FAQs: Faculty Salary Reviews
November 15, 2005
TO: Department Chairs and Faculty with Salary Reviews
FROM: Faculty Budget Committee
RE: Salary Recommendations
A number of questions about the salary process have arisen. The Budget Committee has discussed them, and provides these answers and clarifications. These cover reviews for salary only, not those reviews as part of contract renewal or promotion.
Should a department chair conduct a review of themselves or of their spouse or partner?
No. Another member of the department should be selected to conduct that review.
What should be done if there is only one department member at the Associate Professor or Professor rank in a department, or no one qualified to conduct the review?
If no one in a department is available to conduct the review, the Dean will appoint a person outside the department to do the review. The Department Chair should contact the Dean to seek such assistance.
What is the maximum length of a department chair's recommendation to the Budget Committee?
The recommendation should be no longer than two pages. It does not need to restate what is in the Faculty Activity Reports or context statement, but should provide evaluative and reflective comments on the quality of teaching, scholarship and service. Since the Budget Committee will have no evidence of teaching effectiveness, comments about that area will be especially useful. Assessment of the quality of scholarly activity, such as whether a piece or work is in a highly respected or highly competitive peer reviewed forum, its potential for an actual impact on the field, etc., will help the Budget Committee to evaluate scholarship.
What will be the relative weights of teaching, scholarship, and service?
The Budget Committee in establishing merit scores intends to value teaching and scholarship at a higher level than service except in unusual circumstances. During 2004-05, the Budget Committee weighted teaching at 50 percent, scholarship at 30 percent, and service at 20 percent. We will establish an overall merit score of between 0 and 5, using only integers.
What is the period of time for which scholarship will be considered?
Scholarly work either published or performed, or for which there is written proof of acceptance by the peer-reviewed process during the previous three years (June 1 - May 31) will be considered in the review. The review will also consider works in progress, but that will provide evidence of activity, not of productivity.
If a faculty member has been on leave for a semester or year during the three-year cycle, should the teaching review cover additional semesters to bring the total of semesters to six?
No, the review should deal only with teaching done during the three-year period of the review.
How will results of reviews be communicated? Will the Budget Committee tell faculty members what merit score was assigned?
The Budget Committee will work with the Dean to summarize the review. The Dean will meet with the faculty member and provide that summary and the merit score to the faculty member. The Budget Committee does not intend that the Department Chair's letter is shared with the individual being reviewed.
