Northern Arizona University's salary plan to provide merit raises to most faculty and staff was approved Thursday by the Arizona Board of Regents.

To be eligible for the merit increase, staff and service professionals must have received performance ratings of 3 or higher and faculty members must be ranked satisfactory or higher. Employees will be considered eligible if they have worked for NAU for six months as of March 11.

The ranges for the merit increase are still being determined.

No salary notices will be sent because of the fast turn-around time necessary to implement the increase.

Details on eligibility and final percentages will be available at the Human Resources web site by early next week.

The merit increases will be calculated based on salaries prior to the $1,650 annual raise the state Legislature approved for all state employees, including eligible university employees. Both increases will be reflected on the March 31 paycheck, which will be the third paycheck of the month and will have a higher take-home amount because there are no voluntary deductions on that paycheck.

Faculty and staff who are participants in the Arizona State Retirement System will see an increase in the contribution rate from the current rate of 6.9 percent to 8.6 percent effective July 1. The effect of this change will be a slight decrease in net pay to participants and will be reflected in the July 7 paycheck. The contribution rate increase will affect both the employee contribution and the employer match. For details on the retirement rate increase, click here.