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April 3, 2014

Report details faculty pay hikes

Chart

Click to download chart.

A University analysis of salaries among full-time continuing faculty found that the average increase in fiscal year 2013-14 was 4.2 percent. The median increase, included for the first time in this annual report, was 2.6 percent, reflecting the 2.5 percent salary pool increase of 1.5 percent for faculty receiving at least a satisfactory rating and 1 percent awarded for merit.

The report was presented to the University Senate budget policies committee on March 21 by Robert Goga of the Office of Institutional Research and prepared by the Management Information and Analysis office.

Clinical departments of the School of Medicine were excluded from this assessment, as were faculty employed here in fall 2012 but not in fall 2013 and the reverse; faculty whose contract base changed (for instance, from nine to 12 months); faculty on leave of absence in the current or previous year; faculty changing from part-time to full-time or the reverse; visiting faculty; faculty whose responsibility center changed; faculty with a reduction in salary, and academic administrators at the level of dean or higher.

Among all 2,009 faculty covered by the report, those making less than $40,000 received nearly the highest average raise of 5.3 percent, although these raises also had the highest median of 6.0 percent, signaling that faculty in this salary category also had the greatest disparity among increases awarded. The highest average raise of 6.0 percent was given to faculty making $120,000-$130,000, with a median of 2.6 percent, just above the lowest median of 2.5 percent. The only other median above 2.8 percent in any salary category was 5.0 percent in the $40,001-$50,000 range.

Raises in the 0.00-1.69 percent range went to 225 faculty, with only 47 among them receiving 1.49 percent raises or lower, reflecting a less-than-satisfactory performance (down from 52 in the last report). Nearly half the faculty — 919 — received raises of 1.70-2.99 percent.

U.S. inflation currently remains below 2 percent.

Among the remaining faculty, 416 got salary raises of 3.00-4.99 percent, 234 received increases of 5.00-7.49 percent, 72 were awarded 7.50-9.99 percent raises and 143 got increases of 10 percent or greater.

Among individual schools or faculty groups within schools, the Swanson School of Engineering surpassed all others with a 6.3 percent average salary increase (and a 3.5 percent median), followed by the School of Nursing’s 5.8 percent average increase (and a 2.3 percent median). These also were the schools with the greatest disparity between average and median percentages.

Schools with the lowest average increase in salary were law (3.0 percent) and dental medicine (3.1 percent), while schools with the lowest median were health and rehabilitation sciences (2.0 percent) and the social sciences faculty in arts and sciences (2.1 percent).

Committee chair John Baker said the medians “are a very valuable addition — I’m very pleased to see that.

“I think people should be very happy with this overall,” he added about the report’s numbers. “It’s very good under the circumstances.”

A chart detailing the increases has been posted on the University Times website at www.utimes.pitt.edu/documents/salaryChart040314.pdf.

—Marty Levine