Faculty pay up, down in AAU survey
Salaries for Pittsburgh campus professors and instructors gained ground in an annual ranking of faculty pay at the 34 public Association of American Universities (AAU) institutions.
Pittsburgh campus associate and assistant professors’ average salaries fell in the ranking and lecturers remained last in the 2013-14 peer group analysis prepared by Pitt’s Institutional Research office.
Librarians’ salaries continued to climb in relation to their peers at AAU/Association of Research Libraries (ARL) schools, according to the report presented Oct. 17 to the University Senate budget policies committee (BPC).
The annual faculty salary report is based on data from the Association of American University Professors (AAUP) 2013-14 economic status of the profession report (www.aaup.org/reports-publications/2013-14salarysurvey). Librarians’ salaries are based on the ARL annual salary survey.
Robert Goga of Institutional Research told BPC that some institutions’ data was revised following the original AAUP report published in the March/April issue of Academe. The peer group analysis uses the revised data.
It includes all full-time faculty for whom at least 50 percent of their major regular assignment is instruction, including release time for research. Medical school faculty are excluded. Salaries are converted to a nine-month basis using a factor of 0.818181 for 12-month salaries.
Goga noted that factors such as the age of the faculty, tenure status and discipline areas — all of which can affect an institution’s salary averages — aren’t taken into account in the comparison.
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Cost-of-living differences also have an effect. As he has in the past two years, David DeJong, vice provost for academic planning and resources management, agreed to prepare for BPC a salary data report adjusted for cost-of-living differences. The report will be presented at an upcoming meeting.
Professors
Pittsburgh campus professors, who earned an average of $140,200, ranked No. 16, up from No. 17 a year ago. Salaries for the professor rank ranged from $173,900 at the University of California-Los Angeles to $114,100 at the University of Oregon.
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The 3.2 percent average salary increase for Pitt professors outpaced the 2.5 percent average across the AAU public university peer group.
Associate professors
Associate professors on the Pittsburgh campus, who averaged $93,000, placed No. 19, down from 17th in last year’s ranking. UCLA’s associate professors ranked No. 1, averaging $111,800; at No. 34 was the University of Missouri-Columbia with $78,200.
Pitt’s associate professors didn’t fare as well as their peers with a 1.6 percent average increase, below the 2.6 percent average at the other public AAU schools.
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Assistant professors
Pitt’s assistant professors dropped one place in the ranking, falling to 27th. Their pay averaged $77,800. UC-Berkeley ranked No. 1, averaging $99,200; the University of Missouri-Columbia was No. 34, averaging $64,700.
The average pay increase of 2.6 percent for Pitt’s assistant professors was slightly higher than the rank’s 2.3 percent average raise across the peer group.
Instructors
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Of 22 schools that submitted salary data for instructors,
Pitt ranked No. 20, down from No. 16, with an average salary of $45,900. Ohio State ranked No. 1 with an average of $107,300; Arizona ranked No. 22 with an average of $37,200.
Pitt instructors’ average pay increased 1.1 percent, which was below the peer group’s 1.6 percent average.
Lecturers
Pittsburgh campus lecturers remained last among the 27 schools that submitted salary data for the rank. Pitt lecturers’ average salary was $46,500.
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UC-Irvine topped the list with an average of $78,300.
Salaries for Pittsburgh campus lecturers rose 3.8 percent, more than the peer group’s 1.8 percent average increase.
Librarians
Salaries for librarians on the University’s Pittsburgh campus rose in 2013-14, continuing a four-year trend.
Once ranked among the lowest in comparison with their peers at public AAU/ARL schools, Pitt’s librarians have ranked no lower than No. 20 since 2005-06 and broke into the top 10 in last year’s 2012-13 peer group survey. The 59
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Pitt librarians included in the 2013-14 survey ranked No. 9 in the 34-member peer group, earning an average salary of $78,000.
At the top of this year’s ranking was the University of California-Davis, where 35 librarians earned an average of $95,400. At the bottom was the University of Missouri-Columbia, where 38 librarians averaged $60,500.
The average pay for Pitt librarians increased 3.7 percent, above the peer group average of 2.5 percent.
Bradford, Greensburg and Johnstown
Faculty pay at Pitt’s three baccalaureate regional campuses are compared against a peer group of Carnegie Foundation category IIB schools in the three AAUP regions that border Pennsylvania. A weighted average was calculated for institutions with multiple campuses, including Pitt.
The 220 other comparison schools may be public, private-independent, church-related or proprietary. Institutions are grouped by average salary into deciles, with the first decile representing the top 10 percent.
Faculty pay at Pitt-Titusville, a Carnegie category III (associate’s degree-level) school, was not compared in the report.
• Professors
The 27 professors on Pitt’s Bradford, Greensburg and Johnstown campuses averaged $81,400 to place near the top of the 6th decile, falling from a place last year in the 5th decile.
The 6th decile ranged from $81,500 at Lycoming College to $78,800 at Randolph College.
Overall, average pay for professors ranged from $148,200 at Barnard College to Ohio Valley University at $47,800.
• Associate professors
Pitt’s 105 associate professors on the three regional campuses averaged $68,000, rising to the top of the 5th decile from 9th among 5th-decile schools last year.
Lycoming College and Cabrini College anchored the 5th decile with an average salary of $66,200 for the rank.
Overall, Barnard College was at the top of the peer group with an average salary of $107,300; Lees-McRae College was at the bottom, with associate professors averaging $40,300.
• Assistant professors
The 101 assistant professors on the three Pitt regional campuses averaged $54,900, holding steady near the bottom of the 6th decile. Average salaries in that decile ranged from $56,800 at Eckerd College to $54,400 at Shepherd University, St. Mary’s College and Morehouse College.
Overall, assistant professors at the University of Richmond averaged $83,300, the highest in the peer group. Ohio Valley University and Lees-McRae College tied at $38,300 for the lowest average salary in the rank.
• Instructors/Lecturers
In a new comparison that combines instructors’ and lecturers’ average salary in a weighted average, 49 Pitt regional faculty ranked near the top of the 5th decile with an average salary of $49,700, tied with Wheaton College. At the top of the decile was Lock Haven University at $50,000, while the University of Mount Union and Goucher College tied at $48,200 at the bottom of that decile.
Overall, Haverford College ranked No. 1 with an average of $83,400. Belmont Abbey College was at the bottom, with salaries for this group averaging $20,300.
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The full report is posted at www.utimes.pitt.edu/documents/PeerAnalysisReport2013-14.pdf
—Kimberly K. Barlow