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Academic Discussions => General Academic Discussion => Topic started by: Zeus Bird on August 18, 2024, 12:35:42 PM

Title: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: Zeus Bird on August 18, 2024, 12:35:42 PM
I'm wondering what the salary raises at various universities are when a faculty member is promoted to a new rank.  My preliminary survey of available data indicates wide variability.  At my school raises for promotion to associate or full prof are about 3-4% of average faculty salaries, yet I notice that at other schools the percentage is much higher.  Different colleges fall at different points on the "pay for seniority" vs the "pay for merit" scale.  What is your situation?
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: spork on August 18, 2024, 01:31:26 PM
This is going to vary tremendously by institution and field. I'm at a small private non-profit in the social sciences. Way back when I was moving up the ranks and dinosaurs walked the Earth, the bump was $6K from assistant to associate and $9K to full. All faculty, regardless of department, get the same increases. Meanwhile a large public regional in the Southeast that I interviewed at had bumps of $3K and $6K respectively for faculty in the college. Cost of living was substantially lower but not low enough to make up for the difference in earnings at retirement. I have no idea how large the bumps are now at either place.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: Puget on August 18, 2024, 02:58:38 PM
I got 7% with tenure, plus the 2% annual raise we usually get (in theory it is a merit pool that can vary across faculty, but in practice at least in my department we all get the same). There are also sometimes equity adjustments to correct compression or inversion -- I benefited from one of these a few years ago, which probably indicates that I did a poor job negotiating my initial salary compared to some of my colleagues who came in after me.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: RatGuy on August 18, 2024, 03:17:33 PM
Initially I received a 10% raise upon promotion. The following year the Dean raises the starting salary for faculty in my division by 5k, but this was offset by retconning raises in my division to 5%. For people in my position that felt like a pay cut
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: Sun_Worshiper on August 18, 2024, 03:20:02 PM
My tenure bump was 8%. Would probably have been more if I had a competing offer or if my dean wasn't channeling all the money for his pet projects. Still pretty generous though so I can't complain.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: darkstarrynight on August 18, 2024, 03:52:51 PM
We get raises for promotion only, not tenure. Our handbook states that for promotions, everyone gets 15% of the average faculty salary (across all faculty) from the previous year. For my first promotion, my increase was 20% (my field is not one of the high salary disciplines so my percentage is high). For my recent promotion, my increase was 18% (16% plus 2% cost of living increase for all faculty).
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: Parasaurolophus on August 18, 2024, 04:20:18 PM
No tenure here. You get 3-4k or so as you move up the salary scale, with a few somewhat larger steps. The big bump is when you finally get placed on the scale, rather than earning the bottom-ring adjunct rate. That's something like a 10k bump.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: sinenomine on August 18, 2024, 05:01:45 PM
No tenure at my school either. There's a $3K bump to go to associate and $4K for full.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: kaysixteen on August 18, 2024, 10:37:23 PM
When one receives such a promotion, does it also usually include some increase or changed sort of work responsibilities?
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: Parasaurolophus on August 18, 2024, 10:55:50 PM
Quote from: kaysixteen on August 18, 2024, 10:37:23 PMWhen one receives such a promotion, does it also usually include some increase or changed sort of work responsibilities?

Here, no. Although once you become "regular" (which absolutely does not mean that you're guaranteed any kind of course load!) then you can apply for grants.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: sinenomine on August 19, 2024, 05:42:43 AM
Quote from: kaysixteen on August 18, 2024, 10:37:23 PMWhen one receives such a promotion, does it also usually include some increase or changed sort of work responsibilities?

Those who are promoted at my school tend to get asked to serve on more ad hoc committees.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: RatGuy on August 19, 2024, 06:46:18 AM
Quote from: kaysixteen on August 18, 2024, 10:37:23 PMWhen one receives such a promotion, does it also usually include some increase or changed sort of work responsibilities?

