Faculty CompensationThree Approaches to

Disciplinary Differences

Presenters

Liz RudengaProvost, Trinity College, IL

Carla SandersonProvost, Union University, TN

Ken CarsonProvost, Geneva College, PA

No Disciplinary Differences

Liz RudengaTrinity Christian College

Why the current system?

Established a benchmark goal; not yet accomplished

Other priorities

Desire to recognize liberal arts disciplines rather than reward “professional” areas

Problems

Recognize terminal degree in salary scale; some think that is enough

Attracting and keeping faculty in some disciplines

Economic pressures and market influences

Mission or salary?

What does the future hold?

If reach benchmark…

Reality that the market impacts us … who comes and stays might make a difference

Watch what others do

Pay the Market

Carla SandersonUnion University

Staying Focused:Mission and Identity

Mission: To provide Christ-centered education that promotes excellence and character development in service to Church and society.

Identify: Excellence-driven, Christ-centered, people-focused, future-directed core values shape Union’s identity which prioritizes liberal arts based undergraduate education enhanced by professional and graduate programs.

Keeping the main thing main

Priority One: Liberal Arts Based Undergraduate Education◦Setting competitive salary goals

CCCU National Salary Study◦Regular overview of salary equity

By rank By gender By discipline

Priority Two: Professional and Graduate Programs as Enhancements◦Local and regional salary benchmarking

Educational institutions Marketplace

New Program Implementation

Faculty involvement and leadership in new program feasibility studies.

Two key feasibility study questions:◦Would this new program advance the mission?

◦What impact would this new program have on faculty morale in terms of salary inequity?

Firmly on the Fence

Ken CarsonGeneva College

Problems

There was no written policy or system

Some disciplinary differentiationAverage faculty pay had fallen

behind CCCU targetsPressure from business and

engineering

Solution

Create 6 faculty “categories” Benchmark Category 1 to 60th

percentile of CCCU (bolded on handout)

All other categories come off those three figures

Compensation became #1 strategic priority

Result

Relatively few faculty complaintsWhy?

◦System development included faculty input

◦Fairly significant increases even in down economy

◦Recognition of disciplinary differences but not “market domination”

Key Question?

Will Geneva be able to attract and retain good faculty, particularly in high pay disciplines?

To date◦Some evidence that the answer is yes◦But, faculty recruiting is very difficult

Audience Questions and Comments