February 28, 2008
TO: Deans, Directors, and Department Chairs
FROM: Patrick V. Farell, Provost
RE: 2007–08 Salary Equity Reviews
Salary Equity Review Policy
Setting salaries and establishing competitive and equitable compensation packages for faculty has become increasingly challenging. There are strong pressures and market forces that drive decisions and these market forces tend to create inequities in faculty compensation. In part to balance market forces, UW–Madison has had salary equity review policies in place for many years.
The policy mandates periodic review of faculty salaries to assess whether individuals are appropriately and equitably paid in comparison with peers at UW–Madison. In addition, good practice suggests that, as part of your annual merit exercise, you consider salary equity in relation to career merit. We urge you, once a year, to conduct an across the board comparison of all departmental salaries to protect against inequities that may emerge as a result of compression or other market factors.
If salary adjustments are considered appropriate, they must be funded using existing funding sources: from the annual merit pool (which comes from campus funds); via regular promotion base adjustment (which comes from the unit’s continuing base budget); and/or as a base adjustment for “individual equity” under existing rules (which comes from the unit’s continuing base budget). This list is not exhaustive: some units have found other sources of funds for equity adjustments.
Academic units may use any equitable process for across the board review of salaries. However, if a faculty member is not satisfied with the outcome of a review under procedures established by a local unit, then the faculty member is entitled to a review under the “three comparisons” method specified in the policy at www.provost.wisc.edu/salaryequitypolicy.html.
As per FPP 8.15, a faculty member who believes that he/she has been dealt with unfairly should first seek a mutually satisfactory resolution of the problem at the departmental level and then at the school or college level. If a mutually satisfactory resolution cannot be found, the faculty member may bring the matter to the attention of the University Committee. Deans must review all departmental salary equity decisions. This year, the Provost’s Office will be studying the implementation of the Salary Equity Review process across campus.
Supporting Information
Information sources have been designed to assist in salary equity reviews. Tabulations and scatter-plots of faculty salary data by department, gender, rank, and years since degree for the most recent year available are available; updated information is available each year in February.
Please keep in mind that these tables and plots should be used only as a starting point for assessing whether an individual’s salary is appropriately related to career merit. For example, an individual whose salary is about average (near a regression line for salary vs. time since degree) may be underpaid on the basis of career merit relative to his or her peers if he or she is an exceptional performer. An individual whose salary is below average may or may not be paid appropriately relative to career accomplishments.
Deans, directors, department chairs, and faculty may review “UW–Madison Faculty Salary Data by Gender, Rank, and Years since Degree” in both table and scatter plot form for each academic unit (school or department). These data are available to you through the following web site: https://apa.wisc.edu/FacultySalary/scatterplots_intro.html. This information is password protected and may be accessed only from a computer with an on-campus IP address. The password will be sent in a separate email message.
PRIVACY NOTICE: Certain elements of these data are collected from employees on the condition that the data will be used only for limited affirmative action and related University purposes. Therefore, your access is given with the understanding and agreement that you will not disclose the information to others who do not themselves have access.
Further Information and Questions
Questions may be directed to Laurie Beth Clark, Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff (lbclark@wisc.edu, 262-5246). Please contact Margaret Harrigan (harrigan@vc.wisc.edu or 263-7141) if you have questions about the accuracy of the data or if you need the password.