|
|
SENATE Economic
Status of the Faculty
1999-2000 Report of the Senate Committee on the Economic
Status of the Faculty
January 22, 2001
TABLES: TABLE
1 | TABLE 2 | TABLE 3 | TABLE 4 | TABLE 5 | TABLE 6
| TABLE 7 | TABLE 8 | TABLE
9 | TABLE 10 | TABLE 11 | TABLE 12
I. Introduction
The Senate Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty (SCESF) is
charged by the "Rules of the Faculty Senate" to:
- Gather and organize data on faculty salaries and benefits,
- Issue an annual report on the economic status of the faculty, and
- Represent the faculty in the determination of University policy on
salary issues.
The focus of this report is on the current economic status of the faculty
based on salary data. In accordance with the procedures adopted by the Senate
Executive Committee in Spring 1999, we do not offer recommendations here
for development of faculty salary policy. Instead, we report in Section VII the present status of committee recommendations,
as adopted by the Senate Executive Committee and submitted to the Provost
in 1998-99.
In designing this report on the economic status of the faculty, SCESF
has addressed three broad concerns:
- The salary setting process at Penn: how funds become available for
faculty salaries and the how annual salary increase decisions are made.
- External comparisons: the competitiveness of faculty salaries at Penn
in comparison with faculty salaries at other universities.
- Internal comparisons: variability of faculty salaries within Penn,
and sources of possible salary inequity that might occur within observed
variability.
Major sections of this Report are devoted to each of these three topics,
while Section VI is devoted to SCESF's overall conclusions
about the economic status of the faculty.
In performing its responsibilities, SCESF has been cognizant of Penn's
current salary policy as stated by the President, Provost, and Executive
Vice President (Almanac
April 20, 1999, p. 3). Penn's guiding principle in salary planning is
to pay faculty and staff (a) competitively, (b) in relationship to the markets
for their services and prevailing economic conditions, (c) to acknowledge
their contributions to the University, and (d) to help Penn remain a strong
and financially viable institution.
In studying faculty salaries for this report, SCESF continues to benefit
from detailed salary information (excluding, of course, individual faculty
salaries) that has been provided by Penn's administration.Our understanding
both of Penn's competitiveness with peer institutions in faculty salary
levels and of faculty salary variability within Penn has been enhanced by
access to this information and by the assistance of those who produced it.
The SCESF acknowledges this cooperation with appreciation.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| COMMITTEE MEMBERS | FOOTNOTES
| BACK TO TOP OF THIS SECTION
TABLES: TABLE
1 | TABLE 2 | TABLE 3 | TABLE 4 | TABLE 5 | TABLE 6
| TABLE 7 | TABLE 8 | TABLE
9 | TABLE 10 | TABLE 11 | TABLE 12
II. Resources for Faculty Salaries
Faculty salaries are the product of a two-step process. First, most of
each school's resources are raised in accordance with the principles of
Penn's Responsibility Center Budgeting System. In addition, subvention is
distributed to schools by Penn's central administration. Of these resources,
each School makes a certain amount available for faculty salaries in three
respects: (a) sustaining existing faculty appointments, (b) providing annual
salary increments for continuing faculty members, and (c) creating salary
funding for new faculty positions. In addition, schools must provide funds
for employee benefits that approximate 30% of all such faculty salary expenditures.
Second, deans of schools make annual salary increment recommendations to
the Provost for continuing faculty members by a different process. These
two steps are described separately in the following sections.
A. Responsibility Center Budgeting System
In accordance with principles of the Responsibility Center Budgeting
System (RCBS), each of Penn's 12 schools is allocated most of the income
that it generates annually. In turn, each School is obligated to establish
a level of annual expenses that does not exceed the total of available income.
A school's revenues are divided into two major fund groups: "General
Operating Funds" (which were termed "unrestricted" funds
prior to 1997), the expenditure of which is not restricted by specific terms
and conditions established by external donors; and "Designated Funds"
(which were termed "restricted" funds prior to 1997), the expenditure
of which is restricted by specific terms and conditions established by external
donors of such funds. Because payment of the base academic year salaries
of most standing faculty members is assured from General Operating Funds
(even though significant portions of such salaries are actually paid from
Designated Funds), only principles of the RCBS as applied to General Operating
Funds are described here.1
In general, the General Operating Funds income available to each School
is of three types: earned income, gift income, and centrally-awarded subvention.
These sources are shown in greater detail in Table 1 for
all of Penn's 12 Schools combined. Tuition is, by far, the greatest source
of school income, with indirect cost recoveries from externally funded projects
a distant second.
With respect to faculty salaries, it is possible (at least in principle)
that the amount of money available to a school could be increased by augmenting
a school's income from one or more of the nine specific sources listed in
Table 1 . To the extent that it is possible to increase
a school's income from sources that are based on the work of faculty (e.g.,
tuition, indirect cost recoveries, and net income from clinical practices),
faculty members have influence over the growth of income that is available
for supporting faculty salaries.
General Operating Fund expenses for each school are also of three general
types: academic compensation2 (i.e., salary plus
benefits), other school-related operating expenses (including staff compensation,
materials, equipment, debt service, and student aid), and central University
costs that are allocated among the schools according to RCBS formulas (e.g.,
facilities services, central computing services, central research support
services, the University Library System, public safety, etc.).
These expenses are shown in greater detail in Table 1 for
all of Penn's 12 schools combined. Academic compensation and total allocated
costs were the greatest (and roughly equal) sources of school expenses in
the FY 1998 budget. With respect to academic salaries, it is possible (at
least in principle) that the amount of money available within a school could
be increased by reducing that school's "standard of living" (i.e.,
by reducing the level of staff and other support, facilities used, and/or
student aid), or by increasing the efficiency of that school's administrative
operations (or those of the central University) so that key services are
delivered at current or expanded levels, but a lower cost. In essence, the
RCBS sends the message to schools that each can spend as much as it can
earn, and that each School has a great deal of latitude in how to spend
its income. More, or less, might be spent on faculty salaries at a school's
discretion. A major exception to this message is that a significant component
of income is subvention--an annual award of funds to each school by the
University centrally. The amount of subvention awarded to each school is
based on a number of considerations such as an adjustment for certain inequalities
among schools in the costs of providing instruction and supporting research.
One of many such considerations can be the variation of average faculty
salaries by rank among schools. For this and other reasons, the percentage
of school expenses provided by subvention income varied widely among Penn's
schools from a low of 4% to a high of 28% during FY 1998.3
These percentages suggest that considerable central judgment is used in
allocating subvention to schools.
B. How Annual Salary Increase Decisions Are Made
Annual salary increase recommendations for continuing faculty members
are made by Department Chairs (in schools with departments) and by Deans,
with review and oversight by the Provost (see the Appendix for a statement
of the "Salary Guidelines For 1998-99" published in Almanac,
April 20, 1999, p. 3, online at www.upenn.edu/almanac/v45/n29/ORsalary.html).
Penn's President, Provost, and Executive Vice President set an upper limit
on a "pool percentage" for salary increases. For FY 2000, schools
were authorized to award, as salary increases, a pool of up to 3.5% of the
FY 1999 salaries of continuing faculty members. The recommended salary increase
range was 1% to 6%, with Deans being obligated to consult with the Provost
about any increases outside this range. Deans could supplement the pool
by 0.5% without the Provost's approval, and by more than this with the Provost's
approval. To address possible inequity in faculty salaries, Deans were asked
to "pay particular attention to any faculty who meet standards of merit
but whose salaries for various reasons may have lagged over the years."
Within this framework of available funds, Department Chairs and Deans
had the responsibility to recommend salary increases to the Provost for
each continuing faculty member based on general merit, including recognition
of outstanding teaching, scholarship, research, and service. In addition,
the Provost reviews the Deans' faculty salary recommendations "to insure
that raises on average reflect market conditions in each discipline."
Table 1
|
General Operating Funds Budget for All Schools Combined
at the University of Pennsylvania for Fiscal Year 1998 Reported in Millions
of Dollars (Excludes the Designated Funds Budget) |
- |
Dollars |
Item Income |
$1,000,000s |
Percentage |
1. Tuitiona |
$294 |
48% |
2. Indirect Cost Recovery |
79 |
13% |
3. Subventiona |
66 |
11% |
4. Commonwealthb |
36 |
6% |
5. Sales and Services |
28 |
5% |
6. Special Fees |
18 |
3% |
7. Gifts |
9 |
1% |
8. Other |
23 |
4% |
9. Health Services Transfer for School of Medicine |
53 |
9% |
Total Income
|
$606 |
100% |
Expenses |
- |
- |
1. Faculty Compensationc |
$163 |
27% |
2. Staff Compensation |
102 |
17% |
3. Current Operating Expenses |
98 |
16% |
4. Student Aid |
83 |
13% |
5. Allocated Costs |
- |
- |
a. Library
|
30 |
5% |
b. School Facilities etc.
|
81 |
13% |
c. Central Administration
|
54 |
9% |
Total Expenses
|
$611 |
100% |
a - Tuition earned by schools is subdivided into two components: School
Tuition (80%) and University Tuition (20%). School Tuition is listed here
as "Tuition," while approximately 85% of subvention is composed
of University Tuition. |
b - The grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is designated for
three schools as follows: Veterinary Medicine: $31M; Medicine: $4M; Dental
Medicine: $1M. |
c - Excludes a large amount of faculty compensation budgeted in designated
funds such as from endowments (including endowed chairs), external research
grants, and clinical income. |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| COMMITTEE MEMBERS | FOOTNOTES
| BACK TO TOP OF THIS SECTION
TABLES: TABLE
1 | TABLE 2 | TABLE 3 | TABLE 4 | TABLE 5 | TABLE 6
| TABLE 7 | TABLE 8 | TABLE
9 | TABLE 10 | TABLE 11 | TABLE 12
III. Penn Faculty Salaries: External Comparisons
Average Penn Faculty Salaries (i.e., academic year base salaries) are
compared with three types of external indicators in the following sections:
growth in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), average faculty salaries by rank
at other universities as reported by annual survey conducted at the school
level, and average salaries of full professors for a sample of 17 public
and private research universities selected as comparable to Penn from among
those included in the "Annual Report on the Economic Status of the
Profession" issued by the American Association of University Professors
(AAUP). As a methodological note and unless otherwise specifically stated,
all faculty salary information discussed in this report refers to the aggregated
"academic year base salary" of individual faculty members whether
salaries are paid from General Operating Funds and/or from Designated Funds.
In addition, all salary data reported exclude members of the Faculty of
Medicine and all standing faculty members who are appointed as Clinician
Educators from four other schools that have such positions (Dental Medicine,
Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work).
Table 2
|
Average academic base salary percentage increases of
Penn standing faculty members by rank in comparison with the Consumer Price
Index (CPI) and Penn Budget Guidelines |
- |
- |
Fiscal Year |
- |
Group/Condition |
Average |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
Cumulative Compound 1990-1999 |
Full Professors |
Median |
4.3% |
3.5% |
3.5% |
- |
- |
Mean |
5.0% |
4.6% |
5.0% |
66.7% |
Associate Professors |
Median |
4.0% |
3.5% |
3.9% |
- |
- |
Mean |
5.4% |
5.2% |
5.7% |
67.1% |
Assistant Professors |
Median |
4.3% |
4.4% |
5.0% |
- |
- |
Mean |
6.0% |
6.0% |
5.9% |
72.4% |
All Three Ranks |
Median |
5.2% |
5;0% |
5.3% |
- |
Uscityaverage CPI |
-- |
1.7% |
1.9% |
NA |
35.6% |
Budget Guidelines |
Mean |
3.5% |
3.5% |
3.5% |
46.6% |
NOTE: Academic base salary percentage increases pertain to all Penn
standing faculty members who continued in the same rank during the periods
of time reported. Excluded were all members of the Faculty of Medicine,
all Clinician Educators from four other schools (Dental Medicine, Veterinary
Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work) that have such positions, and faculty
members who were promoted or entered Penn employment during the periods
of time reported. |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| COMMITTEE MEMBERS | FOOTNOTES
| BACK TO TOP OF THIS SECTION
A. Comparisons with Growth in the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
Faculty salary increases by rank, averaged for all schools except Medicine,
for FY 1998, FY 1999, FY 2000, and compound cumulative for FY 1990-99, are
shown in Table 2 in comparison with comparable data for
the CPI (UScityaverage) and Penn budget guidelines. Even though the nation
is in a period of low inflation, it is reassuring to observe that median
faculty salary increments for all three ranks for FY 1998 exceeded the percentage
growth in the CPI and Penn's budget guidelines for the years reported.
