Purdue News

Comments to the Board of Trustees on Februay 6, 2004

President reports to trustees on faculty, staff compensation

The strategic plans this board approved for Purdue University focus on a vision of preeminence and world leadership.

Central to accomplishing this is recruiting and retaining a diverse, world-class faculty and staff. These are the people who make Purdue the great university that it is. People are the key to our success.

Competitive compensation is absolutely essential to recruiting and retaining a faculty and staff of the highest academic and professional stature and achievement. We continue to assess where we stand with respect to compensation for our faculty, our professional and administrative staff, and our clerical and service staff. This information is used as the basis for determining future salary and total compensation packages.

As we assess our progress, we are reporting our findings to you to keep you updated on this most important aspect of our strategic plans. This report will show that in some areas we are making progress. It will also show we have more work to do before we achieve our goals.

The report I am making today focuses on the academic year 2002-2003. This is also known as Fiscal Year 2003, which ended June 30, 2003.

Some aspects of the report will also contain information for the current academic year – Fiscal 2004.

Specifically, the portions of this report concerning faculty salary as we compare to our peer institutions use numbers from last year. This is the most current data available to us for comparative analysis.

We believe that this year Purdue has made significant progress in compensation compared with our peers and other Big Ten universities. Comparative information to verify this will be available in next year’s report.

Systemwide in 2002-2003, Purdue spent $656 million on compensation and benefits. Salary and wages accounted for 76 percent of the total. The remaining 24 percent went for benefits.

Purdue is more competitive for total faculty compensation than for salaries alone. One of the main factors contributing to this is the university’s very competitive retirement benefits program.

In the fall of 2002, faculty salaries at West Lafayette and the regional campuses were below the average for their respective peer institutions.

West Lafayette and Fort Wayne were each 9 percent below the average, as they had been the previous year.

North Central and Calumet fell a bit farther behind. Calumet faculty salaries were 10 percent below the average in the fall of 2002. It had been 7 percent below the average in 2001. North Central was 12 percent below the average. It had been 11 percent below in 2001.

Our analysis also shows aggregated salaries for mid-level administrators and professional staff continue to be below the Midwest regional average for IPFW and North Central. It is above the average for Calumet.

For West Lafayette, these aggregated salaries are at 7 percent above average for this region, but 5 percent below when compared with the CIC group, which includes the Big Ten and the University of Chicago.

Salaries for non-exempt employees are generally below the statewide averages at all Purdue campuses, although noticeable progress has been made in closing the gaps.

The upper administrative position salaries aggregated for West Lafayette and compared with doctoral institutions are above the average for academic positions. They are below the average for other categories, which include administrative, external affairs and student services.

We will now focus on each campus individually.

Using data from the fall of 2003, the employee count on our West Lafayette campus is 9,749. The largest single classification is service staff, which accounts for 23 percent of the total. The next largest group is professional staff at 20 percent. Tenured/tenure-track faculty account for 18 percent. This is followed by clerical staff at 15 percent, administrative staff at 14 percent, non-tenure-track faculty, lecturers and postdoctoral fellows at 7 percent, and Extension educators at 3 percent.

Salaries, wages and benefits on the West Lafayette campus in 2002-2003 were $553 million.

These numbers are for the current academic year. They are from the fall of 2003.

The bottom row of numbers shows mean salaries for faculty across the entire university in assistant, associate, full professor categories and all ranks.

This comparison also shows salaries by school.

The full professor mean salary for the fall of 2003 was just a bit more than $97,000. Management, Engineering, and Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences were the three schools with the highest full professor pay. Aggregating all ranks, the top three schools in terms of salary were Management, Engineering and Science.

The bottom row of numbers on this slide shows the mean salaries by gender, minority and non-minority.

There was a gap of nearly $17,000 between men and women. The gap between minority and non-minority was narrow — about $900. Careful studies of faculty and staff salaries on the West Lafayette campus indicate there is no systemic inequity based on gender or race/ethnicity.

The difference in these numbers is explainable based on qualifications, experience, discipline and merit. Where all these are equal, pay is also equal.

These numbers are from the fall of 2002. In the fall of 2002 Purdue West Lafayette ranked 10th among 12 peers in faculty salary.

The mean was $82,600. The Purdue average was $75,200. This was 91 percent of the mean – the same as we had been in the fall of 2001.

When compensation is added, Purdue West Lafayette becomes more competitive, but still ranks 10th. The mean among the peers was $103,400. The West Lafayette campus mean was $97,600. That was 95 percent of the peer mean. We had been 96 percent in 2001.

Again, we believe that when numbers from this fall are available, Purdue will have made gains.

"CompData" referred to in this and in slides that are to come is the "Compensation Data 2003" survey sponsored by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Compdata Surveys, by Dolan Technologies Corp., Olathe, Kansas.

The Chamber sponsors an annual survey on compensation and benefits. In 2003, 344 companies submitted data. A total of 85,111 rates were summarized covering 493 jobs in Indiana.

The numbers on this slide are for the current academic year.

For the fall of 2003, West Lafayette non-exempt employee average salaries are slightly lower than the state of Indiana. The overall Purdue numbers were at 95 percent of the state average.

In one category – electrician – we exceeded the state average. However, in all other categories we were below – ranging from 66 percent of the mean for laboratory tech upper, to 96 percent for carpenter, custodian and executive secretary.

CUPA referred to in this and future slides is the College and University Professional Association. The CUPA numbers are grouped by type of institution in addition to region. Therefore, the Midwest CUPA numbers for our various campuses are not the same. The numbers on this slide are from the previous academic year.

