in their seventh year or beyond must be pre-approved by the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies.

Table 3.

List of approved exceptions to be posted soon.

VI. Contact Information

CLASP access or queries: David Macha

Graduate Student Policies and Procedures: Jessica Luhn

General: Jennifer Nailos