The most impressive salary increase percentages were the cumulative compound
salary increments over the 10-year period from FY 1990 through FY 1999 as
seen in Table 2. On the whole (all ranks combined), cumulative
mean Penn faculty salary increments during this 10-year period were almost
twice the growth in the CPI (UScityaverage).4
Furthermore, the mean compound cumulative growth in faculty salaries
over the 10-year period exceeded Penn's budget guidelines by a considerable
margin. These guidelines refer to the centrally-recommended salary pool
percentage. What has happened is that many (perhaps all) of the Deans of
Penn's schools have added considerable additional school resources to the
recommended cumulative base pool for salary increments. If we estimate the
compound cumulative increase over the 10-year period for all ranks combined
to be 68% (the exact number is not available), the cumulative compound additional
contribution of schools to the salary pool must have approximated 20% (68%
minus the recommended budget guideline of 46.6%). Thus, it is apparent that
both Penn's central and school administrations have made substantial joint
efforts to raise the average level of faculty salaries well in excess of
the rate of inflation in the CPI during the past 10 years.5
Table 3
|
Percentage of continuing Penn standing faculty members
awarded percentage salary increases exceeding the percentage growth in the
consumer price index (CPI) for Philadelphia for the twelve-month period
ending before the beginning of each of three fiscal years |
- |
Percentage of all Standing Faculty Members with Salary
Increases Exceeding Growth in the CPI (Phil.) |
Schools and Disciplinary Areas |
FY 1998 |
FY 1999 |
FY 2000 |
Annenberg |
78% |
93% |
100% |
Dental Medicine |
100% |
96% |
95% |
Engineering & Applied Science |
93% |
95% |
94% |
Grad Education |
100% |
97% |
100% |
Grad Fine Arts |
85% |
100% |
84% |
Humanities (A&S) |
99% |
96% |
92% |
Law |
97% |
97% |
94% |
Natural Science (A&S) |
92% |
88% |
82% |
Nursing |
89% |
88% |
100% |
Social Science (A&S) |
95% |
95% |
85% |
Social Work |
94% |
76% |
87% |
Veterinary Med |
95% |
89% |
97% |
Wharton |
99% |
94% |
93% |
Phil. CPI Growth (prior year) |
2.38% |
1.14% |
2.34% |
NOTE: Academic base salary increases pertain to all Penn standing faculty
members who continued in the same rank during the periods of time reported.
Excluded were all members of the Faculty of Medicine, all Clinician Educators
from four schools (Dental Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Social
Work) that have such positions, and faculty members who were promoted or
entered Penn employment during the periods of time reported. |
TABLE OF CONTENTS | COMMITTEE
MEMBERS | FOOTNOTES | BACK TO TOP OF THIS SECTION
The overall increases in faculty salary by rank in comparison with growth
in the CPI, as seen in Table 2, are reported by school
(including three disciplinary areas of SAS) in Table 3
for FY 1998, FY 1999 and FY 2000. A high percentage of faculty members in
all of these schools/areas was awarded salary increments for FY 2000 that
exceeded growth in the CPI (Phil.) for the twelve-month period ending June
1999. More particularly, all faculty members in 3 of 13 schools/areas were
awarded salary increases greater than the most recent CPI growth percentage.
Given the fairly low percentage level of inflation in Philadelphia (2.38%)
and the fact that aggregate salary increases for the continuing professorate
ranged from a low of 3.9% (Dental Medicine, which provided salary increases
in excess of the most recent CPI growth percentage to 95% its faculty members)
to a high of 10.9% (Annenberg, which provided salary increases in excess
of the CPI percentage to all its faculty members) for FY 2000, it is puzzling
to see that 8 of the other 11 schools/areas awarded a salary increase below
the CPI growth percentage to more than five percent of all continuing standing
faculty members. In particular, over 10% of faculty members in the School
of Arts and Sciences (the three areas of humanities, natural sciences, and
social sciences combined) were awarded salary increases less that the CPI
growth percentage. Likewise, well over 10% of faculty members in the Graduate
School of Fine Arts and the School of Social Work received increases less
than the CPI percentage. Under such conditions, there is always concern
that the salary increases for some individual faculty members might have
been inequitably low. It is also disappointing because an increase of less
than the CPI growth percentage for an individual faculty member represents
an effective reduction in the purchasing power of a salary.
In addition, trends during the three year period shown in Table 3 represent
declines in the percentage of faculty members receiving salary increases
greater than growth in the CPI (Phil.). Overall for FY 2000, 9% of faculty
members received salary increases less than CPI growth, whereas this percentage
was only 7% for FY 1999. While some schools improved their percentages during
the three years shown in Table 3 (e.g., Annenberg), there was a systematic
decline in these percentages for each of the three disciplinary areas of
SAS.
By contrast (as shown in Table 4), the vast majority
of full professors of all schools/areas received cumulative salary increments
that exceeded growth in the CPI (Phil.) over the six fiscal years from 1994
though 2000. On this indicator, 5 of 13 schools/areas awarded cumulative
salary increases exceeding growth in the CPI to 100% of its continuing full
professors, while no school/area was below 90%. Moreover, there has been
considerable improvement in these cumulative percentages during the three
blocks of time reported for Grad Education, the social science area of SAS,
and Veterinary Medicine. The high percentages for most schools/areas indicate
that only a small minority of full professors have fallen behind growth
in the CPI over the most recent six year period. The two exceptions to this
generalization are the natural sciences area of SAS (90%) and Grad Fine
Arts (91%).
SCESF recognizes that there are legitimate reasons for individual faculty
members to be awarded increments less that the growth in the CPI. For example,
in a particular year, the salary increment pool may only approximate, or
even be less than, the rate of growth in the CPI. Furthermore in a small
department or school, a few promotions or market adjustments needed to retain
a valued faculty member could obligate a disproportionate share of an existing
increment pool, thereby leaving little to award to other faculty members
in the unit. Finally, some faculty members may be sufficiently lacking in
merit to justify an increment exceeding the CPI growth.
Nonetheless, if the salary increment pool available in each school/area
is well in excess of CPI growth (as it has been in recent years), it is
the judgment of SCESF that no individual faculty member should receive less
than a cumulative salary increase equal to, or exceeding, growth in the
CPI unless his or her performance has been unsatisfactory. It therefore
seems possible that the cumulative salary increments received by some continuing
full professors have been inequitably low, at least in part.
Table 4
|
Percentage of continuing Penn Full Professors awarded
cumulative compounded percentage salary increases exceeding the cumulative
compounded percentage growth in the consumer price index (CPI) for Philadelphia
for three six-year periods |
- |
Percentage of all Full Professors with Cumulative Salary
Increases Exceeding Growth in the CPI (Phil.) |
Schools and Disciplinary Areas |
FYs 92-98 |
FYs 93-99 |
FYs 94-00 |
Annenberg |
100% |
100% |
100% |
Dental Medicine |
100% |
100% |
100% |
Engineering & Applied Science |
93% |
93% |
93% |
Grad Education |
89% |
100% |
100% |
Grad Fine Arts |
100% |
100% |
91% |
Humanities (A&S) |
98% |
99% |
97% |
Law |
94% |
94% |
96% |
Natural Science (A&S) |
90% |
96% |
90% |
Nursing |
100% |
100% |
100% |
Social Science (A&S) |
80% |
88% |
93% |
Social Work |
100% |
100% |
100% |
Veterinary Med |
80% |
86% |
97% |
Wharton |
95% |
94% |
95% |
Cumulative Phil. CPI Growth* |
17.1% |
13.9% |
16.3% |
NOTE: Cumulative compounded academic base salary increases pertain to
all Penn full professors who continued as full professors during the periods
of time reported. Excluded were all members of the Faculty of Medicine,
and all Clinician Educators from four schools (Dental Medicine, Veterinary
Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work) that have such positions. |
* - Due to data unavailability, there is a lag of one year in computing
cumulative compounded growth in the CPI (Phil.). For example, the salary
increases for FYs 94-00 are compared with CPI growth during FYs 93-99. |
TABLE OF CONTENTS | COMMITTEE
MEMBERS | FOOTNOTES | BACK TO TOP OF THIS SECTION
B. Comparisons with Peer Universities Using MIT Survey
Data
The best currently available salary data from other institutions of higher
education are provided by the MIT annual survey of a group of approximately
23 private and public research universities (the sample size varies somewhat
from year to year). Mean faculty salaries by rank (professor, associate
professor, assistant professor) and discipline have been made available
to the SCESF for analysis as of the Fall Semesters for the years 1996 through
1999. These salary data are reported for the following academic fields:
- Natural Sciences (at Penn, represented by SAS departments)
- Humanities and Social Sciences (at Penn, represented by SAS departments)
- Engineering (at Penn, represented by SEAS)
- Architecture (at Penn, represented by GSFA6)
- Management (at Penn, represented by Wharton)
Even though the MIT sample varies somewhat from year to year, comparisons
reported here have been made only with universities that submitted salary
data consistently during the four year period examined. The MIT sample includes
major private universities, as well as a number of highly regarded public
research universities and one college. However, the specific sample of universities
varies with the academic fields listed above. Each of these samples is described
in turn below.
1. The MIT Sample of Universities
Comparison Sample for Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Humanities:
The MIT sample for academic disciplines in these areas includes 23
institutions: the California Institute of Technology, Carnegie-Mellon,
Columbia, Cornell, Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Princeton, Purdue, Rice, Stanford, California
(Berkeley), California (Los Angeles), California (San Diego), California
(Santa Barbara), Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rochester,
Texas, Williams College, and Yale. These universities are, to a large extent,
comparable to Penn. Although one small college (Williams) is included in
the sample, other institutions are large research universities. The sample
would be improved by the participation of the University of Chicago. There
is one dimension on which the sample may not be completely comparable to
Penn: just under one half of the schools are state universities (ten of
the twenty-three). Moreover, four of the state universities are in the
University of California system. However, as long as one is aware of the
relatively large weight public universities have in this survey, the sample
of universities is appropriate for comparison purposes.
Comparison Sample for Engineering: The MIT sample for engineering
includes 20 institutions: the California Institute of Technology, Carnegie-Mellon,
Columbia, Cornell, Georgia Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Princeton, Purdue, Rice, Stanford, California (Berkeley),
California (Los Angeles), California (San Diego), California (Santa Barbara),
Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rochester, Texas, and Yale. In the judgement
of SCESF, meaningful salary comparisons can be made with this sample of
universities because it is sufficiently representative of engineering schools
elsewhere that are considered to be peers of Penn's School of Engineering
and Applied Science (SEAS).
Comparison Sample for Architecture: The MIT sample for architecture
includes 15 institutions: Carnegie-Mellon, Columbia, Cornell, Georgia Institute
of Technology, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton,
Rice, California (Berkeley), California (Los Angeles), Illinois, Michigan,
Pennsylvania, Texas, and Yale. In the judgement of SCESF, meaningful salary
comparisons can be made with this sample of universities because it is
sufficiently representative of architecture schools elsewhere that are
considered to be peers of Penn's Graduate School of Fine Arts (GSFA).
Comparison Sample for Management: The MIT sample for management
includes 18 institutions: Carnegie-Mellon, Columbia, Cornell, Georgia Institute
of Technology, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Purdue,
Rice, Stanford, California (Berkeley), California (Los Angeles), Illinois,
Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rochester, Texas, and Yale. In
the judgement of SCESF, meaningful salary comparisons can be made with
this sample of universities because it is sufficiently representative of
management schools elsewhere that are considered to be peers of Penn's
Wharton School.
2. Salary Comparisons: Penn's Competitive Standing
The most meaningful comparisons of mean faculty salaries at Penn with
those at other universities in the MIT sample are broken out by academic
field and rank. However, as a broad overall generalization for the four
schools at Penn included in the MIT survey as weighted by faculty size,
it is fair to conclude that Penn's mean faculty salaries (at the full professor
and associate professor ranks) were above average in the MIT sample as
of the Fall 1999. These two senior ranks represent a substantial majority
of the faculty. By contrast, assistant professor salaries overall were
only about average. Thus, Penn faculty salaries (overall for the four schools
included) are at a competitive level as defined by being well above average
in the substantial MIT sample of comparison research universities (about
half of which are private and half public).
However, Penn's general competitive level in the MIT sample has declined
somewhat during the past four years, especially at the full and associate
professor ranks. Thus, there is clearly room for improvement in Penn's
competitive position in the MIT sample, both in terms of its relative standing
and in recovering lost ground.
In our 1999 report, SCESF provided information about mean salary levels
for each academic field included in the MIT survey for the most recent
year for which data were available (Fall 1997). This information is now
updated for Fall 1998 and 1999 in Table 5 in terms of
Penn's rank order of mean salary levels within the MIT sample. In addition,
comparable data are shown in Table 5 for each of four
years beginning with the Fall 1996. The multi-year data of Table
5 are comparable in that the same set of comparison universities is
used for each of the four years reported. Thus, none of the trends in rank
orders observed over time can be attributed to instability in the sample
size or composition.
SCESF has analyzed both the rank order salary data of Table
5 and the more detailed salary data (e.g., frequency distributions)
from which the rank orders were computed. Based on our comprehensive study
of data from the MIT Salary Survey, we describe below, in separate paragraphs
for each academic field and rank, the two most salient points: (a) the
competitive position of a Penn mean salary level as of Fall 1999 (the most
recent salary data) and (b) the change (if any) in this competitive position
during the past four years.
