Compensation for Academic Professional and Administrative Employees

POLICY STATEMENT

This policy governs compensation for the Academic Professional and Administrative (P&A) employee group, with the exception of senior leaders and professionals-in-training. Within the P&A employee group, academic professionals (97xx; 9621 – 9630) are compensated for their responsibilities enhancing the research, teaching, and service functions of the University. Academic administrators (93xx and 9631 – 9640) are compensated for their responsibilities in policy development or execution, or in directing, coordinating, or supervising activities within the University. Total compensation for P&A employees includes their annual base salary plus the value of their fringe benefits, including retirement, health and dental coverage, life and disability insurance, and other benefits as provided by the University. In some instances, annual base salary is augmented through internal sources, such as when additional responsibilities or set of administrative duties are temporarily added, or through payment received by sources outside the University as in the case of approved external consulting.

A P&A employee's initial annual base salary is negotiated at the time of hire. The annual salary program seeks to reward contributions of P&A employees. The assessed meritorious performance of duties and responsibilities associated with the position and performed by the position holder serves as the basis of annual merit-based salary increases or rewards. Increases to annual base salary for P&A employees may also occur in other ways such as the following: (1) in conjunction with a promotion; (2) in conjunction with the awarding of indefinite continuous appointment (3) through acceptance of a retention offer that includes a pay increase; (4) through base pay market adjustments; and (5) in addressing documented internal salary inequities. Parameters for compensation increases are approved by the Board of Regents based on recommendations of the administration.

Any salary determination process at the University must be non-discriminatory. Initial salary offers, periodic increases, and retention offers may not be based on considerations related to the race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression of the person affected.

Administrative consultation with unit academic professional and administrative (P&A) employees (93xx, 96xx, and 97xx) is expected in developing:

• the annual review process for unit P&A employees and
• the unit annual compensation strategy which includes the awarding of merit pay based on performance.

REASON FOR POLICY

This policy implements Board of Regents Policies: Employee Compensation and Recognition, Employee Group Definitions, Employee Performance Evaluation and Development, and Employee Recruitment and Retention. The University strives to attract and retain a high performance workforce. As a part of this effort, the University works to achieve and maintain a compensation structure that, when combined with benefits and other rewards, is competitive relative to institutional peers and other appropriate labor markets.

PROCEDURES

FORMS/INSTRUCTIONS

APPENDICES

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

CONTACTS

DEFINITIONS

Annual Base Salary

The fixed compensation paid annually to an employee for performing specific job responsibilities. It does not include variable pay such as bonuses or incentive pay.

Senior Leaders

Individuals specified as senior leaders in Board of Regents Policy: Reservation and Delegation of Authority. This includes the executive vice president and senior vice president, chancellors, vice presidents, provost, general counsel, University librarian, the director of audits, deans (on all campuses), athletic director (Twin Cities), and others as directed by the Board, to include the Executive Director and Corporate Secretary, Board of Regents and the Chief of Staff, Office of the President.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Unit Administration

• Involve the P&A employee in developing information and guidelines for merit review and salary determination process.

Responsible Administrator/Supervisor

• Determine salary at the time of initial hire and subsequent annual salary increases.
• Review annually the performance of the P&A employee, as a determinant of merit increase.
• Follow process for adjusting salary mid-year or making other pay adjustments.

Academic Professional or Administrative Employee

• Participate in the unit’s yearly discussion with regard to information and process for annual performance review and merit adjustment to salary.

RELATED INFORMATION

• Board of Regents Policy: Employee Compensation and Recognition
• Board of Regents Policy: Employee Group Definitions
• Board of Regents Policy: Employee Performance Evaluation and Development
• Board of Regents Policy: Employee Recruitment and Retention
• Administrative Policy: Appointments of Academic Professional and Administrative Employees
• Administrative Policy: Performance Reviews for Academic Professional and Administrative Employees
• Administrative Policy: Recruitment and Selection of Faculty and Academic Professional and Administrative Employees
• Administrative Policy:  Senior Leader Compensation and Separation
• Academic Salary Floors [current year]
• Academic Salary Memo [current year]

HISTORY

Amended:

October 2012 - Excludes senior leader compensation from coverage under this policy. It is now covered under Board of Regents Policy: Employee Compensation and Recognition and Administrative Policy: Senior Leader Compensation and Separation.

Amended:

May 2008 - Policy converted to the new University-wide format for administrative policies. The Administrative Policies: Academic Professional and Administrative Staff Compensation, Salaries Policy for Administrative Officers, Salary Setting and Salary Support for Central or Campus-Level Administrators, and Securing Salary Offer Approval were combined into this one policy with updates based on current practice.

Adopted:

October 1992 - Approved by the Academic Staff Advisory Committee (ASAC) on October 12, 1992.

Effective:

October 1992