PURDUE UNIVERSITY

BRAVO AWARD PROGRAM SUMMARY

SECTION 1: BRAVO PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

  1. Purpose

The Bravo Award Program is an after-the-fact discretionary award program designed to providerecognition and reward for substantial accomplishments achieved by employees that extend well beyond regular work responsibilities.All awards under this program are granted after-the-fact at the discretion of the University.

  1. Award Categories

Moving the University Forward:Accomplishments or contributions that transform or advance University objectives (i.e. initiatives that improve graduation rates, developing programs to measure student academic knowledge, enhancing the academic excellence of the University, improving student affordability, etc.);

Operational Excellence:Extraordinary effort during times of critical department need (e.g., contribution that clearly and significantly exceeds standard job requirements and impacts the accomplishment of important and critical business operational goals and deliverables) or extraordinary performance that far exceeds expected or required performance. Managers must be able to document specific achievements and/or measurable contributions to the unit’s business based upon the employee’s exceptional performance.

Innovation/Creativity:Innovative work or suggestions, well beyond standard job requirements, that significantly improve operational efficiencies, introduce a new or modified business practice or improve work process, workflow or customer service;

Fiscal Stewardship:Significant cost saving or cost avoidance realized beyond normally expected or established standards.

  1. Eligibility

A faculty/staff member must:

Have completed at least three months of service;

Have no outstanding disciplinary actions; and

Be in active employment status at the time the Bravo Award is paid;

The following classifications are not eligible to participate in the Bravo Award Program:

Executive Officers (A University officer reporting directly to the President, the Provost, the Executive Vice President Finance and Treasurer, Chancellors, Deans, Vice Provosts or a Vice President.)

Upper-level Management Positions (i.e., Department Heads, Associate/Assistant Vice Presidents, Associate/Assistant Provosts and Directors who report to a Vice President);

Student employees

Graduate staff

Temporary staff

Visiting faculty

Limited term lecturers

Postdoctoral,Resident, or Intern appointments

Employees who have a specific employment contractwith the University that links additional compensation to their performance

  1. Program Funding

The Bravo Award Program is supported by College/Unit operating funds. The maximum dollar amount that can be awarded over the Program Year is based upon the sum of CUL of employees in eligible categories, divided by 100, times 7.5%, multiplied by the maximum award amount ($1,000).

Human Resources will provide funding limits for each unit based on the funding formula applied to staffing data effective July 1 for each program year.

  1. Award Amounts

Award amounts can be $250, $500, $750 or $1,000, depending upon the scope and impact of the achievement. A faculty/staff member may not be rewarded twice for the same achievement. Individual faculty and staff are limited to two (2) Bravo Awards per fiscal year.

  1. Payment

Awards will be processed with the regular payroll and are considered taxable income in the year in which they are paid and are subject to applicable tax withholdings and W-2 reporting.

  1. University’s Sole Discretion

The Bravo Award Program is considered a discretionary award. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, for a payment to be considered discretionary, both the decision to make the payment and the determination of the payment amount must be in the employer's sole discretion. In addition, the University retains discretion regarding the payment of the award until the end, or near the end, of the period that it covers. Discretionary awards are not an entitlement and not anticipated or expected by an employee.Bravo Awards will not be eligible for grievance under any of the University’s formal grievance processes for faculty or staff.

  1. At Will Employment

Nothing in the Bravo Award Program shall confer upon any employee any right to continued employment or service with Purdue University for any specific duration or otherwise restrict in any way the rights of Purdue or any employee to terminate an eligible employee's employment at any time, for any reason, with or without cause.

  1. Notes

Any award under this program will not be used in calculating retirement or health benefits. The award is to be considered a one-time discretionary cash award and is not to be added to the base pay of the individual, or, if applicable, be credited toward overtime compensation.At any point in time, Purdue University reserves the right to unilaterally change, modify, and/or terminate any aspect of this program.

  1. Limitations

In order to comply with federal cost principles in OMB Circular A-21, it is important that the cost to

externalsponsors remain unchanged as a result of any incentive pay or recognition plan. In general, federal funds do not allow extra compensation to be directly charged. Thus, it is unallowable to directly charge incentive or special recognition pay to a federal grant.

Payments under this program may not relate in any way to student enrollments or awarding financial aid.Section 487(a)(20) of the Higher Education Act (HEA) prohibits the University from providing any commission, bonus, or other incentive payment based directly or indirectly on success in securing enrollments or financial aid to any person or entities engaged in any student recruiting or admission activities or in making decisions regarding the award of student financial assistance.These rules prohibit the University from providing incentive compensation for two specific activities:

1. Recruiting or admissions activities related to success in securing studentenrollments, and,

2. Making decisions regarding the awarding of Title IV HEA program funds inthe awarding financial aid.

These rules apply to all positions performing the restricted activities. Certain University departments will have a number of employees subject to this ban since these departments typically perform covered activities. However, these rules do not exclude employees in these departments from eligibility under the Bravo Award Program. The U.S. Department of Education has acknowledged qualitative factors may be considered in compensation actions applicable to covered employees so long as they are not related to an employee’s success in securing enrollments or awarding of financial aid.

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PURDUE UNIVERSITY

BRAVO AWARD PROGRAM SUMMARY

SECTION 2: UNIT-SPECIFIC BRAVO PROCESS

  1. Unit Name:[Insert Unit Name]
  1. Approving Official: [Insert Approving Official]
  1. Optional Approving Official: [Insert Approving Official]
  1. Org Units Covered: Center for Instructional Excellence

OrgUnit ID / OrgUnit Name

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