Annual Discretionary Funds.

Each faculty member with a primary faculty appointment at SPH (above the rank of Instructor) has an individual discretionary account. Funds in these accounts can be used at the discretion of the faculty member to support their research, teaching, and service activities and to invest in their own professional growth and development.

Each year as of July 1, faculty members who are at or above 50% effort and who have a balance of less than $25,000 of discretionary funds will receive $2,000 deposited directly into their individual discretionary account. Typical costs charged to discretionary funds include salary and fringe for research assistants, postdoctoral fellows, or students; professional travel; laboratory and office supplies; publication fees; costs of equipment, books, journals, and electronic resources; and services purchased from research support facilities or other professional support services. All expenses from discretionary funds need to be fully documented with reference to the professional activity being conducted.

These accounts may also contain start-up funds and/or be supplemented by internal BU sources (e.g. awards etc). Expenses can be charged to the discretionary account via the department administrator at the request of the faculty member, and any unused funds will carry over from year to year. Individual discretionary accounts are closed upon the faculty member’s departure or retirement from SPH.

Please refer to Section VIII.3 Guidance on Use of Discretionary Funds for more details about the use, restrictions, and administration of discretionary accounts. The school can modify annual discretionary funds if necessitated by fiscal realities in any given year.