First, promotion (and therefore raise) is determined by meeting certain benchmarks. If you were promoted, it means that you took on additional responsibility for no extra pay at some point in the past six or more years. Some faculty never strive to reach those benchmarks ("I'm not doing more unless I get paid for it now"), so therefore never get promoted or get a raise. FWIW, we do not have COLAs and in practice merit raises have been minimal (I got a total of 2k in merit raises over the course of six years).

Second, promotion is required for application for admin/advising/etc roles that come with extra pay (and course releases). Something like Assistant Director of Undergraduate Baskets, within a given dept. So promotion doesn't lead directly to increased or changed responsibilities, but it's the pathway for that if you so choose.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: AJ_Katz on August 19, 2024, 09:19:48 AM
My university has the following defined in their CBA for promotions:

I guess in their view, someone can be promoted from an instructor to an assistant professor, although that, in my view, is not part of the promotion pipeline so it doesn't really make sense. 

Aside from those university-wide increases, the Dean in my college strives for a 10% salary increase when someone is promoted (GWI+merit+promotion = 10% total).  He often expects the department heads to contribute from their merit pool for that as well. 
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: secundem_artem on August 19, 2024, 09:40:22 AM
Raises......  How cute.  Here at Red Ink Uni, it's more along the lines of decreased pension contributions, loss of all adjuncts, all non-tenured faculty at great risk etc etc etc.  Raises.  Only in your dreams buttercup. Only in your dreams. 
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: Ruralguy on August 19, 2024, 10:19:36 AM
I haven't looked at the exact bump ups recently, but its something like 6000 for Associate, and 8000 for full at my school

Of course, percentages depend on base salary, which is starting to have a wider spread between  fields than it used to. Most juniors are probably making between 60 and 75 K, but I am sure in a couple of fields its close to 100. For full, its probably more like 80-100, again with some well over 100.

We have increased service expectations for promotion to full. Its hoped you'd serve on a major committee such as
faculty policy, curriculum, and others. After full (and maybe even before), its hoped you'd *chair* some of these majors and serve on Tenure and Promotion, ad hocs, etc. Of course, not everyone will be elected or appointed, but most people can find their way into serving on something of use to the college. For a named Chair, hope is you'd have engaged in major service, as well as published and have teaching in good shape.

Since full and named chairs are more or less the only form of merit pay here, its behooves one to do what they need to do to reach these milestones since it can increase your pay by up to 16K or so.

Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: artalot on August 19, 2024, 10:37:31 AM
Ours is 5K for Associate and 10K for full. We get no cost of living raises, just merit-based raises (which basically means you have to cozy up to the chair, the dean and the provost). I'm at a private LAC.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: Mobius on August 19, 2024, 11:21:36 AM
There is a set rate that the dean's have, but most get more than that to address salary compression. Usually around a 10% bump to associate. Bump for promotion to full is around 12% based on what I've come across when new salaries are published in meeting agendas for the university board.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: Sun_Worshiper on August 19, 2024, 12:05:13 PM
Quote from: kaysixteen on August 18, 2024, 10:37:23 PMWhen one receives such a promotion, does it also usually include some increase or changed sort of work responsibilities?

More committee work is expected, while also continuing to be a productive researcher and solid teacher.

On a more informal level, there is less protection from various requests. This can be nice if I want to do some overload teaching, but can also be burdensome.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: clean on August 19, 2024, 01:56:58 PM
we have a flat fee approach.
Assistant to Assoc is $5000
Assoc to prof is 7000.

We do have a post tenure review process (PTR) too that is supposed to control salary inversion.
Every 5 years you have to be reviewed (or promoted).  If you are a professor, then there is a $5000 bump if you successfully complete PTR.  If associate, and you do not go up for promotion, then the bump is $2500. 

(News from today's president's meeting is no raises this year... so we are getting farther and farther behind .... In real terms (inflation adjusted) my salary is lower now, even after 2 promotions and 1 PTR adjustment than when I was first hired as an assistant professor! 