Full Professors in the Natural Sciences: As of 1999-2000, the
mean salary of full professors in the natural sciences at Penn ranked 13th
of 23 universities in the relevant MIT sample, although one of the 12 universities
above Penn was less than 2% higher7. Accordingly,
Penn's current competitive position within the MIT sample is best described
as average. This position of Penn's mean salary in the natural sciences
represents a noticeable8 decline in its competitive
position since 1996-97.
Full Professors in the Social Sciences and Humanities: As of
1999-2000, the mean salary of full professors in the social sciences and
humanities at Penn ranked 10th of 23 universities in the relevant MIT sample,
although 2 of the 9 universities above Penn were less than 2% higher. Accordingly,
Penn's current competitive position in the widely distributed MIT sample
in this academic field is best described as somewhat above average. Nonetheless,
this position of Penn's mean salary in the social sciences and humanities
represents a noticeable decline in its competitive position since 1996-97.
Full Professors in Engineering: As of 1999-2000, the mean salary
of Penn's engineering professors ranked 12th of 20 universities in the
relevant MIT sample. Although all of the 11 universities with higher salaries
exceeded Penn's level by more than 2%, engineering salaries in the MIT
sample are not dispersed widely--the import of which is that the Penn mean
salary, though somewhat below average, is still close to the majority of
those above. Nonetheless, the current competitive position of Penn's mean
salary in engineering represents a noticeable decline in its competitive
position since 1996-97.
Full Professors of Architecture: As of 1999-2000, the mean salary
of Penn's GSFA professors was quite competitive in that it ranked 3rd of
15 universities in the relevant MIT sample. However, the two universities
with higher salaries exceeded Penn's level by a considerable amount. In
comparison with the entire sample of 15 universities reporting data for
architecture, the mean GSFA salary leads a narrowly disbursed middle group.
In general, the current competitiveness of the GSFA mean salary is comparable
to that in 1996-97.
Full Professors of Management: As of 1999-2000, the mean salary
of Penn's Wharton professors ranked 5th of 18 universities in the relevant
MIT sample. Although all of the 4 universities with higher salaries exceeded
Penn's level by more than 2%, the Wharton mean salary in the MIT sample
is nonetheless close to the majority of those above--the import of which
is that the mean Wharton salary is reasonably competitive with most of
the highest offered elsewhere. The current Wharton mean salary represents
a noticeable improvement in its competitive position since 1996-97.
Associate Professors in the Natural Sciences: As of 1999-2000,
the mean salary of associate professors in the natural sciences at Penn
ranked 19th of 23 universities in the relevant MIT sample, although 3 of
the 18 universities above Penn were less than 2% higher. Even so, Penn's
current competitive position within the MIT sample is somewhat below average.
The competitive position of the Penn mean salary in the natural sciences
represents a considerable decline since 1996-97.
Associate Professors in the Social Sciences and Humanities: As
of 1999-2000, the mean salary of associate professors in the social sciences
and humanities at Penn ranked 7th of 23 universities in the relevant MIT
sample, although 1 of the 6 universities above Penn was less than 2% higher.
Accordingly, Penn's current competitive position in the MIT sample in this
academic field is somewhat above average. The competitive position of the
Penn mean salary in the social sciences and humanities has been stable
since 1996-97.
Associate Professors in Engineering: As of 1999-2000, the mean
salary of associate professors in engineering at Penn ranked 12th of 20
universities in the relevant MIT sample, although 3 of the 11 universities
above Penn were less than 2% higher. Accordingly, Penn's current competitive
position in the MIT sample in this academic field is best described as
average. The competitive position of this Penn mean salary in engineering
has declined noticeably since 1996-97.
Associate Professors of Management: As of 1999-2000, the mean
salary of associate professors at Penn's Wharton School ranked 5th of 18
universities in the relevant MIT sample, although one of the 4 universities
above Penn was less than 2% higher. Accordingly, Penn's current competitive
position in the MIT sample in this academic field is somewhat above average.
The current Wharton mean salary represents a noticeable improvement in
its competitive position since 1996-97.
Assistant Professors in the Natural Sciences: As of 1999-2000,
the mean salary of assistant professors in the natural sciences at Penn
ranked 8th of 23 universities in the relevant MIT sample, although 1 of
the 7 universities above Penn was less than 2% higher. Even so, Penn's
current competitive position within the MIT sample is best described as
average because the Penn salary was very close to the median of the sample.
In spite of improvement in the rank order of the Penn mean salary in the
natural sciences since 1996-97 (as seen in Table 5),
closer inspection of the date indicates that Penn's competitive position
is comparable to that in 1996-97.
Assistant Professors in the Social Sciences and Humanities: As
of 1999-2000, the mean salary of assistant professors in the social sciences
and humanities at Penn ranked 16th of 23 universities in the relevant MIT
sample, although one of the 15 universities above Penn was less than 2%
higher. Accordingly, Penn's current competitive position in the MIT sample
in this academic field is considerably below average. The competitive position
of the Penn mean salary in the social sciences and humanities has declined
considerably since 1996-97.
Assistant Professors in Engineering: As of 1999-2000, the mean
salary of assistant professors in engineering at Penn ranked 18th of 20
universities in the relevant MIT sample, although one of the 17 universities
above Penn was less than 2% higher. Accordingly, Penn's mean salary in
this academic field is not competitive in the MIT sample. In addition,
the competitive position of the Penn mean salary in engineering has declined
considerably since 1996-97.
Assistant Professors of Architecture: As of 1999-2000, the mean
salary of assistant professors in Penn's GSFA ranked 12th of 13 universities
in the relevant MIT sample. All of the 11 universities with higher salaries
exceeded Penn's level by more than 2%. Thus, Penn's mean salary in this
academic field is not competitive in the MIT sample. In addition, the competitive
position of the GSFA mean salary has declined noticeably since 1996-97.
Assistant Professors of Management: As of 1999-2000, the mean
salary of assistant professors in Penn's Wharton School professors ranked
5th of 18 universities in the relevant MIT sample, although 2 of the 4
universities above Penn were less than 2% higher. Accordingly, Penn's current
competitive position in the MIT sample in this academic field is somewhat
above average. The competitive position of this Wharton mean salary has
been stable since 1996-97.
3. General Conclusions about Penn's Competitive
Standing by Academic Field
As of academic year 1999-2000, the competitiveness of Penn's mean salary
levels varies greatly across academic fields, and by professorial rank
within fields. Only Wharton's mean salaries are considerably above average
across all three ranks. The mean salaries at Penn of full and associate
professors in the social sciences and humanities (combined) are also above
average, though the mean salary of assistant professors is below average.
Similarly, the mean salary of full professors in GSFA is above average,
while that of assistant professors ranks only 12th out of 13 in the MIT
sample. Likewise, the mean salary of Penn's assistant professors in engineering
lags well behind the competition.
Except for Wharton, there certainly is much room for general improvement
in the competitiveness of Penn mean salary levels. How much improvement
should be expected is indeterminate because there are no established target
levels. However, it might be assumed that recent levels of competitiveness
mark at least the lower boundary.9 By that measure,
Penn has experienced a general decline in competitiveness in all academic
fields covered by the MIT survey except Wharton (which has achieved noticeable
improvement). The competitiveness of the mean salaries of Penn full professors
have noticeably declined in the natural sciences, social sciences/humanities,
and engineering. The mean associate professor salary in natural science
has declined considerably, as have the mean salaries of assistant professors
in the social sciences/humanities and in engineering.
Overall, this is a much less promising overview of Penn's competitiveness
by academic field and rank than presented in SCESF's 1999 Annual Report.
This raises the question about what explains the general decline in Penn's
salary competitiveness in the MIT sample of research universities during
the four most recent years. One possibility is that Penn has been investing
a decreasing amount of funds in faculty salary increases in its
four schools (SAS, SEAS, GSFA, Wharton) that are included in the MIT survey
during the period 1996-97 to 1999-00. A review of salary increase percentages,
year-by-year, for each school and each rank within school reveals that
this is quite dramatically not so. For each rank for each of the
four schools, the mean salary increase percentage was greater in 1999-00
than it was in 1996-97. Likewise, salary increase percentages for 1997-98
and 1998-99 (with one or two exceptions) were higher across the board than
in 1996-97. Thus, Penn has been aggressively increasing faculty salaries
during the past three years as judged by its own standards.
Therefore, the explanation for the general decline Penn's salary competitiveness
(other than Wharton) for three of the four schools included in the MIT
survey must be that our competition is increasing faculty salaries at a
considerably higher rate than Penn. That is, in spite of Penn's efforts
to improve faculty salary levels, our competitive position is declining
because other universities are even more aggressively increasing faculty
salaries.
Table 5
|
Rank Order of mean salary levels of Penn faculty members
by five academic fields in comparison with select-ed public and private
research universities as of the Fall Terms of 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999 |
- |
Rank Order by Year |
Academic Fields |
1996-97 |
1997-98 |
1998-99 |
1999-00 |
Full Professor |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Sciences |
10/23 |
10/23 |
14/23 |
13/23 |
Social Sciences/Humanities |
8/23 |
8/23 |
11/23 |
10/23 |
Engineering |
10/20 |
8/20 |
13/20 |
12/20 |
Architecture |
5/15 |
5/15 |
5/15 |
3/15m |
Management |
5/18 |
5/18 |
5/18 |
5/18 |
Associate Professors |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Sciences |
9/23 |
12/23m |
16/23 |
19/23 |
Social Sciences/Humanities |
6/23 |
5/23 |
7/23 |
7/23 |
Engineering |
8/20 |
6/20 |
12/20 |
12/20 |
Architecture |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Management |
7/18 |
7/18 |
7/18 |
5/18 |
Assistant Professors |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Sciences |
10/23 |
8/23 |
11/23 |
8/23 |
Social Sciences/Humanities |
10/23 |
14/23 |
16/23 |
16/23 |
Engineering |
16/20 |
13/20 |
16/20 |
18/20 |
Architecture |
11/13 |
11/13 |
11/13 |
12/13 |
Management |
9/18 |
7/18 |
3/18 |
5/18 |
NOTE: Salary rank orders pertain to the mean academic base salary levels
of Penn standing faculty members from the Sciences (of SAS) and Social Sciences
and Humanities (of SAS), and the Schools of Engineering and Applied Science
(for engineering), Graduate Fine Arts (for architecture), and Wharton (for
management). Rank orders are reported only if the number of faculty members
is four or more. Data source: MIT Salary Survey. |
TABLE OF CONTENTS | COMMITTEE
MEMBERS | FOOTNOTES | BACK TO TOP OF THIS SECTION
C. Comparisons with Other Universities for Veterinary
and Dental Medicine
For the first time this year, SCESF has been able to review cross-university
comparative salary data for the Schools of Veterinary Medicine and Dental
Medicine. The Committee appreciates the cooperation of the Office of the
Provost and the Deans of the Faculties of Veterinary Medicine and Dental
Medicine in making this possible.
The mean salaries by rank of faculty members in Penn's School of Veterinary
Medicine are included in a salary survey for 1998-99 conducted by the Association
of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC). Accordingly, they can be
compared with those from veterinary medicine schools from 32 other universities,
including a set of 11 other veterinary schools considered to be Penn's peers.
The salary data recorded by this survey differs from the standard definition
of salary used in this report (i.e., the academic base salary of standing
faculty members excluding clinician educators) in the following ways: (a)
clinician educators are included in the veterinary medicine salary data,
(b) salaries reported may be on either a 9 or 12 month basis, and (c) institutional
supplements (undefined) are included in salaries reported. In essence, the
survey is designed to record the salary actually paid to faculty members
during a fiscal year.
Under the conditions of the AAVMC salary survey, SCESF is pleased to
report that the mean academic base salaries at Penn in the School of Veterinary
Medicine ranked first in the peer group of 12 veterinary medicine schools
for Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors (including
Clinician Educators). So far as known, this represents the strongest competitive
position held by any school at Penn.
With respect to the mean salary levels of faculty members at Penn's School
of Dental Medicine, comparative data are available from a salary survey
for 1997-98 conducted by the American Association of Dental Schools (AADS).
Accordingly, Penn salaries can be compared with those from dental medicine
schools from 48 other universities whose identities are not reported. SCESF
has been informed that five of Penn's main competitors are included in the
48 other universities participating in the survey. The data recorded by
the dental salary survey differs from the standard definition of salary
used in this report (i.e., the academic base salary of standing faculty
members excluding clinician educators) in the following ways: (a) clinician
educators are included, (b) professorial level faculty members who work
less that full time at a dental school are included, (c) guaranteed annual
salaries are used as the base, and can be divided by 10 to convert to a
guaranteed annual salary per half day, and (d) mean salary data for Penn
included the Dean, Associate Dean, and Department Heads, while the comparative
data available excluded salaries earned by incumbents in these academic
administrative positions.
