Background

In 2014, Ohio University Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit established the Campus Climate Task Force to evaluate information resulting from the Modern Think 2014 Great Colleges Survey and formulate actionable recommendations.

The CCTF reviewed the survey results with a Modern Think representative to gain an understanding of the overarching themes. There were 15 core dimensions contained within the survey that upon review revealed several areas where employees as a whole reported favorable results as well as areas of widespread concern.

The CCTF then undertook an in-depth analysis of the data. Goals were established to:

• Communicate openly and regularly through a variety of vehicles
• Seek further information and input from the University community to enhance our understanding of the campus climate to guide any recommendations
• Have a strong orientation toward action

The CCTF issued their report and three new sub-committees were formed to implement the recommendations noted in three keys areas of University-wide internal communications, senior leadership/strategic direction and professional development/departmental leadership.

Substantial progress has been made by the Professional Development and Departmental Leadership subcommittee. The recommendations made in the area specific to compensation are as follows:

• Continue ongoing initiatives to ensure that pay for University employees is competitive with national benchmarks and equitable internally
  • Identify and address inequities in the classified and administrative pay structure developed in COMP2014
  • Continue to set aside funds from the raise pool to be allocated by Compensation to correct equity disparities
  • Continue the faculty salary investment pool to meet the goals set by the Faculty Compensation Task Force

Many of the other ongoing items in the Task Force report concerned matters related to compensation. The team members met with various administrators charged with managing faculty and staff compensation at the institution who provided an update on the initiatives underway.

The Compensation Partner Group was formed, meeting monthly to discuss administrative and classified employee compensation issues and discuss best policies/procedures/practices surrounding compensation. 

Current goals of the group include reviewing the Pay Administration Guidelines, overseeing the development of performance management tools, creating consistency in annual raise pool allocations and defining the overload process.

Over the past four years, the University has made significant investments in the compensation of faculty and staff. These efforts are:

• FY2015 – $1.3 million provided for tenure track faculty on the Athens campus, $540,000 for regional tenure-track faculty and $1.7 million provided to non-tenure-track faculty on the Athens and regional campuses as part of the three-year faculty compensation plan.
• January 2016 – $1,146,881 investment addressing equity concerns for 446 administrative and classified non-bargaining unit employees.
• FY2016 – Year two of the faculty compensation plan; $850,000 provided for tenure-track faculty on the Athens campus, $325,000 for regional tenure-track faculty and $1.03 million provided to non-tenure-track faculty on the Athens and regional campuses.
• July 2016 - $592,202 invested to address equity affecting 422 administrators and classified non-bargaining unit employees.
• FY2017 – Faculty investments for year three of the faculty compensation plan were identical to those listed above for FY2016. The next step will be to convene a follow-up task force to analyze the results of the compensation plan. The goal will be to develop recommendations for future plans to maximize our investment in faculty compensation to attract and retain talented faculty.
• June 2017 – Completion of the biennial equity review resulted in an investment of $443,715 applied across 62 administrative and classified non-bargaining unit employees. These adjustments reflect our regular biennial internal equity review that is a critical component of the university’s overall compensation philosophy. Pay equity will continue to be reviewed, and adjusted as warranted, on a biennial basis with the assistance of a third pay expert.

This review of key investments in faculty and staff compensation over the past four years clearly demonstrates the University’s commitment to its compensation philosophy of achieving fair, equitable and consistent pay practices and opportunities for all employees.