2026 Merit Process Begins May 4

With staff performance reviews wrapping up, it is time to move into the next step, staff merit.

Process

The merit process will begin on Monday, May 4. This is an opportunity to recognize the work your team has done over the past year, so we encourage you to differentiate increases based on individual performance.

Merit worksheets will be assigned to all managers at the university and are based on the reporting hierarchy within Ignite.  Each manager will receive a worksheet that includes their direct reports as well as any indirect reports on their team. Because of this, it is important that reporting lines in Ignite are up to date.

*Helpful hint, if you had issues with seeing all the performance reviews for your employees, the hierarchy within Ignite may be incorrect.

The overall merit pool is 3%. Some areas may receive additional guidance from their leadership regarding holdbacks. If your leadership has communicated a holdback percentage, please follow those instructions as you allocate merit to your team.

Eligibility

All staff hired as of May 1 and are NOT classified as temporary within Ignite, will be included in the merit worksheets.

Blackout Period

As in prior years, there will be a blackout period from May 1 through August 1. During this time, changes to staff pay or position will not be approved. Because merit is based on a specific point in time, any staff changes may result in inaccuracies in the merit worksheets. These discrepancies can lead to incorrect merit calculations and pay change statements.

If there are internal transfers during the blackout period, the merit dollar amount from the old position will be added to the new salary. Please keep this in mind and work with your assigned HRC in determining the amount to offer internal candidates.

Additional Resources

For additional resources including a job aid on how to navigate the system, please refer to the Compensation page on the HR website.