The AADS salary data report was not broken out by university. Instead,
salary data for dental schools from all participating universities were
aggregated, and the mean, first quartile, second quartile, and third quartile
points of this aggregated salary distribution were reported. In terms of
guaranteed half day salary, faculty salaries at Penn's School of Dental
Medicine compared favorably in the large sample of 49 schools so far as
can be determined. The mean full professor salary at Penn appears to be
above the 75th percentile, the mean associate professor salary appears to
be above the 75th percentile, and the mean assistant professor salary appears
to be close to the 75th percentile.
There is no way to determine how well average Penn salaries in dental
medicine compare with salary levels at its peer group of dental schools.
However, a spokesman for Penn's School of Dental Medicine has informed SCESF
that Penn salaries at all three professorial ranks are strongly competitive
within its peer group, but not ranked first.
D. Comparisons with Peer Universities Using AAUP
Survey Data
In the absence of salary data for five of Penn's schools, a comparison
of the mean salaries of all full professors at Penn was made with those
at a small select group of research universities based on data published
annually by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in
the April/May issues of Academe. To make meaningful and fair comparisons
of Penn salaries with those at other Universities, five criteria for selection
of comparison universities were first defined: (a) be included in the Research
I category of the Carnegie Classification System, (b) offer a broad array
Ph.D. programs in arts and sciences disciplines, (c) include at least two
of three major professional schools (law, business, engineering), (d) not
include a school of agriculture, and (e) have a composite academic reputation
rating greater than 4.0 (on a five point scale)10
in a rating system reported by U.S. News & Report. The 17 research
universities meeting all five of these criteria are identified in the first
column of Table 6.
The relative standings of mean salaries of Penn full professors are presented
in Table 6 for six years. The order of listing of universities
in Table 6 was determined by the magnitude of mean salaries
of full professors (from high to low) for the most recent academic year
(1999-00). Next, the difference between a comparison university's mean salary
and Penn's mean salary was computed as a percentage of Penn's mean salary.
For example as seen in Table 6, the mean salary of Harvard
full professors in 1986-87 was 16.9% higher than Penn's mean salary that
year ($59,600), while the mean salary at Northwestern was 4.9% below Penn's
mean salary.
The data of Table 6 show that the mean salaries for
full professors at Penn gradually became more competitive during the past
14-year period. For example, seven universities provided mean salaries more
that 2% higher than Penn in 1986-87, while the mean salaries at four universities
(Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and Chicago) exceed Penn by more than 2% in 1999-00.
In addition, the percentage advantage of salaries at Harvard, Stanford,
and Yale over Penn decreased substantially during this period of time, while
only Chicago gained in percentage advantage.
Based on the data of Table 6, it is clear that mean
salaries of full professors at Penn, on the average, become much more competitive
with the very highest salaries elsewhere during the period 1986-87 through
1996-97, and during the past three years have mostly maintained their respectable
competitive position among the top few universities in the nation (and probably
in the world, for that matter).11 Though Penn's
competitive position in this respect is strong in general, aggregated salary
data such as these do not reveal which schools, and departments within schools,
may provide mean salaries that are particularly competitive or that may
lag behind their competition. Therefore, SCESF continues to seek comparative
salary data that is specific to each of Penn's schools.
Even though SCESF was careful to select universities for overall mean
salary comparisons that were similar to Penn on several important criteria
and made comparisons at the full professor rank (i.e., we did not aggregate
across the three professorial ranks), AAUP salary data did not permit the
SCESF to control for the specific schools sponsored by each university and
the number of full professors appointed to each school. Such controls are
desirable because mean salary levels vary by school, as do the number of
professors appointed to the faculty of each school on which the means are
based. Nonetheless, the 1999-00 salary data for full professors from the
AAUP survey (of Table 6) appear to be reasonably consistent
with the salary data for full professors from the MIT survey (published
as Table 5 in SCESF's 1999 Annual Report), and are therefore
sufficiently valid to include in this report. In addition, tables similar
to that of Table 6 (for full professors) were constructed
for associate and assistant professors. They show that salary data from
the AAUP survey are not reasonably consistent with data from the MIT survey.
Therefore, no comparative salary data from AAUP surveys are presented for
associate and assistant professors.
Table 6.
|
Full professor salary comparisons: Percentage differences in mean academic
base salary levels of Penn full professors in comparison with salary levels
of full professors at a sample of comparable research universities for Academic
Years 1986-87, 1991-92, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, and 1999-00 |
Full Professor Salaries: Percentage Differences by Year
|
University a |
1986-87 |
1991-92 |
1996-97 |
1997-98 |
1998-99 |
1999-00 |
Harvard |
16.9% |
14.7% |
12.2% |
11.7% |
11.3% |
12.3% |
Stanford |
12.8% |
7.6% |
6.4% |
6.1% |
7.4% |
5.5% |
Yale |
6.7% |
7.1% |
4.7% |
3.6% |
4.2% |
3.6% |
Chicago |
-0.3% |
3.6% |
1.6% |
1.3% |
3.3% |
3.2% |
PENNSYLVANIA |
$59.6K |
$80.4K |
$100.0K |
$104.6K |
$108.4K |
$114.8K |
Columbia |
3.2% |
2% |
1.2% |
-1% |
0.8% |
-1.2% |
MIT |
4.7% |
4.4% |
0.1% |
-0.4% |
-1.3% |
-2.7% |
Northwestern |
-4.9% |
-1.6% |
-3.9% |
-3.1% |
-1.7% |
-3.1% |
U.C. (Berkeley) |
7.4% |
-2.9% |
-13% |
-11.4% |
-4.5% |
-5.3% |
Duke |
-3.7% |
-1% |
-4.2% |
-3.5% |
NA |
-5.9% |
UCLA |
4.5% |
-5% |
-13.9% |
-11.5% |
-6.5% |
-7.6% |
Virginia |
-1% |
-12.1% |
-15.8% |
-13.1% |
-11% |
-11.8% |
Michigan |
-6.2% |
-8.8% |
-12% |
-12.1% |
-10.8% |
-12.1% |
Carnegie-Mellon |
0.8% |
-1.9% |
-8.9% |
-10.2% |
-10.6% |
-13.6% |
N.C. (Chapel Hill) |
-10.7% |
-18.8% |
-17.8% |
-17.8% |
-18.2% |
-18.3% |
MN (Twin Cities) |
-15.8% |
-21.6% |
-25.2% |
-22.6% |
-21.2 |
-22% |
Texas (Austin) |
-16.6% |
-15% |
-20.4% |
-21.2% |
-22.2% |
-22.1% |
NOTE: Penn academic base mean salaries are based on standing faculty
members at the rank of professor. Excluded are all members of the Faculty
of Medicine and all standing faculty members who are appointed as Clinician
Educators from four other schools that have such positions (Dental Medicine,
Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work). Data source: AAUP Salary
Surveys. |
a - Universities are ordered from highest to lowest mean salaries for
full professors as of 1999-00. For each year reported, the difference between
the Penn mean salary and the mean salary for a comparison university was
computed as a percentage of the Penn salary. |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| COMMITTEE MEMBERS | FOOTNOTES
| BACK TO TOP OF THIS SECTION
TABLES: TABLE
1 | TABLE 2 | TABLE 3 | TABLE 4 | TABLE 5 | TABLE 6
| TABLE 7 | TABLE 8 | TABLE
9 | TABLE 10 | TABLE 11 | TABLE 12
IV. Penn Faculty Benefits
Although our 1998-99 Annual Report included a section on comparative
faculty benefits data, further study of data available on cross-university
comparisons of faculty benefits has revealed that comparative benefits data
are of insufficient precision to make detailed quantitative comparisons
meaningful. Accordingly, no such comparisons are made in this report.
Based on available comparative benefits data, however, it appears to
SCESF that employee benefits package provided for Penn faculty members is
of equal, or greater, value to that provided to faculty members at Penn's
peer private universities. In particular, it appearers that the tuition
benefit for Penn faculty dependents is substantially greater than that provided
by peer universities, while other major types of benefits are generally
comparable.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| COMMITTEE MEMBERS | FOOTNOTES
| BACK TO TOP OF THIS SECTION
TABLES: TABLE
1 | TABLE 2 | TABLE 3 | TABLE 4 | TABLE 5 | TABLE 6
| TABLE 7 | TABLE 8 | TABLE
9 | TABLE 10 | TABLE 11 | TABLE 12
V. Penn Faculty Salaries: Internal Comparisons
As previous reports of the SCESF have highlighted, there is a great deal
of variability (e.g., inequality) in faculty salaries at Penn attributable
to several recognized factors: differences in individual merit, rank, time
in rank, external labor market forces, the relative wealth of Schools, and
perhaps differences among Schools in principles and practices for allocating
salary increments.
One of SCESF's concerns has been that, among all the existing variability
in faculty salaries, there might be some significant element of inequity
(i.e., salary setting based on incomplete or inaccurate information about
merit, or bias that could be involved in the process of deciding salary
increments). However, it is not possible for the SCESF to pinpoint any instance
of individual, or group, inequity without individual faculty salaries and
associated information about individual merit, labor market forces, etc.
What we can do is review many facets of salary variability and raise questions
about the possibility that inequity might be responsible for some degree
of the observed variability. These questions might lead to further review
and action by senior academic administrators (Department Chairs, Deans,
and the Provost) with a view to correcting any inequities that might be
identified.
We turn next to a description and analysis of several dimensions of faculty
salary variability within Penn. As with the external salary comparisons
reviewed above, all salary data reviewed in this section exclude the School
of Medicine and all standing faculty members who are appointed as Clinician
Educators from four other schools that have such positions (Dental Medicine,
Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work).
A. Variability in Average Salary Increases by Rank
and School/Area
As reported in Table 2, median faculty salary increases
by rank for all of Penn's schools combined substantially exceeded the growth
in the CPI for most recent full year (FY 1999) for which both sets of data
are available and exceeded Penn's budget guidelines for the past three years
(FY 1998, 1999, and 2000). These salary increases are broken out by school
and rank in Tables 7 through 9 [TABLE 7
| TABLE 8 | TABLE 9] where it
can be seen that there has been considerably variability in median salary
increases across schools and years, as well as among the first and third
quartile increases (Q1 and Q3, respectively). As might be expected with
such variability, a number of the median increases were actually below the
general guideline of 3.5%.
Before reviewing these salary increases, it should be recognized that
the salary increase guideline of 3.5% is just that, a guideline, and pertains
to an aggregate of all increases for all ranks combined for each of Penn's
schools (i.e., merit increases for continuing faculty members, special increases
for faculty members who have been promoted in rank, and market adjustments
for faculty members with generous salary offers from other institutions).
Schools may allocate more, or less, resources to faculty salary increments
than the guideline, depending upon each school's financial circumstances
(see Section II.B. above). Therefore, a comparison of
the median increase awarded to faculty members of a particular rank and
school with the salary guideline only gives an indication of the extent
to which the guideline was implemented in that particular instance. Accordingly,
a particular median increment of less than 3.5% should not be regarded as
a specific failure of salary policy, since there is no policy for each rank
and each school to be awarded at least that much on the average. Furthermore,
the 3.5% guideline pertains to the mean increase, a measure of central tendency
that is usually higher than the median salary increases as shown in Table 2.
Nonetheless, the overall mean salary increase for all faculty members
continuing in the same rank for FY 2000 was 5.3% (see Table
2), a number well above the guideline of 3.5%. Even so, this substantial
salary increase resource in the aggregate was not distributed sufficiently
widely to lift the median salaries of all ranks in all schools/areas by
at least the guideline amount--a phenomenon that can be attributed to differing
wealth and budget priorities among the various schools as permitted under
RCBS.
A seemingly modest, but significant, change in faculty salary policy
was incorporated into the Salary Guidelines for 1998-99 which specified
that "increases in merit should range from 1.0 to 6.0 percent."
The award of increases outside this range required consultation with the
Provost. Prior to this, the range specified was from 2.0 to 6.0 percent.
It is reasonable to surmise that two noteworthy changes in the allocation
of salary increases, as seen in Tables 7, 8, and 9 [TABLE 7 | TABLE 8 | TABLE 9]
for the two years under the new policy (i.e., 1998-99 and 1999-00), can
be attributed, at least in part, to the policy shift:
- Whereas in 1997-98, the median salary increase for all three ranks
of the professorate was comparable when aggregated across all school, the
median percentage increases for assistant professors was considerably higher
in 1998-99 and 1999-00 than it was for full professors and associate professors.
Whether this was an effort to make assistant professor salaries more competitive
due to market factors or due to greater merit than perceived in the higher
two ranks is not clear from the data tabulated. Whatever the reason, assistant
professors have been advantaged during the past two years.