In West Lafayette, average salaries for mid-level administrators and professional staff were higher than the Midwest average. We were 107 percent of the average. However, when compared to universities that join us in the CIC, which includes Big Ten institutions and the University of Chicago, we fall behind.

The average on the West Lafayette campus was 95 percent of the CIC average salary — a difference of just more than $2,000 per year.

These numbers are for the previous academic year.

Comparisons vary for our upper administrative positions in 2002-2003 for doctoral institutions. The Purdue average for External Affairs exceeded the doctoral average median by more than $4,000. However, the average for Purdue Student Services was 84 percent of the doctoral average mean. In the Academic category, Purdue was 99 percent of the doctoral average median. Our total weighted average was 93 percent of the doctoral average median.

On our Calumet campus, the total faculty and staff count for the current year is 887. The largest share of is non-tenure-track faculty, lecturers and visiting faculty at 28 percent. Tenured/tenure-track faculty is 26 percent. The next largest groups are clerical at 16 percent, administrative at 14 percent, service at 10 percent and professional at 6 percent.

These numbers are from the fall of 2002. Using fall of 2002 comparison, our Calumet campus ranked 9th among 11 peers in salary for all ranks. Calumet was 90 percent of the peer mean in 2002. It had been 93 percent in 2001.

As previously indicated, our numbers are more competitive when compensation is added. Purdue Calumet ranks 6th among its peers when the total includes compensation. However, this is still short of the peer mean. Purdue Calumet was 97 percent of the peer mean in the fall of 2002. It had been 99 percent in 2001.

In Calumet, we have 2003 non-exempt employee salary comparisons for Indiana and Illinois. We compete for employees in both states. We are at 95 percent of the average salary in Indiana. But we are at 80 percent of the higher salaries in Illinois.

The bottom portion of this slide uses comparative numbers from the previous academic year – 2002-2003.

In mid-level professional salary comparisons, we exceed the Midwest average. The Calumet average salary was $41,546, compared with the Midwest average of $39,531. We were at 105 percent.

In Fort Wayne this academic year, the largest segment of our work group is non-tenure-track faculty, lecturers, visiting faculty and clinical professionals at 34 percent. The next largest group is tenured/tenure-track faculty at 22 percent, followed by administrative staff at 14 percent, clerical staff also at 14 percent, service staff at 13 percent, and professional staff at 3 percent.

These numbers are from the previous academic year, 2003-2003. Using fall of 2002 comparison, our Fort Wayne campus ranked 12th among 14 peers in salary for all ranks. Fort Wayne was 91 percent of the peer mean in 2002. It was also 91 percent in 2001.

The numbers improve when compensation is added. Fort Wayne moves up two places and ranks 10th among peers when the total includes compensation. Including compensation, Fort Wayne was 97 percent of the peer mean in the fall of 2002. It had been 96 percent in 2001, showing a 1 percent gain.

The numbers on the top of this slide are from the current academic year. In Fort Wayne our non-exempt employee salary this year is below the average in Indiana. Fort Wayne is 93 percent of the average.

The bottom portion of this slide uses comparative numbers from the previous academic year – 2002-2003. In mid-level professional salary comparisons, we were below the Midwest average. The Fort Wayne average salary was $38,629, compared with the Midwest average of $42,386. That was 91 percent of the Midwest average.

At Purdue North Central this academic year, the largest segment of our work group is non-tenure-track faculty, lecturers, visiting faculty and clinical professionals at 38 percent. The next largest group is tenured/tenure-track faculty at 18 percent, followed by administrative staff at 16 percent, service staff at 15 percent, clerical staff at 9 percent and professional staff at 4 percent.

These numbers are for the previous academic year. Using fall of 2002 comparisons, our North Central campus ranked 6th among 8 peers in salary for all ranks. North Central was 88 percent of the peer mean in the fall of 2002. It was 89 percent in 2001.

The numbers are better when compensation is added. North Central still ranks 6th when the total includes compensation. But it was 93 percent of the peer mean in the fall of 2002. It had also been 93 percent in 2001.

The numbers on the top of this slide are from the current academic year. At North Central our non-exempt employee salary is below the average in Indiana. North Central is 90 percent of the average.

The bottom portion of this slide uses comparative numbers from the previous academic year – 2002-2003. In mid-level professional salary comparisons, we fell below the Midwest average. The North Central average salary was $33,945, compared with the Midwest average of $37,724. That was 95 percent of the Midwest average.

What this report shows is that overall Purdue salaries fall below the average of our peers. When salaries and compensation are considered together, the gaps become smaller. Our analysis also shows that when cost of living factors are added, we become quite competitive.

For example, when cost of living factors are considered, the average faculty salary of $75,200 in West Lafayette is worth in excess of $154,100 at the University of California, Berkeley, and in excess of $108,000 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

When cost of living is factored in, Purdue average salaries exceed the peer mean.

Still, what this analysis clearly shows is that we have work to do in this area that is so important to the present and future of our university.

Competitive faculty and staff compensation continues to be among the highest priorities in our strategic plans. This includes compensation for faculty by rank and discipline, and staff by job classification and categories.

Purdue campuses will continue to monitor and analyze their respective faculty and staff competitiveness as a means to improve and close the gaps.

It is clear that a significant infusion of funds will be necessary in order to substantially improve the competitiveness of the average salaries. Closing the gaps more rapidly has been constrained by budgetary limitations.

While Purdue is achieving considerable success with the impetus and enthusiasm created by the strategic plans, the challenge of salary competitiveness involves policy issues along with short- and long-term funding priorities.

We will bring forth proposals for the Board of Trustees to address salary and compensation policies and other priorities as a part of the annual budget development process.

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