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The university would like to extend immense gratitude to all of you for your extraordinary contribution to the critical Compensation Philosophy project. Once again, the university places on full display its ability to align behind a common vision with successful action. The university thanks you for your collective effort, and for making history, by arriving as expeditiously as possible at the implementation phase for this critical faculty, staff, and administrators鈥� compensation project, to study the university鈥檚 classification and compensation of its faculty, staff, and administrators.

As you may be aware, and for the first time in the history of the university, compensation equity for faculty, staff, and administrators was catapulted to the very top of the institution鈥檚 strategic priorities, after feedback was sought from all corners of the university. As quickly as possible, the Compensation Philosophy project was launched, and through the university鈥檚 newly formed Compensation Philosophy Committee, the voices of all university constituents were empowered.

Request for Proposals (RFPs) were sought, and the consulting group McKnight and Associates selected. Highly valued input from our five branches of governance, and from the Board of Trustees, was gleaned via the Compensation Philosophy Committee for the specific purpose to study the university鈥檚 classification and compensation of its faculty, staff, and administrators.

The goal of the project was clearly defined to yield the development and implementation of salary ranges. These salary ranges would then enable the administration of salaries that are competitive, among other institutions and employers, while concurrently internally aligning with the resources of the university.

As you may recall, in mid-December, we provided an update related to the classification and compensation study of faculty, staff, and administrators. The goals of the project, as outlined at that time, have not changed, and are intended to develop and implement salary ranges to enable the administration of competitive salaries.

The project is progressing well; however, different timelines apply for faculty, and staff and administrator groups. Specifically, the timeline for staff and administrators first requires the development of standard job classification positions before salaries can be effectively compared with other area employers.

The faculty compensation study, in contrast, does not require a job classification phase, so the McKnight compensation consultants were able to proceed with a faculty market study as soon as benchmark comparisons were developed. The university鈥檚 Executive Leadership has just recently been provided data from the consultant team, has reviewed these data, including the initial findings, and is expeditiously proceeding forward with the first phase of implementation, within the confines of available budgeted institutional resources.

Phase 1: Immediate Adjustments

In the first phase of implementation of salary adjustments, we will focus on the delivery of full-time faculty immediate salary adjustments and will begin with those faculty whose current salaries are furthest away from the benchmarks, with the clear goal to bring into alignment compensation, based on respective rank, status, and academic disciplines. The effective date of this immediate salary adjustment will begin on February 3rd, 2025, and will be reflected in paychecks issued on February 14th, 2025. All faculty who are subject to the Phase 1 implementation will receive official communication from the Office of Human Resources detailing the adjustment.

Phase 2: Establishing a Salary Schedule

The second phase of implementation of salary adjustments will involve the development of comprehensive standardized salary schedules. The salary schedules will provide a structured framework for faculty compensation, aligning salaries with market comparisons, based on respective rank, status, academic discipline, and other relevant factors and confounding variables. Once established, the salary adjustment schedule will serve as a consistent and sustainable foundation for future compensation planning and adjustments. The salary adjustment schedules will be developed by June 2025 and will also be implemented in phases. Further implementation details on this phase will be shared in the coming months.

The classification and compensation study for staff and administrators is progressing in parallel with the faculty study. As soon as the market study phase for staff and administrators is completed, the Executive team will relay the salary adjustments that are required in the coming fiscal year to enhance our overall compensation structure for staff and administrators.

We consider compensation to be of paramount importance to the university. Please know that we are approaching this process with humanism, care, and thoughtfulness to ensure that it is fair and aligned with our shared goals of excellence, and university ethos.

Thank you for your patience and support as we continue this important work together. We will provide additional updates, real-time, as we proceed forward through these phases.

A heartfelt, 鈥淭hank you鈥� for all that you do for our students, and for the university as a whole.

Robin Farias-Eisner, MD, PhD, MBA
President

Paula M. Crone, DO
Provost & Chief Academic Officer

Joshua McFarlen, CPA, CA, MPAcc
Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer

Cheng Yu Hou
Chief Human Resources Officer