Guidelines on Faculty Retention
October 2003
The College wants to encourage faculty members to remain at KU without the
need to seek offers from other institutions. The following guidelines have
been developed to assist faculty members, chairs/directors, and the Dean’s
Office in making decisions regarding special merit salary requests for faculty
who may be deserving of special consideration based on their accomplishments
and the need to address market pressures.
The Good-Faith Criterion:
Underlying the following guidelines is the assumption that all parties are
acting in good faith. The Dean’s Office assumes that requests for special
merit salary increases will be brought forward only in cases where the faculty
member is clearly underpaid relative to peers or when, because of market pressures,
there is reason to believe that a salary adjustment would prevent a faculty
member from being actively courted by comparable or better institutions. Faculty
members should not be using this as a mechanism merely to negotiate a better
salary or more equipment outside of demonstrated merit. The chair’s/director’s
responsibility is to fairly represent the unit’s opinion on what is in
the best interest of the unit, College, and the faculty member involved. The
Dean’s responsibility is to insure that the faculty member is treated
fairly, and that the best interests of all involved are served.
Guidelines:
- In certain cases, faculty members may be underpaid vis-à-vis
their peers at similar institutions. By undervaluing our best faculty we
may be placing
ourselves in a position of not being able to compete effectively to keep
them should they be approached by other institutions. In these cases, a special
merit salary increase may be requested. Either the chair/director or the
individual
faculty member may initiate such a request. If the faculty member initiates
the request, it must go first to the chair/director for their evaluation.
- Special requests for a salary increase should be submitted in writing
and shall include past data on merit evaluations in the unit. It is expected
that the faculty member has received high ratings from his or her unit on average
over the previous five years. Requests should include a current c.v. and evidence
of compression using data about salaries in the faculty member’s specialty
at comparable institutions. The request should take into account such factors
as seniority, special accomplishments in scholarship and/or teaching, administrative
responsibilities past and present, and market pressures. Such requests are
forwarded with the chair’s/director’s comments to the Associate
Dean and then to the Dean of the College.
- Special requests should normally be submitted early in the spring semester
and be forwarded to the Dean’s Office so that they can be taken into
account with the normal merit salary considerations. Such requests should be
made no more than once for any individual in any three year period.
- Chairs/directors will represent the unit’s views in their negotiations
with the Dean’s Office. The chair/director must make a strong case
for the importance of rewarding the faculty member to the unit, College,
and University.
Faculty who do not feel their chair/director would represent them adequately
may approach the Dean directly. They should inform their chair/director that
they are doing so.
- For a special merit increase to be approved, the terms depend on a number
of factors: the size of the discrepancy between the faculty member’s
salary at KU and those of peers at comparable institutions, the salaries of
colleagues at KU who are judged to be of comparable worth, how much the unit
is willing to contribute from its own merit allocation to reward the faculty
member, and the extent that additional space, equipment, etc. is required.
If the special merit increase comes in response to an offer from another institution,
a case must be made to the Dean that the institution the individual is considering
is at least the quality of the University of Kansas. Better salary offers from
lesser institutions will not ordinarily be considered in these negotiations.
It is incumbent upon the chair/director to make this case. It is possible that
the faculty member is being recruited by a very good department in a less comparable
university; if this is the case, the chair/director will be asked to provide
appropriate arguments.