- With 1% salary increases coming within the specified range for 1998-99
(instead of the prior 2%), the first quartile (Q1) raises for full and
associate professors declined across all schools for 1998-99 and 1999-00
in comparison with 1997-98. This decline in first quartile increases did
not occur on a school by school basis for assistant professors, another
indicator of the trend noted above to higher increases of salaries of assistant
professors than of full and associate professors.
The SCESF has been advised that the change in policy for 1998-99 (i.e.,
specifying 1% instead of 2% as the base of the standard range of salary
increases) was taken because Deans wished to have greater flexibility in
awarding such increases. Although SCESF has not raised an issue specifically
about this policy12, we have regularly raised
the more general issue about principles by which salary increases are awarded
in relation to increases in the CPI. In this respect, it should be noted
that all percentage increases at the first quartile for all three professorial
ranks for all schools/areas were greater than increases in the CPI for 1997-98
and 1998-99.
In contrast with 1997-98, we note from Tables 7 and 8 [TABLE 7 | TABLE 8] that for 1998-99
and 1999-00 the median salary increases for full professors in each of the
three areas of SAS were clearly below the budget guideline of 3.5% in each
year. The same is generally true of associate professors in SAS, but not
assistant professors. This trend is of concern to SCESF, and we expect to
the faculty and administration of SAS as well.
The distribution of salary increase resources is shown clearly in a comparison
of the first and third quartile data of Tables 7, 8, and 9 [TABLE 7 | TABLE 8 | TABLE
9]. It can be seen that none of the relatively low median
increases (below 3.5%) were due to extremely high third quartile percentage
increases (i.e., because unusually large increases were allocated to only
25% of faculty members in a rank/school group), even though some positive
skewness of the distributions can be observed. Instead, it seems that the
increases provided to faculty members in these particular schools/areas
were generally low relative to the university-wide average. Therefore, the
relatively low median increases are more a problem of inadequate resources,
or school policy for allocating available resources, than wide variation
in the distribution of available salary increases.
Overall as seen in Tables 7, 8, and 9 [TABLE
7 | TABLE 8 | TABLE 9], there
is great variability for all three years in salary increment percentages
both among Schools within ranks, and among ranks within Schools. SCESF is
not aware of specific information about merit and market factors that is
available to department heads and deans, and how they weigh this information
in deciding salary increments for individual faculty members. Without such
information, it is not possible to determine whether any inequity is involved
in the salary increase percentages reported in these tables.
Table 7
Full Professors: Median academic base salary percentage
increases of continuing Penn Full Professors for FY 1998, 1999, and 2000,
along with the first and third quartile salary increases |
First Quartile (Q1), Median (Md.)a, and Third Quartile
(Q3)
|
- |
Percentage Salary Increases by Year |
- |
1997-98 |
1998-99 |
1999-00 |
School/Area |
Q1 |
Md. |
Q3 |
Q1 |
Md. |
Q3 |
Q1 |
Md. |
Q3 |
All Schools |
- |
4.3 |
- |
- |
3.5 |
- |
- |
3.5 |
- |
Annenberg |
- |
5.1 |
- |
3.1 |
10.1 |
15.4 |
5 |
8.8 |
11.5 |
Dental Medicine |
3.9 |
4.4 |
5.4 |
3.5 |
4.5 |
5 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
4 |
Eng. & Applied Science |
4 |
4.6 |
5.3 |
2.5 |
3.5 |
4.5 |
3 |
3.7 |
4.6 |
Grad Education |
4 |
4.6 |
5.2 |
3.8 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
6.7 |
Grad Fine Arts |
3.8 |
4.3 |
5.2 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
2.5 |
3.5 |
5 |
Humanities (A&S) |
3.5 |
3.8 |
4.7 |
2.7 |
2.9 |
3.5 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
Law |
4 |
4.3 |
4.9 |
3.5 |
5.7 |
9 |
3.5 |
5.2 |
6.6 |
Natural Sciences (A&S) |
3.3 |
3.8 |
4.7 |
2.1 |
2.9 |
3.8 |
2.5 |
3 |
4.2 |
Nursing |
- |
4.2 |
- |
- |
3.4 |
- |
- |
3.5 |
- |
Social Sciences (A&S) |
3.4 |
4.1 |
4.7 |
2.5 |
3 |
3.9 |
2.9 |
3.1 |
4.2 |
Social Work |
- |
4.9 |
- |
- |
5.5 |
- |
- |
5 |
- |
Veterinary Medicine |
4 |
4.3 |
4.8 |
2.5 |
3.5 |
4 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
5 |
Wharton |
4.2 |
5 |
7.2 |
3.5 |
4.1 |
8 |
3.8 |
4.7 |
5.9 |
Budget Guideline |
- |
3.5 |
- |
- |
3.5 |
- |
- |
3.5 |
- |
NOTE 1: The Budget Guideline shown under each rank is for comparison
purposes. As per Penn policy, it is a guideline for a salary increment pool
for all standing faculty members in each school, but not specifically for
each rank. |
NOTE 2: Academic base salary percentage increases pertain to all Penn
standing faculty members who continued as full professors during the periods
of time reported. Excluded were all members of the Faculty of Medicine,
all Clinician Educators from four other schools (Dental Medicine, Veterinary
Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work) that have such positions, and faculty
members who were promoted or entered Penn employment during the years reported. |
a - A median (Md.) percentage salary increase is the mid-point of the
increase within each school/area and rank (i.e., half of all increases were
below the median and half were above). Variability of salary increase percentages
is indicated by the first quartile (Q1) and third quartile (Q3) percentage
increases. At the lower end of the salary increase percentages, 25% of all
increases were below the Q1, while 75% were above. At the upper end, 75%
of all increases were below the Q3, while 25% were above. Median increases
are reported only if the number of faculty members is four or more. The
quartile increases are reported only if the number of faculty members is
ten or more. |
Table 8.
Associate Professors: Median academic base salary
percentage increases of continuing Penn Associate Professors for FY 1998,
1999, and 2000, along with the first and third quartile salary increases |
First Quartile (Q1), Median (Md.)a, and Third Quartile
(Q3) |
- |
Percentage Salary Increases by Year |
- |
1997-98 |
1998-99 |
1999-00 |
School/Area |
Q1 |
Md. |
Q3 |
Q1 |
Md. |
Q3 |
Q1 |
Md. |
Q3 |
All Schools |
- |
4 |
- |
- |
3.5 |
- |
- |
3.9 |
- |
Annenberg |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Dental Medicine |
3.9 |
4 |
4.8 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
4 |
- |
3.5 |
- |
Engineering & Applied Science |
3.4 |
4.4 |
5.9 |
3.7 |
4 |
5.6 |
3.3 |
3.5 |
4.8 |
Grad Education |
- |
5.1 |
- |
- |
5 |
- |
- |
4 |
- |
Grad Fine Arts |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Humanities (A&S) |
3.3 |
3.5 |
4.1 |
2.8 |
2.9 |
4 |
3 |
3.9 |
7.7 |
Law |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Natural Sciences (A&S) |
3.4 |
4.5 |
6.4 |
2.6 |
3.4 |
5.3 |
2.8 |
3.1 |
4.7 |
Nursing |
4.1 |
4.6 |
5 |
2.5 |
3.2 |
4.2 |
3 |
4.1 |
4.1 |
Social Sciences (A&S) |
3.3 |
3.7 |
4.6 |
2.5 |
3 |
4.7 |
2.3 |
3 |
3.9 |
Social Work |
- |
4 |
- |
- |
5 |
- |
- |
4.5 |
- |
Veterinary Med |
3.9 |
4 |
4.3 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
4 |
3.5 |
4.5 |
10.4 |
Wharton |
3.9 |
4.9 |
5.7 |
2.5 |
4.1 |
10.2 |
3.5 |
5.4 |
8.7 |
Budget Guideline |
- |
3.5 |
- |
- |
3.5 |
- |
- |
3.5 |
- |
NOTE 1: The Budget Guideline shown under each rank is for comparison
purposes. As per Penn policy, it is a guideline for a salary increment pool
for all standing faculty members in each school, but not specifically for
each rank. |
NOTE 2: Academic base salary percentage increases pertain to all Penn
standing faculty members who continued as associate professors during the
periods of time reported. Excluded were all members of the Faculty of Medicine,
all Clinician Educators from four other schools (Dental Medicine, Veterinary
Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work) that have such positions, and faculty
members who were promoted or entered Penn employment during the years reported. |
a - A median (Md.) percentage salary increase is the mid-point of the
increase within each school/area and rank (i.e., half of all increases were
below the median and half were above). Variability of salary increase percentages
is indicated by the first quartile (Q1) and third quartile (Q3) percentage
increases. At the lower end of the salary increase percentages, 25% of all
increases were below the Q1, while 75% were above. At the upper end, 75%
of all increases were below the Q3, while 25% were above. Median increases
are reported only if the number of faculty members is four or more. The
quartile increases are reported only if the number of faculty members is
ten or more. |
Table 9.
Assistant Professors: Median academic base salary percentage
increases of continuing Penn Assistant Professors for FY 1998, 1999, and
2000, along with the first and third quartile salary increases |
First Quartile (Q1), Median (Md.)a, and Third Quartile
(Q3) |
- |
Percentage Salary Increases by Year |
- |
1997-98 |
1998-99 |
1999-00 |
School/Area |
Q1 |
Md. |
Q3 |
Q1 |
Md. |
Q3 |
Q1 |
Md. |
Q3 |
All Schools |
- |
4.3 |
- |
- |
4.4 |
- |
- |
5 |
- |
Annenberg |
- |
- |
- |
-- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Dental Medicine |
- |
5.3 |
- |
- |
3.5 |
- |
- |
3.5 |
- |
Engineering & Applied Science |
4.2 |
5.1 |
7.2 |
4 |
4.5 |
5 |
4.3 |
4.6 |
5.1 |
Grad Education |
- |
- |
- |
- |
5 |
- |
- |
5 |
- |
Grad Fine Arts |
- |
3.9 |
- |
- |
5 |
- |
- |
3.5 |
- |
Humanities (A&S) |
3.2 |
3.3 |
4.6 |
2.5 |
3.1 |
4.4 |
3 |
4.2 |
6 |
Law |
- |
6.9 |
- |
- |
8.6 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Natural Sciences (A&S) |
3.5 |
4.3 |
5.7 |
3.8 |
4.5 |
5.3 |
4.1 |
5 |
8.4 |
Nursing |
- |
3.4 |
- |
- |
2.6 |
- |
- |
3.5 |
- |
Social Sciences (A&S) |
2.9 |
3.4 |
4.3 |
2.9 |
3.1 |
4.14 |
3 |
3.1 |
5.5 |
Social Work |
- |
4.3 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Veterinary Med |
- |
6.9 |
- |
3.5 |
3.5 |
6 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
6 |
Wharton |
4.4 |
6.8 |
7.4 |
4.3 |
9.1 |
10.9 |
5.4 |
6.4 |
9.3 |
Budget Guideline |
- |
3.5 |
- |
- |
3.5 |
- |
- |
3.5 |
- |
NOTE 1: The Budget Guideline shown under each rank is for comparison
purposes. As per Penn policy, it is a guideline for a salary increment pool
for all standing faculty members in each school, but not specifically for
each rank. |
NOTE 2: Academic base salary percentage increases pertain to all Penn
standing faculty members who continued as assistant professors during the
periods of time reported. Excluded were all members of the Faculty of Medicine,
all Clinician Educators from four other schools (Dental Medicine, Veterinary
Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work) that have such positions, and faculty
members who were promoted or entered Penn employment during the years reported. |
a - A median (Md.) percentage salary increase is the mid-point of the
increase within each school/area and rank (i.e., half of all increases were
below the median and half were above). Variability of salary increase percentages
is indicated by the first quartile (Q1) and third quartile (Q3) percentage
increases. At the lower end of the salary increase percentages, 25% of all
increases were below the Q1, while 75% were above. At the upper end, 75%
of all increases were below the Q3, while 25% were above. Median increases
are reported only if the number of faculty members is four or more. The
quartile increases are reported only if the number of faculty members is
ten or more. |
TABLE OF CONTENTS | COMMITTEE
MEMBERS | FOOTNOTES | BACK TO TOP OF THIS SECTION
B. Variability in Average Salary Levels by Rank
Three-year trends in mean faculty salaries by rank are shown in Table 10 for all schools combined (except Medicine, of course).13 Such data give the crudest perspective on rank differences
in salary, however, because of aggregation biases across schools. For example,
one might expect a considerably larger difference between mean assistant
and associate professor salaries. The modest difference might be accounted
for by the facts that the Law School has no associate professors (a fact
that might decrease the observed associate professor mean) and the Wharton
School has a considerably higher percentage of assistant professors than
is typical of other schools (a fact that could increase the observed assistant
professor mean).
A more meaningful comparison of variation in faculty salaries by rank
is made by computing the ratios for continuing faculty members for each
school and then computing a mean weighted ratio (weighted for the number
of continuing faculty members at each rank in each school).14 The weighted ratios thus computed are also seen in Table 10. Viewed in this way, there is much greater spread
in mean salary levels by rank.
