Salary Equity Task Force Update to the Faculty Senate

-K. Sahami, M. Mocanasu and M. KettererApril 23rd 2014

Salary Equity Task Force• Created Fall of 2013• Charged with looking at where MSU Denver salaries– stand with respect to peer institutions– stand with respect to stated goals– Stand relative to cost of living norms

FS Salary Equity Task Force members:

– Dr. Cynthia Church (Biology)– Sen. Juan Dempere (Finance)– Sen. Adam Graves (Philosophy)– Sen. Clare Hay (AES)– Dr. Michael Ketterer (Chemistry, Chair)– Sen. Jeff London (CJC, CFAC)– Dr. Jean Lundy (CAS)– Sen. Mona Mocansu (Mathematics)– Dr. Nhu Nguyen (HPS)– Sen. Lisa Ortiz (Technical Communication)– Sen. Julie Reyes (SOAN)– Sen. Sheila Rucki (Political Science)– Sen. Kamran Sahami (Physics)– Prof. Cynthia Vannucci (HTL)– Sen. Jacob Welch (Theater)

Background• Stated Goal for our faculty salaries to be within 15%

of mean colleagues salaries at peer institutions• Salaries floor systematically set 85% of CUPA mean

salary

• ISSUE: WITHIN vs. OF

Gaussian (normal) Distribution

Gaussian (normal) Distribution

• Good approximation to 15% clustering around mean

• Being within 15% of mean value

• What we do is reduce by 15% of the mean (Salary floor at 85% of X)

Example: Heights of US Middle Aged Males (2010)

• Average American male 5’9.8’’ –(5’10”)• Standard Deviation 2.8” –( 3”)

Example: Heights of US Middle Aged Males (2010)

• To be within of 5’10” would be within range 5’11.5” to 5’8.5” tall• To be 85% of 5’10” is to be 4’11”

Percentage of Professors Outside 1 Standard Deviation

Assistant Associate Full0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

67%100%

0%

Chemistry Dep.

Below Above

Assistant Associate Full0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0%

57%83%

0%14%

17%

Biology Dep.

Below Above

Assistant Associate Full0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

100% 100% 100%Accounting Dep.

Below Above

Percentage of Professors Outside 1 Standard Deviation

More Examples:

AssistantAssociate

Full

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%

0%

63%

40%

0 00.2

English Dep.

Below Above Assistant Associate Full0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

0%

57%

22%

0 0

0.44

History Dep.

Below Above

Assistant Associate Full0%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

0%

83% 77%

17% 11%

Psychology Dep.

Below Above

Associate Median Comparison,

• For the 6 departments sampled above, here is a comparison between median salaries at MSU Denver and the CUPA Median

History English Accounting Chemistry Biology Psychology55000

65000

75000

85000

95000

105000

Associate Professor, Median Salaries

CUPA MSU Denver

History English Accounting Chemistry Biology Psychology $-

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000

$5,008 $4,894

$27,108

$7,624 $6,934 $6,965

Associate, Median Difference

Full Median Comparison,

• For the 6 departments sampled above, here is a comparison between median salaries at MSU Denver and the CUPA Median

History English Accounting Chemistry Biology Psychology700007500080000850009000095000

100000105000110000

Full Professor, Median Salary

CUPA MSU Denver

History English Accounting Chemistry Biology Psychology $-

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

$3,883 $2,950

$20,366

$3,869 $7,649

$11,104

Full Professor, Median Difference

Administrator Salaries vs. CUPA

• Academic administrators: senior institutional officers, academic Deans, directors and managers of Centers, Associate and Assistant Deans

• Other administrative personnel: academic affairs, student affairs, institutional affairs, fiscal affairs, external affairs, IT, athletics, AA/EO, and facilities

Academic administrators

70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160

Percent of CUPA Peer Salary for Comparable Positions

Academic administrators

70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160

Percent of CUPA Peer Salary for Comparable Positions

Other administrators

Percent of CUPA Peer Salary for Comparable Positions

50 70 90 110 130 150 170

President

Provost

Comptroller

EO/AA

Diversity

Student Affairs

Grants + Contracts

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Percent of CUPA Peer Salary for Comparable Positions

Administrator Salaries vs. CUPA

• Majority of salaries are less than the CUPA averages, but most are at the 90% level or better• Numerous examples of positions

paid at well above the CUPA peer average salaries

An anecdotal comparison - Deans

• SLAS Dean: $134,885 vs. CUPA average of $152,751, maximum of $203,004 for Arts and Letters; similar numbers for Arts and Sciences or Sciences Deans• Associate Deans – improvement

needed

An anecdotal comparison - Deans

• School of Business Dean: $171,666 vs. CUPA average of $189,661, maximum of $335,000

Relative Cost Of Living: Denver CO vs. CUPA peers

Relative Cost Of Living: Denver CO vs. CUPA peers• Cost of Living data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics and

C2ER (Council for Community and Economic Research)• Normed for $50,000 in Denver CO.

Relative Cost Of Living: Denver CO vs. CUPA peers

Average : 7.86% Median : 9.11%

Conclusions (so far)• MSU Denver Faculty appear to be systematically

underpaid relative to CUPA peers (10-15%)• MSU Denver Faculty appear to be systematically

underpaid relative to MSU Denver Administrators• Cost of Living adjustment for Denver relative CUPA

mean (7.9%)

• Task Force will complete a report to the MSU Denver Community

Questions and Comments: