The Commission on Faculty Compensation and Economic Benefits will present its annual report to the Faculty Senate on Monday, March 5. The 10-member group was chaired by Sociology Professor Adam Gamoran.
Historically, the commission’s charge is to address matters of faculty salary and benefits, but the University Committee requested that the group tackle three additional items relating to the opportunity given to UW-Madison in the 2011-13 state budget to create its own personnel system. The commission was asked to:
- Develop proposals for faculty and staff compensation
- Examine the compensation tools developed by Vice Provost Steve Stern
- Assess the impact of lagging salaries and reduced benefits on faculty retention and morale
After several months of work, the commission offered a number of recommendations to help bring faculty compensation to a more competitive level:
- Collaborate with the Wisconsin Alumni Association to communicate with alumni, parents and friends of UW-Madison to develop support for a state pay plan
- Develop a modest merit-based supplemental pay plan for all staff
- Continue and develop new revenues for the “Stern Portfolio” of tools
- Identify additional markers of exceptional accomplishment for faculty salary increases
- Implementation of one-time salary increases for non-administrative service.
- Utilize endowed chairs for salary support
- Implement the Chancellor’s Administrative Excellence (Huron) recommendations and the Educational Innovation campaign
- Direct philanthropic efforts toward salaries
- Limit undergraduate resident tuition increases to funds needed to offset state budget cuts while increasing student financial aid
- Adjust differential tuition to more competitive levels
- Encourage UW System to examine how it determines the 25% to 75% ratio of non-resident to resident students