Overview
The Office of Academic Affairs has established a process for full-time faculty members seeking to appeal their current salary and/or merit raise and request a higher salary. This process was informed by conversations with many faculty members and the University Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Gender Pay Equity, as well as review of best practices at other institutions.
Appeals Process, updated July 2025
The appeals process described below is for a faculty member who wants to appeal their AY2025-26 salary and/or most recent merit raise. This appeals process may be used by a faculty member no more than once every three years; thus, a faculty member filing an appeal in AY2025-26 would not be eligible to do so again until AY2028-29.
Faculty are strongly encouraged to meet with their department chair, school director, or relevant associate dean before submitting a formal salary appeal to their dean. This initial meeting with the chair/director/associate dean is not part of the formal appeal process, but it can help the faculty member understand the wider context of their salary appeal.
Faculty salary appeals process:
Step 1: Faculty member submits a written salary appeal to the relevant academic dean.
The faculty member’s salary appeal can be submitted via email but must include the following items:
- (1) A document that includes the requested higher salary (i.e., a specific dollar amount) and the faculty member’s AY2025-26 salary, most recent merit raise, and merit raises from the three preceding years. Faculty members hired within the last three years should submit all salary and merit raise information available.
- (2) A document that provides the rationale for the salary appeal. Such a rationale should be based on the faculty member’s contributions in research, teaching, and/or service from the previous one or two years. Where possible, it should also include salary benchmarks, using publicly available salary data from other universities or aggregate salary data provided by professional/learned societies.
Note: Items 1 and 2 may be a single document.
- (3) The faculty member’s curriculum vitae.
Note: Because appeals that reach the Provost level must be submitted by November 1, 2025, faculty intending to submit a salary appeal are strongly encouraged to begin the process by September 12, 2025.
Step 2: Academic dean considers the salary appeal.
Within one month of receiving a faculty member’s salary appeal, the dean will schedule a meeting with the faculty member. Prior to that meeting, the dean may consult with the Assistant Provost for Faculty Affairs to request assistance with further salary benchmarking. When the dean meets with the faculty member, they will discuss the salary appeal and the faculty member’s concerns. Within two weeks of that meeting, the dean will respond in a formal letter to the faculty member, either upholding the faculty member’s current salary or increasing it. The dean’s response must also offer a rationale for their decision and include details of their meeting with the faculty member. A faculty salary appeal cannot lead to a lower salary. The dean’s letter will be sent to the faculty member, their department chair or school director (if relevant), and Faculty Affairs.
Step 3: Faculty member considers dean’s response.
If the faculty member accepts the dean’s response, they will return a signed copy of the dean’s letter to the dean, their department chair or school director (if applicable), and Faculty Affairs. Appeals concluded in this manner become effective with the beginning of the next academic term. Any salary increases determined through the appeals process are independent of salary increases awarded during the annual merit review process, no matter when they are determined.
If a faculty member chooses not to accept the dean’s response, the case moves to the Provost’s Faculty Salary Advisory Committee (described below), unless the faculty member decides to end their appeal at this point.
Step 4: Review by Provost’s Faculty Salary Advisory Committee (PFSAC)
Faculty salary appeals reviewed by the PFSAC will include the following elements:
To be submitted by the appealing faculty member:
- (1) The faculty member’s initial salary appeal material (see Step 1).
- (2) The dean’s response and rationale (see Step 2).
To be submitted by the dean:
- (1) An anonymized internal comparison of the faculty member’s salary relative to other faculty in their department/school, by rank and type of position. If any peer group contains fewer than five people (including the appealing faculty member), faculty salaries will be listed without rank or title for that peer group. This analysis is shared only with the PFSAC (i.e., not with the appealing faculty member).
- (2) A year-by-year list of all merit raises for the appealing faculty member, with promotion years and years with no faculty merit raises clearly marked.
- (3) If available, department, school, or college policies and procedures that describe how faculty merit increases are awarded.
- (4) Any external benchmarking reviewed by the dean, to be shared only with the PFSAC (i.e., not with the appealing faculty member).
For consideration in AY2025-26, any faculty member whose appeal reaches the PFSAC (Step 4) must submit that appeal to the Office of Faculty Affairs at facultyaffairs@syr.edu by November 1, 2025 (use subject line: Salary Appeal Submission). Any appeals submitted for PSFAC review after November 1st, 2025, will not be reviewed until the Fall 2026 semester.
A subcommittee of PFSAC members will discuss each faculty salary appeal case with the Provost. Each PFSAC committee member will share their assessment of the appeal, and their individual recommendations and feedback will be collected via a confidential process.
Step 5: Final decision from the Provost
Based on all elements of the faculty salary appeal, the Provost will render a decision. The Provost’s decision is final and will be communicated in writing to the relevant dean and appealing faculty member by the end of the calendar year in which the appeal is submitted, in most cases.