HEWITT TOTAL COMPENSATION ASSESSMENT
April 14, 2010
Q. Does the Hewitt study compare exempt staff salaries to only the local West Lafayette market?
A. No. Exempt pay was compared to data in the CUPA Administrative Compensation Survey, the CUPA Mid-Level Salary Survey, and the COMP DATA Survey. CUPA is the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. (See page 11 of the March 29 Hewitt report.)
• CUPA Administrative Compensation Survey: This survey gathers and publishes pay information for executive and senior-level management positions at universities. Many of Purdue’s executives and senior level management have been hired from other higher education institutions. Purdue executive and senior management pay data is compared to doctoral institutions with operating budgets greater than one billion dollars.
• CUPA Mid-Level Survey: This survey gathers and publishes pay information for staff and lower management/supervisory positions at universities. Purdue data for these positions is compared with the CIC (Committee on Institutional Cooperation). The CIC includes Big Ten peers and the University of Chicago. A portion of Purdue’s mid-level employees are recruited from other institutions of higher education.
• COMP DATA Survey: This survey is published by Dolan Technologies Corp. in conjunction with various state chambers of commerce. The survey covers private and public sector employers in the state of Indiana. A portion of Purdue’s mid-level employees are recruited from within the state of Indiana.
Q. How about for benefits? Does the Hewitt study compare exempt staff benefits to only the local West Lafayette market?
A. Hewitt’s experience shows that administrative/professional (A/P) benefits at universities are nearly identical to those of faculty. Hewitt advised Purdue that the faculty benefit comparisons within the study would be transferable to A/P employees, so Purdue could use the faculty data to know how Purdue’s exempt staff benefits compared to the exempt staff benefits of other universities.
For many exempt staff positions, Purdue’s competition is the local West Lafayette area market, so Purdue compared itself to eight local employers to get a more complete picture of its competitiveness for exempt staff. (See page 10 of the March 29 Hewitt report.)
Q. How was faculty pay compared?
A. Faculty pay data was compared to data from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Annual Faculty Survey and the College and University Professional Association (CUPA) NFSS survey.
• Since 1915, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has worked jointly with the Association of American Universities (AAU).
The AAUP publishes an annual faculty salary report, which has been cited in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and The New York Times.
• The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA) sponsors the National Faculty Salary Survey (NFSS). Purdue faculty pay was compared to the faculty pay of all doctoral institutions participating in the NFSS.
Q. How was non-exempt staff pay compared?
A. Non-exempt staff pay data was compared to statewide data found in the COMP DATA Survey. This survey covers private and public sector employers in the state of Indiana. For non-exempt positions, nearly all Purdue hires are made from within the state of Indiana.
Q. For the salary comparison, did the study look at academic-year (AY) appointments or fiscal-year (FY) appointments?
A. All faculty pay data was converted to academic-year 100 percent equivalencies, as required by the two faculty surveys used in the study.
All staff pay was converted to fiscal-year 100 percent equivalencies, as required by all the surveys used in the study.
Q. When the report says that Purdue’s pay is “market competitive,” what does that mean?
A. Market competitive is a range of pay above and below a midpoint that an employer must provide to compete successfully with other potential employers to attract, hire, and retain employees.
Q. University of California is listed as a university that Purdue used for comparison, but which campus?
A. The benefit information used for comparison is system-wide data for the University of California, including Berkeley. Benefits are the same at all campuses. The compensation data used for comparing pay is specific to Berkeley.
Q. What is CUPA?
A. CUPA is the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. It is also called CUPA-HR. CUPA serves as a resource to the higher education human resources profession and the higher education community. CUPA’s membership is institution-based and includes close to 90 percent of all U.S. doctoral institutions, around 70 percent of all master’s institutions, more than 50 percent of all bachelor’s institutions, and nearly 500 two-year and specialized institutions.