As discussed in the prior section, percentage salary increases for assistant
professor, in the aggregate, have been considerably greater than for full
professors during the past two years (1998-99 and 1999-00). This trend can
also be seen in Table 10 where the weighted ratio of
professor to assistant professor salaries has declined year-by-year since
1997-98.
Table 10.
Mean academic base salary levels of continuing Penn standing
faculty members by rank |
- |
- |
Salary |
Ratio to Assist. Prof. Salary Level |
Rank |
Academic Year |
Average |
Amount |
Not Weighted |
Weighteda |
Full Professor |
1997-98 |
Mean |
$ 105,616 |
1.69 |
1.89 |
- |
-- |
Median |
NA |
- |
- |
- |
1998-99 |
Mean |
112,098 |
1.69 |
1.85 |
- |
- |
Median |
102,600 |
- |
- |
- |
1999-00 |
Mean |
117,092 |
1.69 |
1.84 |
- |
- |
Median |
106,338 |
- |
- |
Associate Prof. |
1997-98 |
Mean |
69,585 |
1.11 |
1.26 |
- |
- |
Median |
NA |
- |
- |
- |
1998-99 |
Mean |
74,129 |
1.12 |
1.26 |
- |
- |
Median |
69,850 |
- |
- |
- |
1999-00 |
Mean |
79,519 |
1.14 |
1.24 |
- |
- |
Median |
74,000 |
- |
- |
Assistant Prof. |
1997-98 |
Mean |
62,527 |
1 |
1 |
- |
- |
Median |
NA |
- |
- |
- |
1998-99 |
Mean |
66,438 |
1 |
1 |
- |
- |
Median |
57,350 |
- |
- |
- |
1999-00 |
Mean |
69,417 |
1 |
1 |
- |
- |
Median |
60,450 |
- |
- |
NOTE: Mean academic base salary levels are based on all Penn standing
faculty members who continued in the same rank from FY 1998 to FY 1999.
Excluded were all members of the Faculty of Medicine, all Clinician Educators
from four other schools (Dental Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Nursing,
and Social Work) that have such positions, and faculty members who were
promoted effective for each year reported. |
a - The weighted ratios were computed by the following procedure: first,
the ratios for continuing faculty members for each school were computed
(except for Annenberg, which had no assistant professors); next a mean weighted
ratio was computed (weighted for the number of continuing faculty members
at each rank in each school). |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| COMMITTEE MEMBERS | FOOTNOTES
| BACK TO TOP OF THIS SECTION
C. Variability in Professorial Salaries by Years of Service
There has been some concern that full professors who have recently been
recruited to Penn (perhaps including those who have recently been promoted
to the rank of full professor) have had their salary levels set considerably
higher than professors of equivalent merit who have served at Penn for many
years (and without commensurate increases to the levels set for recent appointees).
If so, this phenomenon would constitute an inequity in salary policy. However,
salary data available to SCESF at this time, though imperfect, do not support
this concern. The Committee hopes to secure more definitive data in the
future.
D. Variability of Average Salary Levels by School/Area
As described in previous SCESF reports, there is considerable variability
in average faculty salary levels across Penn's 13 schools/areas (as listed
in Table 3). Information about the extent of this cross-school
variability is presented by rank in Table 11 for the
two most recent academic years in terms of the first quartile (Q1), second
quartile (Q2, the same as the median), and the third quartile (Q3) of median
faculty salary levels. For full professors, the interquartile range of median
salaries in 1999-00 based on the 13 schools/areas was $29,000 (i.e., the
third quartile salary of $124,000 minus the first quartile salary of $95,000).
The comparable interquartile range of salary levels across schools/areas
was less understandably less for associate professors ($21,500) and assistant
professors ($16,600) in absolute dollars, but not as a percentage of the
medians (about 28%). Thus, for all three ranks, the interquartile range
of median salaries across schools/areas was remarkably large. Moreover,
the interquartile ranges in 1999-00 had increased considerably from the
prior year (1998-99) when they were "only" $22,100 for full professors
and $14,800 for associate professors. This is evidence of rapidly increasing
disparity of faculty salaries across Penn's 13 schools/areas.
Given this increasing variability in median faculty salaries across schools/areas
shown in Table 11, SCESF examined other available data
to determine whether the degree of variability has been stable or changing
over a longer period of time than the two years shown in Table
11. For the most recent five year period, SCESF compared the mean salary
of faculty members continuing in the same rank at the highest paid school
with the mean salary of those at the lowest paid school.15
The results of this analysis, as shown in Table 12, reveal
that the mean salaries of full professors in the highest paying school has
been stable at about 160% of the mean salaries in the lowest paying school
for the past four years, while the relationship of the highest to the lowest
mean salaries of associate professors has stabilized at a higher level (about
174%) during the past two years. By contrast, the mean salaries of assistant
professors in the highest paying school has continued to grow in relation
to the lowest paying school from FY 1996 through FY 2000 when it reached
221%. Overall, for all three ranks, the difference between the highest and
lowest median salaries of associate and assistant professors across schools/areas
increased substantially during the five year period from FY 1996 to FY 1999.
The trend toward greater disparity across schools in mean salary levels
of continuing full, associate, and assistant professors, as seen in Table 11, has occurred because, as a general trend, schools/areas
offering higher average salaries also offer higher annual percentage increases.
This phenomenon is demonstrated by a substantial correlation between the
median percentage salary increase for full professors in one year with the
median salary level in the same year across Penn's 13 schools/areas. In
FY 1999, this correlation coefficient (r) across the 13 schools/areas was
.51; in FY 2000, it was .46. Moreover, this correlation of the amount of
salary increase with median salary levels is a more general trend. The median
percentage salary increase of full professors from FY 1993 though FY 1999
was correlated highly (i.e., r = .62) with the median salary in FY 1999
across the 13 schools/areas. Thus, the escalation of average salary differences
across schools/areas is a multi-year trend that has continued into the current
year.
In short, these statistical facts indicate that, in general, differences
in average faculty salaries between lower paying schools/areas and higher
paying schools/areas have been, and continue to be, increasing both in dollar
amount and in percentage difference. As noted in prior SCESF reports, variability
among schools/areas is no doubt a product, to a considerable extent, of
market forces in the hiring of faculty members and in the relative wealth
of schools (i.e., financial ability to support faculty salaries). The relative
wealth of schools available for supporting faculty salaries is, in major
part, a function of how much income a school is able to earn and the level
of non-faculty expenditures it regards as essential--all as discussed above
in the section on the RCBS.
Whether variability in faculty salary levels among schools/areas represents
some degree of inequity is controversial. Some argue that it is, while others
argue that it is a natural outcome of the wealth inherent in various disciplines
and professional fields that schools represent. Any effort to reduce such
variability substantially by central university policy would no doubt require
fundamental changes in the RCBS--a system that has become well entrenched
during the past three decades.
If the wide difference among schools/areas in average salaries of full
professors seen at Penn is a general phenomenon at other universities as
well, there will be evidence that Penn is experiencing a general market
phenomenon instead of a local idiosyncracy. To test this possibility, we
have analyzed 1999-00 data from the MIT Salary Survey for 12 universities16 which reported salary means for full professors for
all five academic areas (architecture, engineering, natural sciences, social
sciences/humanities, and management). For each of these 12 universities,
we computed the ratio of the average salary of the highest paying area to
the average salary of the lowest paying area. The result was that these
12 ratios ranged from a low of 1.32 to a high of 2.05, with a mean of 1.59--indicating
that wide variation in average faculty salaries across academic areas is
common and substantial. Penn's ratio in the MIT data was virtually the same
(1.64) as the mean of the 12 universities. This suggests that the variability
in mean faculty salaries across schools/areas at Penn is currently in line
with experience elsewhere, and is a function of general economic forces
affecting all of academia.
To determine whether there has been a general trend over time in other
universities toward greater variability of mean faculty salaries across
five academic areas, we computed for 1996-97 the same ratios of the highest
to the lowest mean salaries by the same method described above for 1999-00
mean salaries. The mean ratio in 1996-97 (1.52) was clearly lower than in
1999-00 (1.59), thereby suggesting there is a general trend over time toward
increasing differences across schools in mean faculty salaries. Penn is
perfectly in line with this apparent general trend.
Table 11.
Variability of academic base salary levels among schools/areasa:
First, second, and third quart-ile median salary levels by rank and year. |
- |
- |
Quartiles: Median Salariesb |
- |
Rank |
Academic Year |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Number of Areas |
Full Professor |
1998-99 |
$ 92.5K |
$ 99.9K |
$114.6K |
13 |
- |
1999-00 |
95.0K |
103.7K |
124.0K |
13 |
Associate Professor |
1998-99 |
$63.1K |
$73.0K |
$77.9K |
12 |
- |
1999-00 |
65.3K |
76.7K |
86.8K |
12 |
Assistant Professor |
1998-99 |
$49.4K |
$52.1K |
$66.9K |
12 |
- |
1999-00 |
52.0K |
54.3K |
68.6K |
12 |
NOTE: Median academic base salary levels for Penn's schools/areas are
based on standing faculty members who continued in the same rank from FY
1998 to FY 1999 (the 1998-99 data), and from FY 1999 to FY 2000 (the 1999-00
data). Excluded were all members of the Faculty of Medicine, all Clinician
Educators from four other schools (Dental Medicine, Veterinary Medicine,
Nursing, and Social Work) that have such positions, and faculty members
who were promoted effective for each year reported. |
a - The thirteen schools/areas used for this analysis at the full professor
level are the same as those listed in Table 3. The number
of schools used at the associate and assistant professor levels was slightly
less because the numbers of faculty members within these ranks was very
low for a few schools. |
b - Variability of median salary levels among schools/areas is reported
by quartile. At the lower end of the median salary level distribution, 25%
of the median salary levels of all schools/areas were below the first quartile
(Q1), while the other 75% were above. In the middle, 50% of the median salary
levels of all schools/areas were below the second quartile (Q2, also called
the median), while the other 50% were above. At the upper end, 75% of median
salary levels of all schools were below the third quartile (Q3), while the
other 25% were above. |
Table 12.
Mean academic base salary of standing faculty members
at Penn's highest paying school as a percentage of the mean salary at the
lowest paying school by rank and fiscal year |
- |
Fiscal Year |
Rank |
FY 1996 |
FY 1997 |
FY 1998 |
FY 1999 |
FY 2000 |
Full Professor |
154% |
160% |
158% |
159% |
160% |
Associate Professor |
147% |
155% |
165% |
173% |
174% |
Assistant Professor |
204% |
208% |
213% |
212% |
221% |
NOTE: The percentages of this table were based on the mean academic
base salary levels of all standing faculty members who continued in the
same rank from one fiscal year to the next. These mean salary levels were
available by rank for each of 11 schools at Penn. Excluded were all members
of the Faculty of Medicine, all Clinician Educators from four other schools
(Dental Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work) that have
such positions, and faculty members who were promoted in any one fiscal
year. |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| COMMITTEE MEMBERS | FOOTNOTES
| BACK TO TOP OF THIS SECTION
TABLES: TABLE
1 | TABLE 2 | TABLE 3 | TABLE 4 | TABLE 5 | TABLE 6
| TABLE 7 | TABLE 8 | TABLE
9 | TABLE 10 | TABLE 11 | TABLE 12
VI. Conclusions
A. Economic Status of the Faculty
1. External Competitiveness. In general, faculty
salaries, benefits, and compensation (the sum of the two) at Penn are competitive
with a small select group of universities that provide the highest levels
of faculty compensation in the nation. Evidence for this conclusion comes
from the following sources:
- The results of the annual MIT salary survey of 23 major research universities
(about half private, half public) place the weighted mean salaries of Penn
full professors and associate professors (from SAS, SEAS, GSFA, and Wharton,
combined) above average at about the 60th percentile of their respective
academic fields as of Fall 1999.
- The results of annual surveys of faculty salaries in dental medicine
and veterinary medicine suggest that the mean salary levels in Penn's School
of Veterinary Medicine and School of Dental Medicine are among the highest
in their respective fields.
- The results of the annual AAUP salary survey for a group of 17 peer
research universities place the mean salary of Penn full professors in
rank order five as of academic year 1999-00. The highest mean salary in
this group (at Harvard University) is 12% higher than the Penn mean (Table 6).
2. Internal Variability. There is great variability
in the distribution of faculty salary resources among the three professorial
ranks (see Table 10), among the eleven schools included
in this report (see Table 11), and among individual
faculty members by rank within schools (see Tables 7, 8, and 9 [TABLE 7 | TABLE 8 | TABLE
9]). Furthermore, a considerable portion of the variability
in average faculty salaries across Penn's schools/areas is the product
of market forces as suggested by the results of a comparison of school
mean differences at Penn with differences at other peer universities. That
is, considerable variability in average faculty salaries among these schools/areas
is required to maintain competitive standings within different academic
fields. Nonetheless, recent evidence indicates that there is increasing
divergence among Penn's schools in the degree to which their mean salary
levels are competitive within their own academic fields.
