Faculty Salary Review

There has been a long history of using average salary benchmarks which would in effect assure that Sinclair’s market position relative to other Ohio community college faculty, to be paid in the top 3rd to 5^th place in the state. The market differential between Dayton and Cleveland, as well as the larger sized levy that Tri-C (Cuyahoga Community College) has always kept Sinclair from being ranked in the top 1^st or 2^nd place in the state.

The use of “average salary” benchmarks have long assumed that all community colleges function in the same way, have similar full time to part time faculty ratios, have policies for managing promotion and movement within the ranks, have similar turnover ratios, don’t have early retirement incentive plans, etc..

As a result of the declining levels of state funding over the past 5 years, the way that community colleges are managed have varied widely across the state. As a result, comparisons of faculty ratio (full time to part time) have been completed, showing sharp fluctuations ranging from 60/40, 50/50, to 40/60, all showing an increasing use of part time faculty, with the exception of Sinclair Community College.

Another comparison that varies is the proportionate number of faculty within rank, as well as promotion/hiring policies for higher level ranks. For instance, some community colleges cap the number of tenured Professors, as well as freeze or delay the hiring positions held by retiring Professors. In the past 5 years, Sinclair has promoted 55 professors (12%), 73 Associate Professors (17%) and 16 (4%) Assistant Professors.

Overall, during the past 5 years, the college has hired 103 new full time faculty, of which 37 positions were “net new” (66 were from turnover).

Over the past five years, the annual raises for full time continuing faculty as compared to AAUP data and the Consumer Price Index are as follows:

Academic Year	AAUP Cat III	AAUP Cat IV	Sinclair	CPI
2005-06	4.1%	4.5%	6.0%	3.4%
2004-05	4.6%	4.9%	4.4%	3.3%
2003-04	3.0%	2.5%	4.4%	1.9%
2002-03	4.3%	4.9%	4.4%	2.4%
2001-02	4.4%	5.0%	4.9%	1.6%

One of the benchmarks used is the comparison of the annual American Association of University Professors national salary survey data for community colleges. The benchmark was set at 15% above the national average, in order to target a goal of being number 3 in the state of Ohio. Results of the comparison follow:

Academic Year	National Target Faculty Average	Sinclair Actual Faculty Average	Sinclair Actual % raise	Average Faculty Salary Gap	Sinclair Continuing Faculty Average	Continuing Faculty Salary Gap
2005-06	$59,219	$56,750	6.0%	-4.2%	$58,189	-1.7%
2004-05	$58,478	$55,349	4.4%	-5.4%	$56,605	-3.2%
2003-04	$57,873	$54,241	4.4%	-6.3%	$55,648	-3.8%
2002-03	$57,711	$53,348	4.4%	-7.6%	$54,638	-5.3%
2001-02	$55,151	$52,817	4.9%	-4.2%	$54,272	-1.6%
2000-01	$53,149	$51,695	6.9%	-2.7%	$53,107	-0.1%
1999-00	$51,613	$50,045	6.9%	-3.0%	$50,744	-1.7%

State of Ohio community college faculty salary ranking

Data reflecting Sinclair’s average faculty salaries with respect to the Ohio community colleges follows:

College	2006	#	2005	#	2004	#	2003	#	2002	#	2001	#	2000	#
Lakeland	$71,230	1	$68,840	1	$66,405	1	$62,854	1	$59,428	1	$60,402	1	$59,893	1
Cuyahoga	$64,392	3	$62,483	2	$61,660	2	$60,014	2	$58,411	2	$58,332	2	$55,479	2
Lorain	$ 61,370	4	$59,686	3	$56,136	3	$53,997	3	$51,940	4	$50,903	5	$50,800	3
Cin State	$64,680	2	$56,694	4	$54,586	4	$53 267	5	$51,530	5	$50,965	4	$49,009	5
Sinclair	$56,750	5	$55,349	5	$54,241	5	$53,348	4	$52,817	3	$51,695	3	$50,045	4
Cols State	$53,463	6	$52,500	6	$51,200	6	$46,321	6	$47,862	6	$45,928	7	$43,455	8

Overview of the faculty salary negotiation process to date

1. Negotiation and discussion began last fall, beginning with a review of the salary compensation model, range closure strategies, the use of merit on base, and other performance management issues.

2. As a result, a two step process was taken. First, develop a long-term strategy to review, evaluate, redevelop and improve the compensation structure, including surveying and benchmarking other institutions to determine if a simpler and more effective model could be designed for Sinclair faculty. The surveys have been returned, analyzed and initial feedback from the survey information has been incorporated into the compensation structure discussions.

3. The primary faculty themes are:

Ø Range closure and the current underlying assumptions

Ø Merit pay-how it is administered and incorporated into range closure

Ø Step structures as alternatives to current practice

Ø Rank versus Non Rank

The primary administration themes are:

Ø Effects of the various community college’s faculty ratios and hiring practices on the current benchmarks

Ø Incorporate a review of total compensation-include benefits in discussions

Ø Evaluate the market by rank, not just by average salary

Ø Evaluate effectiveness of current performance measurements

Ø College’s ability to pay

4. The college has not officially kicked off its formal budget building process. Normally this would have begun in early spring. Initial discussions have not suggested a target rate of increase, since AAUP, CUPA and OACC (Ohio) data has been late in coming. OACC information has still not been released.

5. National 2005 CUPA:

Annual salary increases 3.5% overall and 3.8% for community colleges

National 2005 AAUP:

Annual salary increases 3.1% overall and 4.1% for community colleges

OACC/Ohio community college data – Available soon

6. Based on the initial financial projections for the new fiscal year, the structure could support a raise of 1.54%. The CPI was 3.4% for December 2005, and the market suggests that a reasonable increase of 3.4% could be supported. However, the college’s ability to pay would not support this, and an additional reserve draw would have to be made in order to fill the time gap to balance the budget.