It is getting easier and easier to think about retirement as I am giving up less and less every year!
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: onthefringe on August 19, 2024, 04:52:39 PM
10% at each promotion. Departments have to give whatever the maximum possible raise that year is (generally 3-4%) and the rest it matched from the central administration
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: EdnaMode on August 19, 2024, 07:02:39 PM
My institution is currently at 4% for each promotion level. Annual raises have only been around 1-2%, and some years, no raises. There has been discussion about changing the promotion raises to 8% but no one is quite sure where the money would come from or what would be done about salary compression, equity, etc. It's been discussed before and nothing has come of it so I think we're stuck at 4% unless something drastic changes.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: Kron3007 on October 28, 2024, 09:34:42 AM
Ours is a flat rate of $2400 CAD to associate and $4000 CAD for full.  I feel we are fairly well paid and get regular COL and annual career raises, so this is very little incentive or reward for promotion.  I applied for full this year, but this definitely seems on the low side and I may still make less than many associate profs even after promotion.

 

 
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: Vkw10 on October 30, 2024, 07:28:12 PM
Flat rate of $3000 per promotion in the non-tenure track ladder and $4500 in the tenure track ladder. When you reach top of your ladder, you can start applying for incentive reviews after five years in rank. Last time I heard, about 5% of full professors apply for incentive review when eligible.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: mythbuster on November 01, 2024, 09:41:41 AM
12.5% of your annual salary. Which sounds great compared to these others. However, I bet you all get regular COLAs. We wish we did.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: Ruralguy on November 01, 2024, 11:57:17 AM
You say "I bet you all get regular COLAs," but its at least clear from responses (if not then from everyone who read this) that many of us, including me, do not get regular COLAs (though we sometimes do). Also, our promotion bumps are nothing like 12.5%.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: Kron3007 on November 01, 2024, 01:17:49 PM
Quote from: mythbuster on November 01, 2024, 09:41:41 AM12.5% of your annual salary. Which sounds great compared to these others. However, I bet you all get regular COLAs. We wish we did.

Yes, we have crappy promotion bumps but do get regular COLAs, which is much better.  My only real gripe is that our raises etc. are almost entirely seniority based.  There are really no merit-based raises.  Nice if you want to put your feet up I guess. 
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: pgher on November 05, 2024, 03:43:00 PM
Quote from: Kron3007 on November 01, 2024, 01:17:49 PM
Quote from: mythbuster on November 01, 2024, 09:41:41 AM12.5% of your annual salary. Which sounds great compared to these others. However, I bet you all get regular COLAs. We wish we did.

Yes, we have crappy promotion bumps but do get regular COLAs, which is much better.  My only real gripe is that our raises etc. are almost entirely seniority based.  There are really no merit-based raises.  Nice if you want to put your feet up I guess. 

We are prohibited from giving COLAs and must only give merit raises. Which is fine for most people, but a recipe for salary compression and inversion.
Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: Sun_Worshiper on November 15, 2024, 10:11:55 AM
I got an 8% bump with tenure. Not bad but lower than I had hoped/expected. 

But overall my university is pretty generous. Salaries are quite high and we get a raise every year (except during a covid freeze). Raises are supposedly for performance as well as CoL and potentially some other factors like compression. They range from very generous (~10%) to rather modest (~$2.5%). There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to it - sometimes my performance is great and the raise is mediocre, other times my performance is mediocre and the raise is great.

Title: Re: Raises for Promotion - Average Percentage at Your School?
Post by: dinomom on December 18, 2024, 02:17:40 AM
We don't get a bump with tenure or promotion at all, but do get regular COLAs. These are higher for assistants and associates and lower for full profs.

But: during covid we didn't get COLAs for several years and therefore there are first year assistant profs with salaries close to mine (tenured associate) due to compression.