B. Conditions of Concern
1. External Competitiveness. Although Penn
faculty salaries are generally competitive with those provided by a select
group of universities (as noted above), the following particular conditions
are of concern about the external competitiveness of faculty salaries at
Penn:
- As indicated in SCESF's 1999 Annual Report (see Section
VI, Recommendation A.2), Penn is committed to bringing
faculty salaries back to a competitive level "if faculty salaries
in certain fields begin to fall behind." SCESF is concerned about
two aspects of this commitment that are not clear, viz. the definitions
of "a competitive level" and "certain fields." For
academic fields for which specific competitive data are available from
the MIT salary survey, it appears that Penn, at least in practice, has
established in recent years a competitive level in the 65-70th percentile
range. If so, average faculty salaries at the full and associate professor
ranks in the natural sciences area of the School of Arts and Sciences and
the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have clearly fallen behind,
as have assistant professor salaries in three academic areas (architecture,
engineering, and the social science/humanities areas of the School of Arts
and Sciences). Accordingly, there is concern about the average salaries
in these areas that have fallen behind Penn's presumed competitive level.
- Not only have the salary levels in certain academic areas lagged behind
Penn's usual competitive level (as reviewed above), but Penn has experienced
a general decline in competitiveness in all academic fields covered by
the MIT survey except Wharton (which has achieved noticeable improvement).
The competitiveness of the mean salaries of Penn full professors have noticeably
declined in the natural sciences, social sciences/humanities, and engineering.
The mean associate professor salary in natural science has declined considerably
in competitiveness, as have the mean salaries of assistant professors in
the social sciences/humanities and in engineering. Through analyses of
trends in salary increase percentaged during the past four years, it is
clear that Penn has generally improved the average salary increase percentages
awarded to faculty members since 1996-97. Therefore, the explanation for
these declines in Penn's competitiveness is that our peer universities
have increased faculty salaries at an even higher rate than Penn.
- SCESF is also concerned about the absence of data to make a judgment
about the competitive level of average faculty salaries in each of the
Penn's five schools that are not included in the MIT salary survey or in
surveys for veterinary medicine and dental medicine. As noted below (see
Section VII. Recommendation 5),
the Provost is attempting to secure comparative salary data for the five
schools in question.
2. Internal Equity. In the absence of data
on individual faculty merit to compare with data on individual faculty
salaries, SCESF is not able to identify any specific instance of inequity
among all the dimensions of salary variability included in this report.
However, there is concern that some of the wide variability in individual
faculty salaries may entail more than a trivial element of inequity. Though
we are not able to report specific instances of salary inequity among individual
faculty members, ranks, departments, or schools, SCESF has identified the
following conditions that give rise to equity concerns:
- In spite of moderate inflation in FY 1999 (CPI growth in Philadelphia
of 2.38%) and substantial resources available for faculty salary increases
for FY 2000 (4.0% for the school providing the lowest mean salary increase),
9% of Penn's standing faculty members received salary increases for FY
2000 that were less than the CPI growth percentage--an effective reduction
in salary. The 9% figure represents and increase of 2% in comparison with
7% the prior year. Over 10% of faculty members in four schools/areas received
increases less than the CPI growth percentage (see Table
3). In fact, the entire increase from FY 1999 to FY 2000 in percentage
below the Philadelphia CPI is attributable to the three disciplinary areas
of SAS. Two main alternative explanations for these percentages are: that
over 10% of the faculty in these schools/areas performed at an unsatisfactory
level, or that some of these effective salary reductions may have been
inequitable.
- In spite of modest inflation since FY 1994 and substantial resources
for faculty salary increases, only 90% of full professors in the natural
sciences area of the School of Arts and Sciences and 91% of full professors
in the Graduate School of Fine Arts received cumulative salary increases
during the period 1994-2000 that exceeded the growth in the Philadelphia
CPI (see Table 4). Fortunately, considerably higher percentages
of full professors in other schools/areas received cumulative salary increases
that exceeding CPI growth during this seven year period. Therefore, it
seems possible that some of the effective salary reductions experienced
by full professors in the natural sciences and fine arts were inequitable.
- Aggregate salary increases of 5.3% were awarded for FY 2000 to continuing
Penn standing faculty members. Nonetheless, the median increases for full
professors in all three areas of SAS were below the 3.5% guideline. There
is concern about salaries of most faculty members in these areas lagging
behind a competitive level with implications for collective inequity.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| COMMITTEE MEMBERS | FOOTNOTES
| BACK TO TOP OF THIS SECTION
TABLES: TABLE
1 | TABLE 2 | TABLE 3 | TABLE 4 | TABLE 5 | TABLE 6
| TABLE 7 | TABLE 8 | TABLE
9 | TABLE 10 | TABLE 11 | TABLE 12
VII. Status of Committee Recommendations Submitted in 1998-99
In accordance with current Senate policy, a report is presented below
of progress made, and current status of, recommendations made in 1999 for
development of faculty compensation policy and procedures. Short versions
of these recommendations are presented below along with the responses of
Provost Barchi (to whom the recommendations were made on June 23, 1999),
SCESF's comments, and subsequent developments.
Faculty salary policy issues: general principles
1. Salary Competitiveness Issue.
SCESF Recommendations
a. It is recommended that priority be placed on increasing average salaries
to Penn's competitive level of the four groups (Full and Assoc. Profs.
in the natural sciences area of SAS, and Assist. Profs. in architecture,
engineering, and social sciences/humanities areas of SAS) that have fallen
behind.
Provost's Response: The Provost indicated that this issue will
be examined seriously.
SCESF Comment: We hope that the Provost's review can be completed
by March 2000 so that, if justified and fiscally possible, appropriate increases
in the salary levels of these four faculty groups can be implemented effective
July 1, 2000.
Subsequent Developments: SCESF was advised by the Associate Provost
that the relevant three Deans were very concerned, and that the Committee
should communicate directly with these Deans to learn about their concerns
and plans--all in keeping with RCBS principles concerning decentralization
of earning and spending authority to responsibility centers (such as schools).
Accordingly, the SCESF initiated such communication with these Deans in
December 1999 and has received the following information:
(1) The Dean of SEAS indicated that salary increase resources for the
1999-00 year were concentrated especially on improving the salaries of assistant
professors, and that SEAS is interested in "staying competitive and
preserving the morale of the faculty." SEAS also enhances its competitiveness
for assistant professors by providing generous startup packages.
(2) The Dean of SAS reported that salaries in several categories have
continued to lag, but that substantially higher salary increases were awarded
for FY 2001, and improvement in SAS's competitive position should be seen
when MIT data for the current year become available.
(3) The Dean of GSFA informed the Committee that the salaries of recently
appointed assistant professors have been a step above the levels offered
a few years ago.
b. It is recommended that efforts be made over a period of a few years
to reduce the difference between Penn average salaries and the university
ranked second in the MIT survey in order to improve Penn's capacity for
attracting and retaining distinguished faculty members.
Provost's Response: Although the Provost does not support any
across-the-board increases in faculty salary levels, he does support the
aggressive use of salary funds to recruit and retain distinguished faculty
members, the consequence of which might well be to raise average faculty
salaries. The Provost noted that special attention should be placed on identifying
and rewarding (with salary increases) Penn's most promising assistant and
associate professors.
SCESF Comment: We endorse the Provost's strategy in using salary
resources to improve the quality of Penn's faculty, and advocate that this
be implemented aggressively so that the actual competitiveness of average
faculty salaries (within ranks by academic field) is increased substantially
over a period of several years. As stated by the Provost, we note that this
strategy has two purposes with respect to distinguished faculty members:
to recruit and to retain. As to retention, we understand that both the Provost
and the Committee recognize this to be multifaceted:
- One facet of retention is to be competitive with salary increases for
faculty members who assert entrepreneurial initiative and secure attractive
offers of appointment elsewhere.
- A second facet of retention is to recognize in advance and reward
with salary increases distinguished performance of faculty members who
choose not to seek, or use, attractive offers of external appointment to
negotiate salary increases.
- A third facet of retention is to maintain an overall competitive faculty
salary structure in order to promote a collegial faculty spirit and sense
of general equity while still recognizing that there will be wide variation
in individual faculty salaries due to differential merit. A major dimension
of general equity is the realization by individual faculty members who
perform at a sustained satisfactory level that, at the very least, they
have not suffered a decline in the purchasing power of their salaries by
being awarded cumulative salary increases over a period years that has
been less than growth in the Philadelphia CPI.
The views expressed above do not represent advocacy for a fixed floor
for salary increases since a few faculty members obviously perform at a
less than a satisfactory level, nor do they represent advocacy for a general
leveling of faculty salaries. As has been Penn's tradition, variability
in individual faculty salaries should continue to be associated strongly
with variability in individual merit.
Subsequent Developments: Discussions with the Associate Provost
suggest that the Provost and the SCESF are in general agreement on the strategy
to be used in allocating salary funds to recruit and retain distinguished
faculty members. However, the Provost did not accept specifically the recommendation
to improve Penn's competitive position with respect to salaries, though
that might be a byproduct of his strategy for the aggressive use of salary
funds.
2. Salary Equity Issue.
SCESF Recommendations.
a. It is recommended that a set of principles and procedures be established
whereby all individual faculty salary levels (and related information about
academic merit) are reviewed periodically by senior academic administrators
(Department Chairs, Deans, and the Provost) for the purposes of identifying
salaries that are inequitably low or high, and of taking corrective action.
Provost's Response: The Provost responded that his office currently
has in place a mechanism that can identify faculty salaries that are very
high or very low. Once identified, the names of those faculty are sent to
the deans for justification and adjustment as necessary. The deans then
provide the Provost with information on justification and adjustment.
SCESF Comment: As indicated in the recommendation, special salary
reviews for possible instances of inequity can occur at all salary levels,
and individual salary levels can be either inequitably high or low. We hope
that the next review can be structured accordingly, even though it is a
demanding task, and that considerable progress can be accomplished by March
2000 so that, if justified and financially feasible, appropriate salary
adjustments can be awarded effective July 1, 2000. We realize that in the
instance of an inequitably high salary level that no absolute downward adjustment
can be made. However, it is possible to moderate annual increments to such
salaries over a period of years so that the appropriate level can be attained.
Subsequent Developments: It is the practice of the Office of the
Provost to make such a review every five years, the next time for which
will be no later than the Fall Term of FY 2001.
b. It is recommended that the issue of establishing a general principle
for minimum annual faculty salary increments become a topic of discussion
with the Provost for the purpose of attempting to formulate such a mutually-agreeable
principle, or of coming to a mutual realization that the effort is either
unwise or impractical.
Provost's Response: The Provost would not like to establish a
general principle for minimum annual faculty salary increments, but would
like academic administrators to inform faculty members of the judgments
of merit that were made in setting each annual salary increase. It should
be noted that increases below a set minimum must be justified and approved
by the Provost. The set minimum can vary, reflecting changes in the CPI.
However, there must be room for no or minimal increases below expectation
performance.
SCESF Comment: We certainly agree that faculty members should
be informed about the judgements of merit that were made in setting each
annual salary increase (see also recommendation eight below). However, we
hope that the subtleties of this issue be considered further. Two possibilities
are suggested, as follows:
- Further discussion about the points raised by the SCESF Chair in a
document of June 22, 1999, entitled "Propositions relevant to considering
a general principle for minimum annual faculty salary increments"
might be helpful.
- Consideration might be given to the following statement appearing in
the Salary Guidelines for 1999-2000 as published in Almanac
on April 20, 1999: "Recommendations to provide an increase lower
than 1 percent for non-meritorious performance . . . should be made in
consultation with the Provost." It might be possible to set the designated
percent at, or close to, the most recent percentage increase in the Philadelphia
CPI. Alternatively, the minimum percent increase requiring consultation
with the Provost, as specified in the Salary Guidelines, might be changed
back to 2%-the percentage stated in the Salary Guidelines for 1997-98 (Almanac
April 22, 1997, p. 2) and prior years. The concern continues to be
that a salary increase of less than the growth in the CPI represents an
effective salary reduction-a circumstance SCESF would prefer not happen
for faculty members performing at least at a satisfactory level.
Subsequent Developments: The Provost wishes to keep the 1% salary increase
rule to maximize the authority of the Dean's for deciding salary increases.
This rule states that Dean's may award an annual increase of as little as
1% without providing the provost with a justification for such action. As
recently as FY 1998, the rule was 2%, which SCESF prefers.
3. Issue Concerning Disparities Among Schools in Average Faculty Salaries.
SCESF Recommendations
a. It is recommended that the disparities among schools in average faculty
salaries be studied further by Penn's administration and the SCESF to ascertain
its causes, and to identify means by which at least some of the largest
disparities in average faculty salaries among schools can be moderated.
