FAQs

Salary Adjustments for New Faculty and Staff


The performance of first-year faculty shall be evaluated by the budgetary unit chairperson prior to February 15 of the first contract year and will be based on the submission of a professional activities report with supporting materials on file. First-year faculty whose performance is evaluated by the chairperson as satisfactory will receive the minimum compensation adjustment set aside to recognize satisfactory performers at the beginning of their second contract year. Currently that amount is one-third of the pay plan package. First-year faculty whose performance is evaluated as unsatisfactory may appeal that decision to the Executive Committee of the unit.

Rationale: The policy is intended to provide a consistent approach across budget units, be fair for the new faculty member, efficient for the unit, and to help alleviate a long-standing problem of salary compression on this campus.

* Currently units use several different methods and formulas for determining pay plan increases for new faculty. This policy would eliminate the problem of new faculty being treated differently across units.

* Merit increases are intended to recognize contributions to teaching, research, and service during the previous year. New faculty by definition will have no previous record of contributions at this institution. Awarding one-third of the pay increase to new faculty who are evaluated as "satisfactory performers" will provide them with official and tangible recognition of their efforts. (Note: Some universities automatically exclude new faculty from consideration for any pay increase. The proposed policy is a compromise with that approach.)

* The policy is efficient because it meets the state requirements for a performance evaluation for any salary adjustment but it does not require a formal gathering of the Executive Committee.

* The policy is based on the assumption that salaries for new faculty are generally based on competitive market factors and CUPA* averages and tend to exacerbate our long-standing salary-compression problem-a problem that is further exacerbated when new faculty are granted significant merit increases their first year.

* The policy assumes that final candidates for positions would be informed of the policy - and it rationale - during the campus interview process so it would not come as a surprise to new faculty. A sentence referring to this policy will be included in all new appointment letters from the deans beginning with contracts covering the 2001-2002 academic year.

*CUPA = National Faculty Salary Survey conducted by the College and University Personnel
Association.

Approved by the Provost April 11, 2001
Revised by the Academic Affairs Team, June 25, 2001
Revised by Administrative Council, October 9, 2002

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