Minutes

Present: Paul Storer (chair), Pamela Hall, Kristi Lemm, Jianglong Wang.

Regrets: Nicole Hoekstra.

1. Update on salary equity study Committee members asked the chair to

remind the administration that we expect to receive the same data that Lois

Haignere received. The committee members wondered whether we would

receive copies of the frequency tables that are being generated in this stage of

the study or if we would not receive any results until the draft study is released.

The committee also thought that if this draft report is public, it might be desirable

to place it on a web site to maximize access to the results.

2. Status of the compression study Kristi Lemm noted that she had conducted

a preliminary analysis of salary compression in her department and would be

happy to share her results with Haignere Inc. The committee members noted

that faculty members on campus perceive that there is a serious compression

problem at the university. It will be very valuable to have a study that reveals

whether or not this perception is accurate. Finally, the committee felt even if the

gender/race equity study is completed first, at least some of the $250,000

allocated for equity and compression should be held back until the results of the

compression study are available

3. Retention funds Committee members asked for details about how the

$100,000 allocated for retention will be allocated. The committee also

recognized that, over the past few years, there has been little agreement among

faculty members about how best to allocate recruitment & retention funds.

There was general agreement that the ideal procedure would be to somehow

identify faculty who are “underpaid” and raise their compensation before they

seek outside opportunities.

4. Chair compensation Committee members agreed that many departments

are experiencing difficulty recruiting and retaining chairs, especially in larger

departments such as English and Psychology in the College of Humanities and

Social Sciences. There was a feeling that chair stipends should reflect the

amount of work involved (e.g. numbers of majors and/or faculty) and should also

tend to rise at the same rate as general merit salary increases. The possibility of

providing compensation for associate chairs was also raised. There was some

support for the principle giving incentives to chairs who agree to serve a second

term, but committee members had some reservations about the proposed policy

of awarding a step increase to chairs accepting a second term. A temporary “reenlistment”

bonus might be amore appropriate way of achieving this goal, as

would provision of administrative leaves.

5. Summer salaries The Committee did not deal with this issue.

environment. There was a general sentiment that the committee plays a useful

role and could continue to do so in a collective bargaining framework. There was

some discussion about how the audience and composition of the committee

might need to change. The committee agreed that Paul could contact the

Faculty Senates at EWU and CWU to see how they have dealt with this issue.

7. Need to select a commitee chair in spring quarter Paul reminded the

committee that we need to select the chair for 2006-07 during spring quarter.

8. Items from the faculty. Jianglong Wang mentioned that his term on the

committee will expire after the end of his leave next quarter. The committee

thanked him for his time on the committee and expressed best wishes for his

leave.

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