More Salary Details
Selective Increase Unit (SIU)
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Selective Increase Pool (SIP)
Let’s dig a little more into the salary increase. A quantity called the Selective Increase Unit (SIU) is used to compute merit-based salary increases. For 2022, the value of one SIU is $4,172.
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The funds available for salary increases are calculated at the faculty level. Each faculty calculates its own Selective Increase Pool (SIP) using the following formula:
SIP =[ (# below T1)+ 0.5(# between T1 and T2) + 0.25 (#above T2)]*SIU
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For example, suppose that a faculty has 60 individuals. Thirty of the members have a salary below T1, 20 members have a salary between T1 and T2, and 10 members have a salary above T2. The SIP would be calculated as follows:
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(30 + 0.5(20)+ 0.25(10))($4,172) = (30 +10 +2.5)($4,172) = 42.5($4,172) = $177,310
The SIP is then distributed among the faculty members based on each individual’s merit score.
Calculating an Individual’s Selective Salary Increase
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Adjusting Merit Scores based on Threshold
Each regular faculty member receives a performance rating R on a scale from 0 to 2 (i.e., a merit score). This performance rating is then adjusted (or not) according to the following rules:
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If the member’s salary is below T1, then no adjustment is made.
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If the member’s salary is between T1 and T2, then 0.75 is subtracted from their performance rating (without reducing their score below zero).
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If the member’s salary is above T2, then 1.25 is subtracted from their performance rating (without reducing their score below zero).
The adjusted performance rating is used to compute a member’s selective salary increase.
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Calculating the Increase
Each faculty member’s selective salary increase is determined as follows:
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Returning to our example, suppose that an individual faculty member earns a merit score of 1.6
and that the sum of the adjusted merit scores is 62.6, their increase would be:
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Effect of Merit Scores on Selective Increases for Individuals within Different Thresholds
R score | $ to those below T1 | $ to those between T1 and T2 | $ to those above T2 |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5,066 | 1,267 | 0 |
1.25 | 4,666 | 1,866 | 0 |
1.5 | 4,255 | 2,128 | 709 |
1.75 | 4,004 | 2,288 | 1,144 |
2 | 3,834 | 2,396 | 1,438 |
For example, if all members of this hypothetical faculty are awarded merit scores of 1.5, then the faculty members below T1 receive increases of $4,255, the faculty members between T1 and T2 receive increases of $2,128, and the faculty members above T2 receive increases of $709.
The following table shows how the SIP is distributed based on which threshold category a member belongs to. In each case, every member receives the same (unadjusted) performance rating, R.
Concerns with the Current System
The portion of the SIP assigned to a specific faculty member depends on their performance in relation to their colleagues (as expected) but also on the numeric value that is determined to be the “norm” within a faculty. The second point can be problematic for the following reasons:
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If the norm varies across faculties, then so does the distribution of the SIP across threshold categories. For example, the average R in MATH is roughly 1.55 while the average in ENG is roughly 1.65. This means that two faculty members below T1 earning the average R performance rating for their faculty would receive differing increases. In other words, if your salary is below T1 and your performance is on par with the average performance in your faculty, then you will receive better selective increases if you are MATH versus ENG. The converse is also true – if your salary is above T2, then you are better off in ENG versus MATH.
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If the norm varies over time, this will be a benefit or detriment depending on where you are in your career. For example, consider a faculty member that currently has a salary below T1. If the norm increases over time, then over their career, this faculty member will benefit from a structure that was (relatively speaking) more generous to the “below T1” group when their salary was below T1 and, later in their career once they have transitioned into the higher thresholds, will benefit again from a structure that is (again, relatively speaking) more generous to the higher thresholds because of the shift in the norm. This benefit comes at the expense of their colleagues with salaries in different threshold categories.
