By SUSAN JONES
At first glance, the numbers in the annual report on average faculty salaries at Pitt’s Oakland campus compared to peers at other public AAU schools are a bit shocking.
Pitt dropped in the rankings and average salaries in almost all categories for the 2022-23 report, which was presented at the Senate Budget Policies committee before the winter break.
But the culprit is not budget cuts or slashed salaries, but a reclassification of around 200 lecturers as teaching professors, associate professors and assistant professors, according to Steve Wisniewski, vice provost for budget and analytics, and Amanda Brodish, associate vice provost for data analytics, who prepared the report.
For instance, a senior lecturer in the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences now falls under the full professor category in the salary chart, even though their salary remains the same as it was as a lecturer.
Each school was given the option of whether to adopt the new “teaching professor” titles, Wisniewski said. The Dietrich School, which had the most people in the lecturer category, chose to make the switch, while some other schools didn’t. Pitt reported 283 lecturers in the 2021-22 analysis and just 93 in the report issued in December.
Wisniewski said one of the reasons to abandon the lecturer title is that “what are classified as lecturers and instructors is a bit of a hodgepodge. Across campus and also when we compare to other institutions, how those are defined varies dramatically.”
The data in the report compares Pitt to the 34 other public universities in the Association of American Universities when the data was submitted for the 2022-23 academic year. Since then, three more schools have joined the AAU. The report also includes separate tables that compare all 63 AAU institutions, both public and private, at the time the data were collected. You can access the Faculty Salary Peer Reports from the past several years through Pitt Passport.
Brodish also calculated what the average salaries would be if lecturers/teaching professors were excluded in each category.
The average salaries on the Pitt’s regional campuses also are in the report. Look for more on that in the next University Times.
Professors (564 people)
The highest average pay for professors among public AAU schools was $253,000 at UCLA, and at University of Texas–Austin, $194,700, when adjusted for cost of living.
2022-23
Average salary: $151,400
Rank: 28th; adjusted for cost of living, 21st
Salary and rank, with lecturers omitted: $163,400, 21st; adjusted for cost of living, 13th
2021-22
Average salary and rank: $158,700, 20th; adjusted for cost of living, 14th
Associate professors (515)
The highest average pay for associate professors among public AAU schools was $160,300 at UCLA, and at Purdue University, $131,500, when adjusted for cost of living.
2022-23
Average salary: $103,700
Rank: 31st; adjusted for cost of living, 19th
Salary and rank, with lecturers omitted: $110,700, 25th; adjusted for cost of living, 16th
2021-22
Average salary and rank: $105,300, 23rd; adjusted for cost of living, 18th
Assistant professors (580)
The highest average pay for professors among public AAU schools was $129,500 at Berkeley, and at Georgia Tech, $116,400, when adjusted for cost of living.
2022-23
Average salary: $88,100
Rank: 32nd; adjusted for cost of living, 22nd
Salary and rank, with lecturers omitted: $91,600, 29th; adjusted for cost of living, 17th
2021-22
Average salary and rank: $88,900, 28th; adjusted for cost of living, 19th
Instructors (163)
The highest average pay for instructors among public AAU schools was $96,800 at the University of Virginia, and at UVA, $92,000, when adjusted for cost of living, but only five people were in this category.
2022-23
Average salary: $60,600
Rank: 20th; adjusted for cost of living, 19th
2021-22
Average salary and rank: $57,000, 17th; adjusted for cost of living, 14th
Lecturers (92)
The highest average pay for lecturers among public AAU schools was $127,400 at the University of North Carolina, and at UNC, $119,100, when adjusted for cost of living, but only 31 people were in this category.
2022-23
Average salary: $50,200
Rank: 29th; adjusted for cost of living, 30th
Salary and rank, with lecturers who were moved to other categories are included: $57,800, 28th; adjusted for cost of living, 27th
2021-22
Average salary and rank (with 283 faculty included): $57,300, 28th; adjusted for cost of living, 26th
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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