Chancellor convenes faculty salary task force to join other compensation efforts

As part of the university’s overall compensation strategy, two new groups are taking on improving the salaries of tenured and tenure-track faculty and ensuring unit-level approaches to salaries for faculty are in line with state law and previous university recommendations. 

The chancellor has appointed the first of the two groups, the Faculty Salary Task Force, which will focus on the following actions and assessments to improve salaries: 

• Market and cost of living comparison.
• Promotion and tenure raises.
• Retention offer processes.
• Faculty actions funding in the budget model.
• Total compensation vs. salary compensation.
• Teaching loads.
• College/department planning tools.
• Compensation levers.
• The work of the Faculty Salary Procedures Working Group. 

The Faculty Salary Task Force is co-chaired by Ann Schmiesing, interim vice chancellor for strategic initiatives, and Shelly Miller, outgoing Boulder Faculty Assembly chair and professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Schmiesing announced at the final chairs and directors meeting on Friday, May 2, that the task force will make recommendations regarding compensation enhancement options and strategies, with an initial focus on teaching professors and tenure-track/tenured faculty. 

Schmiesing said the committee’s work is not meant to recreate or duplicate existing efforts, but to enable alignment and coordination of those efforts within a larger umbrella. Its recommendations will align with CU Boulder’s compensation philosophy and with the work of the Faculty Salary Procedures Working Group. 

Schmiesing said the task force has representation from CU Boulder’s colleges and schools and teaching professor and tenure-track/tenured ranks, as well as representation from Human Resources, Faculty Affairs and the Provost’s Office staff “who have contributed to compensation strategy work.” 

Schmiesing said the task force will deliver its report to the chancellor in October.

Simultaneous and complementary to the work of the task force, Fernando Rosario-Ortiz, interim vice chancellor for academic resource management (also a member of the Faculty Salary Task Force), is overseeing additional faculty compensation initiatives. The Provost’s Office has hired a group of faculty fellows whose work is focused on advancing recommendations from the Faculty Salary Procedures Working group. The fellows are Derek Briggs (Education), Steven Vanderheiden (Political Science), and Jerry Jacka (Anthropology).

Rosario-Ortiz said the main tasks for this work will be to:  

• Update the campus salary equity grievance policy​.
• Collaborate with schools and colleges to review and align unit governance documents with campus policies.
  • Conduct (and support) analysis of compensation within units.
  • Develop best practices and recommend improvements to unit level merit procedures across CU Boulder, drawing on the Faculty Salary Procedures Working Group report.
  • Provide support and resources, including training sessions for academic leaders on implementing unit level procedures.
  • Promote transparency regarding merit processes and salaries.

Schmiesing said the combined efforts will complement other actions directed toward staff, graduate students and undergraduate student employees. 

“A good example of these actions is the approval by Chancellor Schwartz of the student health insurance plan, which will now have an option for family coverage—something our graduate students have been asking for,” Schmiesing said.