Compensation 2030 | Human Resources | SIU

Message from the Chancellor:

Dear fellow Salukis:

We are continuing our efforts to address how we can provide SIU Carbondale faculty and staff with equitable and competitive pay.

Since I arrived here in 2020, many faculty and staff have expressed their concerns about equitable compensation and our university’s competitiveness in the job market. Historical factors, such as the 2015-2017 budget impasse, years with no wage increases, and inflation, have caused issues with pay equity, compression, and market alignment for our workforce. With the launch of Imagine 2030 in 2021, we started work on the long and complex solution. The first phase of work included partnering with our constituency groups. We conducted an internal analysis comparing employees’ compensation to that of their peers, which resulted in salary adjustments for more than 100 employees. In addition, in recent years, we have successfully negotiated collective bargaining agreements that include pay raises, and for three years in a row, we have provided modest increases in salaries for employees not represented by a collective bargaining agreement.

SIU remains committed to our Imagine 2030 plan and our strategic pillars, including our pillar focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion. We also acknowledge that recruiting and retaining highly qualified faculty, graduate students and staff are crucial to student success and engagement. Further, we recognize that recruiting and retaining employees hinge upon equitable and competitive pay. To that end, I am pleased to announce that we have begun work toward our second phase of our efforts: Compensation 2030 — a comprehensive study that will provide us with the foundation we need to move forward.

The work has been and will continue to be a collaborative effort. We convened a robust steering committee to select the right partner for our project and to inform our strategy moving forward. I would like to thank the committee members, who spent countless hours evaluating proposals:

• Todd Bryson, Administrative/Professional Staff Council
• Myla Burton, GPSC/GAU
• Elizabeth Cheek, Civil Service Council
• Sajal Lahiri, Faculty Association
• Ahmad Fakhoury, Faculty Senate
• Cherie Watson, Faculty Senate/NTT FA
• Rachel Whaley, Faculty Senate/FA
• Juliane Wallace, Associate Provost for Academic Administration
• Nick Wortman, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Human Resources

The committee selected CBIZ, a consulting firm with vast experience in similar higher education compensation projects and studies. In our study, CBIZ will help us compare faculty and graduate appointments to other jobs in R1 and R2 institutions. In addition, the project will create career architecture for staff – the path an employee can take to advance from entry level to top management. This architecture will allow us to better compare staff positions within the university, higher education, and with similar jobs outside of higher education. It also provides a framework to develop more thoughtful employee development opportunities.

CBIZ will begin evaluating faculty and graduate salary data immediately, and staff will soon be asked to complete new job analysis questionnaires to ensure employees are properly classified and grouped together before the analysis begins. We anticipate having initial faculty and graduate study results in late fall or early spring. By fall 2025, we plan to craft new compensation policies and guidelines that will provide consistency in compensation and pay scales that align with the larger job market. More specific information is forthcoming. As we progress, we will also post updates on the Human Resources website and share information in SIU Today.

The success of Imagine 2030 depends on you, our university’s people. Resolving this longstanding issue by working toward equitable and more competitive compensation is not only in the best interest of our university and our employees: It is the right thing to do.

Sincerely,
Austin A. Lane
Chancellor, Southern Illinois University Carbondale