With the All Staff Council and Human Resources virtual townhall taking place on May 19, many of the submitted questions have centered on salary increases. Here is a brief overview to help address some of the key components of the work underway for faculty and staff salaries in the coming fiscal year.
As the President shared in his May 3 email, a merit pool of 2.5% was approved for both faculty and staff for fiscal year 2023. While the pool will total 2.5%, deans and managers will have discretionary authority in determining an individual’s actual merit increase. Deans and managers will be provided a budget allocation equal to 2.5% of the base salaries of all full-time employees hired before May 1 and expected to be on payroll for fiscal year 2023. From that pool, individual salary awards will be made on the basis of merit (i.e., it is possible that some salary awards will be less than 2.5%, and some may be more).
In addition to merit increases, there are some funds available for limited market adjustments. For faculty, the Provost’s Office analyzes relevant benchmarking data. Market adjustments are then determined by the Provost’s Office, working in consultation with Institutional Research, deans, the Faculty Compensation Committee, and Human Resources.
For staff, HR is finalizing a methodology to apply to this year’s market pool, which is slightly larger than last year’s. It is likely that we will rely on our core benchmarks, where we strive to have staff at the 25th percentile of their pay grade by year four in the position and by the 50th percentile by year seven in the position. Maintaining this approach, helps ensure those who have remained in their position at Drake through the years we have not been able to provide increases are progressing through the applicable salary range.
Human Resources, the Budget Office, the Provost’s Office, and managers are dedicating time and effort to assuring the data are accurate and decisions are sound. This is great work to have—we remain thrilled that we are in the position to assess merit increases and market adjustments. We know people are anxious to know what these increases may mean to them efforts remain on track to communicate before the July 1, 2022 effective date.
— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources