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The Daily Tar Heel

Study to evaluate salary inequities

Rosters to be due for review May 2

On Tuesday, leaders of various University departments will receive a fact sheet detailing factors that determine faculty salaries in hopes of discovering reasons for salary inequities.

The Faculty Salary Equity Task Force met Friday to discuss what will be evaluated in the fact sheets, which are due back to the committee May 2, said Laurie McNeil, chairwoman of the committee.

Deans are expected to edit the rosters for accuracy, and any outliers will receive a second look.

Lynn Williford, assistant provost for institutional research and assessment, said the rosters include information like base salary, previous administrative positions and highest earned degree, along with other relevant degrees.

“If someone in their current rank started that rank at another institution before they came here, they need to tell us that,” Williford said.

Abigail Panter, a task force member and psychology professor, said she agreed that a professor’s previous position is important to the study because it could explain why some professors make more or less than their colleagues.

“We will know after we get the results, maybe he was a full-time professor pulled from another school,” Panter said.

The committee hopes the study will find salary standards for each specific department.

“The survey is trying to get at what are the norms for this department,” Williford said.

The committee will next meet April 29 to focus on potential inequities in promotion and tenure, and it will continue meeting throughout the summer to analyze the data collected on salaries.

Williford said the last few analyses the committee has done have taken between two and three years.

This committee has been progressing at about the same pace since it was formed in fall 2009.

“Our charge is to complete the entire report, including recommendations, by the end of the calendar year,” McNeil said.

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.

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