Provost Russell Moore and Tiffany Beechy, Boulder Faculty Assembly outgoing chair, have accepted the Faculty Salary Procedures Working Group final report submitted on May 4.
In May 2022, the working group was formed to identify and recommend guiding principles and improvements to current campus, college and unit-level procedures that may contribute to faculty pay inequity. The working group met during the 2022–23 academic year to analyze issues pertaining to faculty annual merit review and salary distribution practices, held campus open forums and composed its report and recommendations.
The report is divided into sections covering hiring, retention, promotion, merit review practices, auditing practices and future work. It identifies 16 core issues contributing to salary inequity and provides associated recommendations for each, emphasizing overall the need for transparency in salary practices across the campus as well as the need to balance the two priorities of hiring and retention with salary equity. Feedback from faculty and various faculty stakeholder groups on the draft report published in March was incorporated into the final report.
As part of its work, the Faculty Salary Procedures Working Group (FSPWG) reviewed copies of annual merit evaluation and salary distribution procedures from academic units and a related audit. These items are now posted on the Faculty Affairs website. The provost and the BFA chair have agreed this material will be updated annually for the benefit of the campus.
Co-chairs of the FSPWG, Daria Kotys-Schwartz (teaching professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering) and Steve Vanderheiden (professor, Department of Political Science) commented that they hope this report will contribute to improving equity on campus and they look forward to ongoing efforts in this area.
“I’m grateful to the co-chairs of the working group for their detailed and focused work reflected in this final report,” Provost Russell Moore said. “I’d also like to thank Tiffany Beechy for her partnership, as well as that of the BFA’s, on this project. I look forward to having my leadership team continue this work with the BFA on our next steps.”
Beechy added her thanks to the working group for their work throughout the year and for submitting the final report.
“Salary equity for our faculty must be an ongoing discussion, and I’m gratified that the provost and the BFA have committed to this effort,” Beechy said.
Moore and Beechy have agreed to convene a Phase 2 working group in academic year 2023–24 charged with implementing the FSPWG recommendations.
