University Times

When cost-of-living differences are accounted for, Pitt faculty members have more buying power than many of their higher-paid colleagues at public Association of American Universities (AAU) schools.

Data analyst Amanda Brodish of the Office of the Provost provided details in an Oct. 18 presentation to the University Senate budget policies committee in conjunction with a 2012-13 peer group analysis of the average salaries of Pitt faculty and librarians. (See related story, this issue.)

Pitt librarians, who ranked No. 10 in the salary comparison, rose to No. 1 when cost of living was taken into account.

Pittsburgh campus full professors rose from No. 17 to No. 10, as did the Pittsburgh campus associate professors. Assistant professors rose from No. 26 to No. 12 and lecturers and instructors rose from No. 30 in the unadjusted rankings to No. 27 when cost of living was factored in.

The report represented costs in other cities relative to Pittsburgh’s cost of living. Calculations were based on the Council for Community and Economic Research cost-of-living index (www.coli.org) for the second quarter of 2013. For peer institutions whose city was not included in the index, the city nearest to the institution was used.

Among 34 public AAU peers, Pittsburgh’s cost of living was lower than all but Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan State, Iowa, Indiana, Texas, the University of North Carolina and Texas A&M.

Click on image to download full-size chart.

Regional campus salary comparisons

The average salaries for faculty members on Pitt’s Bradford, Greensburg and Johnstown campuses all were above the median for their peer groups when cost of living was taken into account.

The cost of living for the regional campuses was calculated using Sperling’s BestPlaces , which provides cost-of-living estimates for suburban and rural areas. The University’s report used Greensburg’s cost of living as a benchmark with costs in other cities represented relative to it.

For the comparison, a set of schools from among the 225 IIB peers was selected for each faculty rank. Peer schools were arranged by average salary, with the highest and lowest schools and those from every 5th percentile — a total of 21 in all — chosen for each faculty rank.

Because the average salary distribution differed for each faculty rank, the set of 21 peer schools differ across the ranks.

Full professors on the three Pitt regional campuses ranked ninth out of 22 peers when cost of living was factored in.

Associate professors on the three Pitt regional campuses ranked third out of 22 peers in the adjusted salary ranking.

Assistant professors on the three Pitt regional campuses ranked eighth in the adjusted salary comparison.

The entire report can be viewed at www.utimes.pitt.edu/documents/FacultySalaryCostOfLivingComparison_FY13.pdf.

—Kimberly K. Barlow