Overview
The Office of Academic Affairs has established a new process for full-time faculty members seeking a review of their current salary and/or merit raise. This process was informed by and developed after 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 June 2024
If a faculty member wants to appeal their current salary and/or most recent merit raise, the following appeals process is followed. 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 AY2024-25 would not be eligible to do so again until AY2027-28.
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 informational only and 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 in which the faculty member states their requested salary (i.e., a specific dollar amount) and which includes their current salary, most recent merit raise, and merit raises from the three preeding 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. Relevant sources of evidence to substantiate the appeal and the requested salary can include: Evidence concerning the faculty member’s contributions in research, teaching, and service from the previous one or two years.
Salary benchmarks, using publicly available salary data from, for example, 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.
Appeals can be submitted any time between July 15 and May 1.
Step 2: Academic dean considers the salary appeal.
Within one month of receiving the written 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 written letter to the appeal, making a decision to either uphold the faculty member’s current salary or increase it and offering a rationale for that decision. A faculty salary appeal cannot lead to a lower salary. The dean’s letter will memorialize the details of the meeting, along with their decision and rationale, and 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, including summer. Any salary increases determined as a result of the appeals process are independent of any 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 (see description 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), individual 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 2024, the faculty member must submit their appeal to the Office of Faculty Affairs at facultyaffairs@syr.edu by November 1, 2024 (use subject line: Salary Appeal Submission). Faculty salary appeals submitted for PFSAC review by November 1st will be reviewed at a PFSAC meeting convened by the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs before the end of the Fall 2024 semester.
A subcommittee of PFSAC members will discuss each faculty salary appeal case with the Provost. Each PFSAC committee member will share their thoughts and 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.