CSU Administration Provides Some Clarity on Decision to Prohibit Monetary Awards for Turner College Faculty

As regular visitors to Turner Business are aware, the Turner College was not permitted by CSU's central administration to offer $500 payments to the winners of the 2026 Turner College Faculty Awards. This decision also affected the end-of-year awards in the College of Education and Health Professions, the only other CSU academic college that had been offering monetary awards to its faculty. We are pleased to be able report herein that CSU Chief Human Resources Officer, Tamara Wade, has provided further clarification regarding the CSU administration's decision not to permit monetary awards at the college or departmental level in AY 2025-2026. According to Wade, this decision stemmed from a directive from the University System of Georgia's Chief Operating Officer following an audit that cited procedural concerns. Wade clarified that the Turner College faculty awards initiative is not out of alignment with USG policy; however, all college or departmental-level monetary award initiatives need to be vetted, approved by CSU Human Resources, and follow appropriate CSU channels for review as part of a centralized, institutional incentive compensation plan to be approved by the USG. This infrastructure has to be established by the Provost's Office, and yet it was not in place during AY 2025-2026. Moving forward, CSU Provost Dustin Anderson has affirmed that his office will establish an appropriate process for Turner College and COEHP (and any of other college who considers a faculty awards initiative) to provide CSU HR with their proposed award structures and criteria. CSU HR will then review this information to determine if the Colleges' award structures can be incorporated into CSU's centralized incentive compensation plan and then be submitted through the applicable USG approval processes. Until that USG approval is obtained, the monetary component of college awards cannot be paid. Based on our reading of the current situation, the Turner College and COEHP will almost certainly have to put together a multi-page report outlining the particulars of each of its processes for awarding faculty. These reports will be reviewed by the CSU Provost's Office, which will likely result in requests for revisions and resubmissions. Once concluded, the CSU Provost's Office will then coordinate with CSU Human Resources on a report to forward to the USG. Again, that process will likely require at least one revision. Once received, the USG will review the report, likely seeking clarifications and additional revisions, some of which may revert all the way back to the individual colleges. The incentives for expeditiousness within the two colleges differ from those in the Provost and HR Offices, and at the USG. Thus, it is unlikely that resolution of this issue will occur before May 2027, meaning that the monetary attachment to the awards may not return until May 2028.