Provost's Response: The Provost indicated that he would continue
to review the causes of disparities in average faculty salaries among schools.
However, it is not possible to use the subvention pool to address such disparities
because the subvention pool is relatively small and also because subvention
dollars must cover items in schools' budgets in addition to faculty salaries.
He also observed that disparities among schools are in large part due to
market forces and schools' budgets.
SCESF Comment: We are encouraged that the Provost will continue
to review the causes of disparities in average faculty salaries as recommended,
and hope that income-expenditure relationships for schools offering lower
average salary levels can be changed over time in order to provide for larger
faculty salary increases that will improve, even marginally, their relative
standing with schools offering higher average salary levels. If possible,
this will reduce somewhat the wide and increasing salary level differences
among schools as recommended.
Subsequent Developments: The Provost has continued to review disparities
in average faculty salaries among schools, and has found that such disparities
can be accounted for by market forces, differences in the wealth of schools,
and in priorities for the allocation of school funds to faculty salaries
versus other types of expenditures (e.g., facility and scholarship expenses).
For its part, as reported above (see Section V. D.), the
SCESF compared the difference between the highest and lowest mean salaries
across the five academic areas of the MIT Salary Survey (as identified in
Table 5), and found that the difference at Penn is equivalent
to the mean discrepancy for the sample of 12 universities that supplied
sufficient data for this type of analysis. Thus, Penn clearly is in line
with a general trend elsewhere.
b. It is also recommended that SEC consider further its principles and
priorities for the allocation of subvention.
4. Comprehensive Policy for Faculty Compensation Issue.
SCESF Recommendation: As advised by the Interim Provost in 1998,
it is recommended that consideration should be given to developing a comprehensive
policy for faculty compensation on the next occasion of salary or benefits
redesign.
Provost's Response: This recommendation was not considered at
the meeting on June 23, 1999.
SCESF Comment: Since this recommendation was accepted in 1998,
its implementation awaits the occasion of the next round of salary or benefits
redesign.
Faculty salary policy issues: Procedures
5. Issue Concerning Data on the Competitiveness of Faculty Salaries
not Included in the MIT Survey.
SCESF Recommendation: In accordance with the agreement with the
Interim Provost in 1998, it is recommended that the Provost continue his
efforts to secure data on the competitiveness of faculty salaries in Penn's
schools not included in the MIT Salary Survey.
Provost's Response: The Provost is in the process of securing
comparative salary data from the CUPA Salary Survey for five of the seven
Penn schools (excluding Medicine) not included in the MIT Salary Survey,
and will select the most appropriate set, or sets, of universities surveyed
by CUPA for comparison purposes with salary levels these five schools at
Penn. Dental Medicine and Veterinary Medicine are not included in the CUPA
survey. However, the Provost will try by other means to secure comparative
salary data for Penn's schools in these areas as well.
SCESF Comment: We welcome this action, and hope that at least
the CUPA data will become available before the end of calendar year 1999
so the SCESF can use these new data in drafting its Annual Report for 2000.
Subsequent Developments: Comparative salary data for dental medicine
and veterinary medicine have been provided to SCESF, and a report of Penn's
competitive position in these two sets of survey data are reported in Section
II.C. of this Annual Report. With respect to other schools of major interest
(Annenberg, Grad Education, Law, Nursing, and Social Work), the Provost
discussed SCESF's request for comparative salary data with the Council of
Deans. The Deans were interested in the possibility of performing meaningful
comparative salary analyses using CUPA data, and the Deans of five schools
(i.e., those not included in the MIT Salary Survey or the Dental Medicine
or Veterinary Medicine surveys) agreed to provide lists of peer universities
included in the CUPA survey, a minimum of 10 of which are required for securing
school-by-school analyses. This has not been possible because CUPA does
not collect salary data from a sufficient number peer universities for some,
if not all, of Penn's five schools of major interest here to make meaningful
comparisons. Accordingly, efforts may be made to secure broader participation
by major research universities in the CUPA survey, efforts that might be
effective within several years. Alternatively, the possibility of securing
comparative salary data from the American Association for University Data
Exchange (AAUDE) is being explored. In short, it has been difficult to obtain
salary data for a set of universities that can be considered the peers of
five of Penn's schools. Nonetheless, to the extent that meaningful comparative
data can be obtained for one or more of Penn's five schools not included
in other salary surveys available to SCESF, the Provost continues to be
committed to obtaining such data.
6. Salary Setting Standards and Procedures Issue.
SCESF Recommendation. It is recommended that (a) a study of faculty
salary setting principles and procedures used by each school be conducted,
and, if the results support the anecdotal evidence alluded to above, (b)
best practices in salary setting be identified, and (c) a model set of standards
and procedures be developed for possible adoption or adaptation by individual
schools.
Provost's Response: The Provost accepted this recommendation.
He indicated that a group of university administrators and members of the
SCESF will be asked to conduct the study of salary setting standards and
procedures used by Penn's departments and schools.
SCESF Comment: We welcome this action, and hope that the task
can be completed by March 2000 so that information about "best practices"
can be available to academic administrators prior to the setting of faculty
salary increases for FY 2001.
Subsequent Developments: In consultation with the SCESF Chair,
the Associate Provost developed and sent questionnaire to Deans for relevant
information. The results have been turned over to a subcommittee of SCESF
for review and analysis. To date, this analysis has not been completed by
SCESF because of attention to higher priority issues.
7. Issue Concerning Information about Prior Faculty Salary Increases
for Department Heads.
SCESF Recommendation: It is recommended that a routine method
be established whereby departments heads are provided with information each
year, before faculty salary increases are decided, listing the current salary,
the prior year percentage increase, and five-year cumulative increase percentages
for each faculty member, as classified by rank, in the department; and,
for each professorial rank within the department, the 10th, 25th, 50th,
75th, and 90th percentile increases during the prior year and the five-year
cumulative periods.
Provost's Response: The Provost accepted this recommendation.
SCESF Comment: We welcome this acceptance, and hope that necessary
programming and computer runs can be completed by March 2000 so that this
quantitative information can be provided to Penn's department heads and
deans by the time they review faculty performance in deciding faculty salary
increases for FY 2001. In addition, we hope it will become clear that this
information is useful in reviewing the faculty salary structure and the
history of past increases with a view to reducing any incidence of inequitable
components of faculty salaries.
Subsequent Developments: Though the Provost agrees that department
chairs should have salary data when making recommendations about raises,
he has reservations about providing department chairs with the level of
detailed salary information recommended here. After consultation with the
Council of Deans, the Provost accepts the first part of the recommendation
pertaining to information about salary history, subject to revising the
provision concerning the reporting to department chairs of five-year cumulative
increases to three years. However, the Provost does not accept the second
part of the recommendations pertaining to information about departmental
norms for salary increases due to computational burden.
8. Issue Concerning Information for Individual Faculty Members About
Annual Salary Increases.
SCESF Recommendation: As advocated by the Interim Provost in 1998,
it is recommended that a procedure be established whereby each faculty member
is provided with specific information annually about the assessment of her/his
performance made by the relevant department head or dean in deciding his/her
salary increase for the following year.
Provost's Response: The Provost accepted this recommendation.
SCESF Comment: We welcome this action, and hope that the practice
of providing individual faculty members with specific information annually
about her/his performance in deciding his/her salary increase will be implemented
in Spring 2000 for FY 2001 salary increases. In addition, some procedure
should be considered to assess, in general terms, the adequacy of the information
provided such as reports of faculty members about their understanding of
the basis for their salary increase. We expect to find that their understanding
has been substantially improved.
Subsequent Developments: The Provost presented this issue to the
Council of Deans, and the Deans also accepted this recommendation.
Members of the 1999-2000 Senate Committee
on the Economic Status of the Faculty
- Jane Barnsteiner, Professor of Nursing
- Erling E. Boe, Professor of Education, Committee Chair
- Larry Gross, Professor of Communications, Ex Officio, Chair, Faculty
Senate
- David B. Hackney, Professor of Radiology, Chair-elect, Faculty Senate
- John C. Keene Professor of City and Regional Planning, Ex Officio,
Past Chair, Faculty Senate
- Richard E. Kihlstrom, Miller-Freedman Professor of Finance
- Andrew Postlewaite, Professor of Economics
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| COMMITTEE MEMBERS | FOOTNOTES
| BACK TO TOP OF THIS SECTION
TABLES: TABLE
1 | TABLE 2 | TABLE 3 | TABLE 4 | TABLE 5 | TABLE 6
| TABLE 7 | TABLE 8 | TABLE
9 | TABLE 10 | TABLE 11 | TABLE 12
FOOTNOTES
1 In addition,
designated funds also provide the basis for salaries of standing faculty
members appointed to endowed positions. Furthermore, the financial base
for faculty salaries in the School of Medicine is so different that they
are routinely excluded from SCESF's annual reports.
2 Included
here are the wide array of faculty members appointed to various ranks in
the standing faculty, associated faculty, and academic support staff, all
as described in Penn's Handbook for Faculty and Academic Administrators.
3 In defining
this range, the three schools receiving grants from the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania (Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Dental Medicine) have been
excluded.
4 For
detailed information about long term trends in academic salaries generally,
see the introductory sections of "The Annual Report on the Economic
Status of the Profession, 1997-98", Academe: Bulletin of the American
Association of University Professors, 1998, 84, 2 (March-April), pp.
11-106.
5 In making
this observation, we realize that the centrally-recommended guideline of
3.5% for FY 2000 salary increases was stated as a maximum. Depending upon
a schools's financial condition, a lower pool percentage could be awarded.
In any event, all funds for annual salary increases must come from each
school's operating budget. There is no central fund earmarked specifically
for this purpose.
6 GSFA
also includes Departments of City and Regional Planning, Landscape Architecture
and Regional Planning, and Fine Arts.
7 For
the purpose of describing Penn's competitive salary position, mean salaries
at other universities are considered to be roughly equivalent to a Penn
mean salary if they are within 2% (plus or minus) of the Penn salary.
8 The
word "noticeable" is used here in its literal meaning, i.e., that
a change can be seen in the salary data over time. Noticeable does not mean
"large" in this context.
9 In fact,
it is clear from Committee discussion with the Interim Provost in 1998 and
the Provost in 1999 that the faculty salary policy is to maintain, at the
very least, Penn's competitive position with peer universities. The recent
declines in competitiveness reviewed here represent a major "challenge"
in light of this policy.
10 A
composite rating was constructed by computing the mean of three separate
academic reputation ratings: a general rating, a mean rating of key Ph.D.
programs, and a mean rating of key professional schools.
11 Of
universities not included in our comparison group, only Rockefeller University,
Princeton University, the California Institute of Technology, and New York
University provided mean salaries for full professors in 1999-00 that were
higher than Penn's.
12 Heretofore,
the work of SCESF has not benefitted from information about the variability
of salary increases by school over a three year period as shown here, for
the first time, in Tables 7, 8, and 9 [TABLE
7 | TABLE 8 | TABLE 9].
13 The
mean salary figures for full professors recorded in Table 10 for 1998-99
and 1999-00 are higher than those recorded in Table 6
which are drawn from AAUP reports. This discrepancy is a product of two
AAUP policies: first, to exclude faculty members with decanal titles (which
will reduce the AAUP mean); second, to include all faculty members in a
rank (including those newly appointed to a rank) whereas Table
10 data are limited to faculty members who continued in the same rank
from the prior year (a difference that will also reduce the AAUP mean).
14 Weighted
ratios were based on all Schools except Annenberg which has only one assistant
professor. Law was not included in the associate professor ratio since none
of its faculty members are appointed at this rank.
15 In
this section, average faculty salaries are sometimes presented as medians
and at other times as means. This is due to the differential availability
of the two different indices of average salaries for the various periods
of time examined.
16 The
sample of 12 universities analyzed was selected from the following group
of 13: Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Cornell University,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Rice University, University of California (Berkeley), University of California
(Los Angeles), University of Illinois, University of Michigan, University
of Pennsylvania, University of Texas, and Yale University. One of these
universities was eliminated from the analysis because of apparently erroneous
data, though its identity is not known because of the blind coding of the
data.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| COMMITTEE MEMBERS | FOOTNOTES
TABLES: TABLE
1 | TABLE 2 | TABLE 3 | TABLE 4 | TABLE 5 | TABLE 6
| TABLE 7 | TABLE 8 | TABLE
9 | TABLE 10 | TABLE 11 | TABLE 12
Almanac, Vol. 47, No. 22, February 13, 2001
| FRONT
PAGE | CONTENTS
| JOB-OPS
| CRIMESTATS
| SENATE: Economic Status of the Faculty | COUNCIL: Call for Volunteers | ALMANAC GUIDELINES | KAHN's 100th CELEBRATION | TALK
ABOUT TEACHING ARCHIVE | BETWEEN
ISSUES | FEBRUARY at PENN
|
|
|
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