UW-Madison is committed to maintaining equity in faculty and staff salaries.
Salary Equity
Equity involves the consideration of an individual’s salary in relation to career merit in comparison with peers at the university. At the time of regular review, which should take place annually, salaries should be evaluated for equity with comparable UW-Madison peers (same department/discipline, similar years since degree, similar years at UW-Madison/as a professor, rank and scope of responsibility).
Learn more about the Standard Salary Equity Review Policy and guidelines for how to implement faculty salary equity review.
Salary Compression
Equity considerations for faculty should also address salary compression – full professors who are past their five-year, post-promotion review and whose salary is not higher than the highest paid assistant or associate professor in the department (allowing for a margin of 1% increase a year for additional years of service), keeping in mind the other factors of equity that should be considered.
Funding Sources
If salary adjustments are considered appropriate, they must be funded using existing funding sources:
- From the annual merit pool in years when there is a pay plan (which comes from campus funds)
- Via regular promotion base adjustment (which comes from the unit’s continuing base budget)
- From the faculty block grant (which comes from central administration to address equity, along with market and performance)
- As a base adjustment for “individual equity” under existing rules (which comes from the unit’s continuing base budget).
A combination of any of these may also be used. This list is not exhaustive: some units have found other sources of funds for equity adjustments.