Senate Assembly to draft faculty compensation policy

In an attempt to set guidelines for faculty's salaries and benefits, some members of the faculty are trying to draft a standard compensation policy for the first time ever.

The elaborate task is in the hands of the Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty. The committee works under the Senate Assembly, which is the central body for faculty governance.

CESF also ranked where the University stands among its peers in professors' salaries. For full professorships, the University ranked 12th among other top universities in faculty pay.

"There haven't been any guidelines," said CESF Chair Thomas Dunn. "All money is merit money."

As the system is currently constructed, the faculty's salaries are decided annually and are adjusted only on the basis of merit, not cost of living.

"It's difficult to construct a blueprint for a salary policy," said Dunn, who is also a chemistry professor and the former chair of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs.

CESF has not been able to agree on a draft nor pass it through committee - let alone the Senate Assembly, the University administration and the Board of Regents, all bodies that would have to approve the policy before implementation.

"We're a long way off," said CESF member Morton Brown, a professor of biostatistics in the School of Public Health. "It's a long way from achieving consensus among the committee."

Dunn said that "CESF struggled with the thing last year," and CESF member Leigh Woods said there is still a lot of work to be done.

"There are huge differences," Woods said. "There are philosophical differences in how salaries should be set."

Dunn said setting policies and guidelines for salaries and benefits would continue to let the University "recruit the best" professors and instructors, although he acknowledged the University uses other avenues to attract top researchers and professors.

"It isn't necessary to compete (with top schools) in financial terms," said Dunn, adding that some professionals come to teach at the University because of its numerous offerings, such as a constant income and a flexible budget. "They're concerned with the opportunity and the kinds of people they meet at a public university."

Recent numbers released in CESF's annual report show that the University appears to be competing financially with other top institutions.

The report shows that the average academic year total compensation for a full professor at the University was $107,300, whereas the highest average was Harvard University, at $136,800. The average pay for associate and assistant professors was $79,700 and $65,200, respectively. The highest salaries for associate professor are at MIT, at $86,800. The University of Pennsylvania offers top pay for assistant professors at $76,600.

But some feel the numbers don't state the truth.

"The numbers are really misleading," Woods said. Woods, a theatre professor, said the Medical School and the School of Dentistry numbers used in computing total compensation are distorted. According to CESF's annual report, the two schools classify their professorships differently than other selected universities, which overstates the overall average.

Paul Courant, economics professor and associate provost for academic and budgetary affairs, said the CESF numbers looked correct, but said sampling and distribution errors might occur. For example, a world-famous professor might receive a generous compensation package, which would greatly distort the overall average, Courant said.

"You have to be careful where there are small numbers," Courant said.

Brown said the averages must be followed up to mean anything.

"If they are watched over a long period of time, they will be useful," Brown said.

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