At the University of Wisconsin-Madison soft money is the term
used to refer to funding that is not part of the University's
state-supported base budget. If your position is on soft money,
it is probably funded through grants - usually from state,
federal, or private sources. These grant monies are allocated for
a specific program or project (e.g., research study) for a specified
period of time. Funding agencies periodically review programs and
may renew funding. In the case of research projects, when the study
is completed, the funds stop, and staff may be nonrenewed or laid
off unless other sources of funding are secured.
Other
types of soft money may include generated program revenues and flexible
internal monies such as those funding credit outreach timetable
courses. While some of the soft money information on these web pages
apply specifically to grant-funded positions, there is also information
that applies to any type of soft-money position.
There are many employees in the School of Education in positions
funded on soft money. The first source of information for every
employee on soft money should be the supervisor, who can provide
details about the funding situation for a specific position. The
School of Education Committee on Academic Staff Issues created
these web pages to provide employees on soft money with general
information, to encourage them to do everything they can to understand
the specifics of their own funding situation, and to share ideas
and perspectives from some of their SoE colleagues who have worked
in soft money positions for a number of years.