Most Lincoln University employees can expect $1,250 to be added to their January paycheck.
The LU Board of Curators gave final approval for the one-time "retention payment" at a special meeting Thursday afternoon.
The payment is limited to employees who make less than $100,000 a year, were employed as of May 31 and are still employed by the university as of Dec. 31 of this year. About 310 of the university's 365 employees will receive it, according to University President John Moseley.
The payment is not going to Moseley or members of the President's Advisory Council.
"We do hope that this is a way for all of us, the board and the administration, to show our faculty and staff that we do appreciate what it is that they do each day to serve this institution and the students," Moseley said.
Curators on the board's budget and finance committee began considering the payment last week. It will cost the university $425,000, which has already been budgeted.
Moseley said last week he was hoping to have the payment to employees by Jan. 15, but he's since learned that route would mean employees paid at the end of the month would be taxed at a higher rate. Sending a standalone check would also result in higher tax rates, he said.
"It's in their benefit to receive the payment at the end of January," Moseley said. "With passing of this, each employee will get the additional retention payment in their normal January check."
Moseley said Lincoln is following the beat of Missouri State University, which gave full-time employees a $1,000 retention payment in addition to salary raises this year.
"We expect that we're within the rules of what the state allows us to do with the retention payment," he said.
Moseley said the payment is meant to offer employees some financial relief as the university conducts a salary survey.
The salary survey, which measures how the salaries at Lincoln stack up against those at similar institutions, has taken months and likely won't be complete until spring, Moseley said.
He expects the survey to reveal Lincoln is paying some employees under market value compared to their peers at other like-sized universities.
Moseley and the Board of Curators have said the retention payment is not intended to replace the potential salary adjustments resulting from the survey.
"I think we all understand that the university had hoped to have the salary survey completed and have raises in the hands of many of the employees by now," said Curator Richard Popp, chair of the board's budget and finance committee. "Since that has taken longer than expected, this is the best we can (do) for now until we get that finished."
In other business Thursday, the Board of Curators approved the creation of a new bachelor of science in agriculture education degree, revised the university's policies to exclude transfer credits from for-profit institutions, reformed its officer-nominating committee to conform with board bylaws (removing Popp from the committee) and approved its final audit report.
The transfer policy change is a result of the university registrar approaching the Faculty Senate. No public university in Missouri accepts for-profit college credit because of concerns about the quality of education they provide, Faculty Senate President Matthew McGraw said.
Lincoln's independent auditors delivered the university a clean audit for the last fiscal year.
Kyle Miller, representing the auditing firm Forvis, said the significant turnover in the university's financial staff raised concerns, but Lincoln's financial statements were completed properly.
"I think it's cause for a party," Curator Richard Callahan said.