Compensation Philosophy
Background
The Academic Professional Implementation Team was given the charge in the Fall of 2008 to create a statement that accurately reflects the current practice regarding academic professional compensation on the Urbana-Champaign campus. The following compensation philosophy statement is the result of this charge.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Current View of Compensation for Academic Professional Employees
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is committed to providing fair and competitive compensation for its academic professional employees. The campus also recognizes and affirms the distinct attributes of the academic professional employee group as a decentralized, adaptable, and flexible workforce.
The campus maintains a salary minimum for academic professional employees. Beyond this minimum, individual units (colleges, divisions, schools, and/or departments) are encouraged to establish appropriate compensation for academic professional positions. Such determinations take into account many factors to be considered with respect to compensation, including (but not limited to):
- Employment market factors
- Specialized knowledge/education/skills required for the position
- Level of experience required for the position
- Scope and complexity of responsibilities required in the position, including but not limited to supervision/management
- Location of the position, if situated somewhere other than on the Urbana campus
- Productivity of the employee
- Performance of the employee
Given these factors, salaries will vary for academic professionals from unit to unit or within the same unit, even for those with the same job title. Unit heads and supervisors have an ongoing responsibility to communicate with their academic professional employees about compensation issues, which includes appropriately addressing employee questions or concerns. The campus wage program is a merit-based program. Merit salary increases should correlate with performance, given market and budgetary constraints. Promotional pay increases should relate to expanded duties and responsibilities, newly acquired skills (experiences), creativity, and/or special talents.
Learn more about initiatives for Academic Professionals:
The Council of Academic Professionals, a campuswide, elected body, also is active in efforts to build a standardized foundation of policies and processes for continuing academic staff.