Signature Course Funds

Signature course funds are normally received and distributed in late September, early October.  COE policy will allow you to use these funds to cover the cost of a TA, but that expenditure must come from these funds, including the cost of the TRB.  The structure of the UGS distributions and some possible uses for TAs and TRBs are illustrated below.  For questions, please contact COE-Finance@austin.utexas.edu.

Four types of funds:

1. Faculty Replacement Costs – These funds are transferred to your instruction budget (97 sub – NTT Reserves), and are used to support the costs of teaching the Signature Course.
   1. $12,500 regardless of course size.
   2. For smaller courses (18-25 students), these funds can be used to fund a masters-level TA.

1. Course Incentive costs – At the Chair’s discretion, these funds are transferred to the department COE Projects and/or the COE Projects of the faculty teaching the course.
   1. $3,000 regardless of course size.
   2. Upon request, the department will provide COE Finance the appropriate COE Projects account that receives these funds.
   3. These funds can also be used to support TA appointments (e.g. for the TRB) when there are insufficient funds from other SIG course distributions.

1. TA Costs – These funds are transferred to your instruction budget (99 sub – TA/AI Reserves) and may be used to support the costs of the TA teaching the signature course.
   1. These are only received for large-format (e.g. 50 - 150 student) courses.
      1. $9,500 for each 50 students
   2. These funds do not include TRB. Course incentive or instruction replacement costs can also be used to fund the TRB.
   3. Because Signature Course funds are received after TAs have been assigned in the fall semester, best practice is to process the tuition using the UGS account number. Once you receive the funds into your instruction budget, cancel the original tuition document and re-create it using your instruction account.

1. Supplemental Funds– These funds are not reflected in the signature course distribution worksheet. Currently, the faculty must apply for these funds and these CANNOT be used for TA support. 
   1. As with other funds received from outside the college, departments should notify COE Finance if the faculty is awarded these funds. COE Finance will request a new sub account on that faculty’s COE Projects account.  Once established, the department will tell UGS which account receives these funds.