From the Dean: Market-based salary adjustments

The University was approved to provide market-based salary adjustments for both staff and faculty to support recruitment and retention, address market alignment and salary compression, and respond to documented retention needs. Per instructions from University Human Resources, those receiving an adjustment were notified yesterday. No notifications will be issued to those who did not receive an adjustment. The purpose of this message is to provide transparency about the parameters and processes for determining these salary adjustments.

This market-based salary adjustment is intended to address differences between an employee’s current salary and relevant market conditions. It is not a merit increase or across-the-board salary increase. Performance was not a factor in the process of determining who received an adjustment or the amount of the adjustment.

To be eligible, an employee must meet all of the following requirements:

• Hold a regular, fully benefits-eligible position with at least 30 standard hours
• Have been in their current role for at least six months
• Have a completed performance evaluation for the most recent evaluation cycle
  • Staff must have an average performance rating of 2.5 or higher
  • Faculty must have an overall performance rating of 3 or higher
• Have no active investigation, pending performance or disciplinary issue, or performance improvement plan

Meeting these requirements establishes eligibility; it does not guarantee a salary adjustment.

Parameters provided for these salary adjustments included:

• Individual adjustment: 2%-6%
• Expected unit/institutional average: 3%-3.5%
• Available funding pool: Up to 2.5%
• Maximum participation: Up to 75% of faculty and 75% of staff
• Across-the-board increases: Not permitted

The faculty and staff funding pools were separate. Funds or participation percentages could not be shifted between populations.

For staff, University Human Resources provided the College with their analysis of market adjustments based on positions across campus and market data. The analysis involved looking at the midpoint for the BCAT and the number of years of service in the role. We (Andy Garber and I) then did an additional internal analysis of staff salaries in the College and made adjustments to HR’s initial recommendations using College-level data.

For faculty, no analysis was done by UHR. We (again, Andy Garber and I) used a compression analysis, focused on track, rank, and years in rank (clustering several years in rank where needed to create a large enough group for meaningful comparison). An internal equity ratio calculated from those data was the primary determining factor in the salary adjustments.

All recommendations were submitted to HR for validation and subsequent approval by the University System of Georgia.

I recognize that compensation is deeply important to our faculty and staff and that salary decisions are personal and consequential. I am committed to implementing this process as thoughtfully, consistently, and transparently as possible while operating within the University’s requirements.