Exciting Progress on Faculty Compensation: Phase One Updates & Next Steps

We are pleased to share an important and exciting update regarding the University’s Faculty Compensation Study report. As part of our shared commitment to transparency, we have now reached a major milestone in the implementation of Phase One immediate adjustments recommended with the Faculty Compensation Study.

Background and Progress:

As you may be aware, and for the first time in the history of the university, compensation equity for faculty, staff, and administrators was catapulted to the very top of the institution’s strategic priorities, after feedback was sought from all corners of the university. As quickly as possible, the Compensation Philosophy project was launched, and through the university’s newly formed Institutional Compensation Philosophy Committee (ICPC), the voices of all university constituents were empowered. Highly valued input from our branches of governance, and from the Board of Trustees, was gleaned via the Compensation Philosophy Committee for the specific purpose to study the university’s classification and compensation of its faculty, staff, and administrators. Request for Proposals (RFPs) were sought, and the external consulting group McKnight and Associates was selected and tasked with the responsibility of conducting a classification and compensation study related to faculty, staff and administrators.

On December 13, 2024, as detailed in the Important Update on Compensation Review and Adjustments campus communication, we informed you that the initial Faculty Compensation Study report from McKnight would be delivered to senior leadership in January 2025. This report included both an external market analysis and an internal equity assessment to mitigate any potential salary compression issues. Following the completion of McKnight’s report and University’s internal review, on January 27, 2025, as detailed in the Implementation Phases of the Faculty, Staff, and Administrators’ Compensation Project campus communication, the University committed to a phased implementation plan—beginning with Phase One, which focused on addressing the most immediate and critical compensation gaps for faculty furthest away from established benchmarks. The effective date of this immediate salary adjustment was February 3rd, 2025.

In February, as detailed in the February 21, 2025 UPDATE: McKnight Peer List campus communication, made the decision to pause the rollout of the Phase One salary adjustments pending the correction and verification of the underlying data with key stakeholders. Specifically, the Deans, senior leadership, and the ICPC had received the initial draft of the peer institution list—“McKnight Peer List_Feb2025”—which served as the basis for external market comparisons in the McKnight report. However, based on thoughtful and constructive feedback from our colleges, it became clear that the institutions included in the original peer list did not adequately reflect WesternU’s distinctive profile. In response, the University directed our consultant to work closely with internal teams from Finance and Budget, Human Resources, the Deans, and other university stakeholders to revise the dataset, incorporate more accurate and representative peer comparators, and revise and update the initial report.

Phase 1: Distribution

I’m happy to announce that the Phase One salary adjustments have now been authorized for distribution. Phase One is defined as an immediate salary adjustment for full-time faculty members whose current salaries are most out of alignment with competitive market zones according to the benchmarks identified in their respective college or program specific market model, as stated in the February 7, 2025 IMPORTANT UPDATE: Implementation Phases of the Faculty, Staff, and Administrators’ Compensation Project  campus communication.

It is important to emphasize that Phase One represents an initial—but impactful—step toward a more equitable faculty compensation structure.

All faculty who are subject to the Phase One implementation will receive official communication from the Office of Human Resources detailing the adjustment. All Phase One adjustments will be made retroactive effective February 3, 2025 and onward as previously communicated in the Implementation Phases of the Faculty, Staff, and Administrators’ Compensation Project campus announcement, and will be reflected in the May 23rd paycheck for those impacted faculty members.

Furthermore, the receipt of a Phase One salary adjustment will not affect a faculty member’s eligibility for the approved 2% annual salary increase on July 1, 2025.

We remain firmly committed to transparency throughout this process and are confident that these changes will positively impact our community by reinforcing the culture of respect and recognition that defines WesternU. To that end, we believe it is important to share the general methodology used in Phase One. The models developed for Phase One took into account several key factors to establish the appropriate structured parameters for respective salary models for each college or program based on college and/or program specific market data, industry specific peer lists, industry-specific compensation surveys, standard industry salary spread, internal college or program salary data, salary compression mitigation, industry-specific pay practice prevalences, and regional and national data. Phase One included comprehensive input from each Dean to ensure that these adjustments were data-informed and aligned with college and institutional priorities.

Staff & Administrator Classification and Compensation Study: In parallel, the University has initiated a similar compensation review for staff and administrators, using a similarly rigorous approach which includes both classification and compensation components.

The next phase of this study will involve a collaborative review of job descriptions between staff and supervisors to ensure that each employee’s responsibilities are accurately represented. We look forward to providing updates as we move toward implementation phases for this study.

Phase 2: Faculty Compensation Study

The second phase of implementation of faculty salary adjustments will involve the development of comprehensive standardized salary schedules. As a reminder, the ICPC is tasked with the development of an institutional compensation philosophy which will be used to inform the development of the Phase Two salary schedules. These salary schedules will provide a structured framework for faculty compensation, aligning salaries with market comparisons, based on respective rank, status, academic discipline, and other relevant factors. Additionally, the development of these salary schedules will be based on an institutional compensation philosophy.  Once established, the salary adjustment schedule will serve as a consistent and sustainable foundation for future compensation planning and adjustments. Further implementation details on this phase will be shared in the coming months.

Conclusion

This work is part of a long-term, values-driven investment in our employees. The Phase One for faculty compensation is just the beginning, and we will continue to evaluate and address compensation through a lens of fairness, transparency, and fiscal responsibility. Thank you to all who contributed to this critical initiative who worked diligently to ensure a thoughtful process and outcome.

Warmest Regards,
Robin Farias-Eisner, MD, PhD, MBA
President

Paula M. Crone, DO
Provost & Chief Academic Officer

Joshua McFarlen, CPA, CA, MPAcc
Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer

Dean’s Council