University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
Compensation Philosophy
Philosophy Statement
The University of Wisconsin – Green Bay is committed to excellence in undergraduate
and graduate education. The foundation of our educational philosophy is to provide
students with a 360° education as a means of developing critical thinkers, creative
problem solvers and strong communicators. To support our commitment to excellence,
we shall maintain a compensation program directed toward attracting, retaining and
rewarding a qualified and diverse workforce. Our culture must challenge employees to
contribute in meaningful ways to the mission of the University.
Our compensation program shall be transparent, fair, non-discriminatory, easy to
administer and easily understood. Additionally, we recognize that it is the combined
efforts of all employees of the University, faculty, academic staff, classified staff, and
administrative (limited) employees that will allow the University to achieve its mission.
Therefore, our compensation goals for all employee classifications must be comparable.
Within the boundaries of financial feasibility, employee compensation shall be internally
equitable and externally competitive based on performance as recognized within each
division.
Objectives
Internal Equity
The University and its employees benefit when a formal pay administration program is
established, maintained and well understood. The University will apply the system-wide
job classifications for staff positions to establish consistency across the University and as
a means of determining fair and equitable pay. These classifications will be applied
uniformly to ensure internal equity, valid comparability with the appropriate labor
markets, provide clear distinctions between classifications and to allow for employee
flexibility within the organization based on responsibility, experience, educational
qualifications, longevity with the University, and other job related characteristics.
External Market Competitiveness
It is important that the University’s compensation and benefit programs are well
positioned relative to our peers. The University wants to compete with other similarly
situated Universities and public and private employers to attract individuals with
established track records as well as those with growth potential. Our goal is to achieve
at least the median of the competitive market, when financially and administratively
feasible and to be internally consistent with equitable pay practices. Competitive
compensation cannot be achieved immediately. Therefore, factoring in performance,
our focus will be to bring the lower (in absolute terms) 40% of employees in all
categories up to our goal while recognizing the contributions of employees and retaining
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high performing employees. Regardless of fluctuations in state support, it is imperative
that the University demonstrate progress towards the aims detailed in this document.
Compensation Program Implementation
Our external comparable market is defined by job category, as follows:
1. Faculty and Limited: Publicly funded and not for profit Bachelor’s and Master’s
granting institutions in the US with an enrollment of 4,000 to 20,000 students (as
determined through the national CUPA-HR database) and UW System.
2. Academic Staff Positions: Upper Midwest public and private organizations of
similar size and scope, publicly funded and not for profit Bachelors and Masters
granting institutions, with enrollment of 4,000 to 20,000 students (as
determined by the CUPA-HR database) including all UW System institutions and
Wisconsin Technical colleges.
3. Classified Staff: Primarily Wisconsin based public and private sector companies
of similar size and scope.
For evaluating external pay competitiveness for academic staff and classified staff
positions, we will rely primarily on data from the CUPA-HR administrative and
professional surveys for applicable jobs, existing surveys published by reputable survey
companies, and other available salary surveys that meet professional standards. Local
market salary survey data will be used primarily for FLSA non-exempt jobs. A local and
regional market will be used primarily for FLSA exempt jobs. Where applicable, both
private and public sector organizations will be used as comparable organizations. All
salary data that represents salaries from outside the immediate Green Bay area will be
adjusted to the Green Bay labor market.
Faculty pay competitiveness will be determined based on comparable discipline and
function as reported by CUPA-HR including consideration of graduate advising and
undergraduate mentoring duties.
Salary Ranges
Staff positions will be placed into a system of pay grades that is consistent with the
market data. For jobs where there is insufficient market data, the jobs will be compared
to jobs where market data are available in order to slot them into the appropriate salary
grade based on decision making complexity, scope and difficulty of the job, supervisory
responsibilities and similar characteristics to ensure a fair and internally equitable pay
grade assignment.
Hiring Rates and Progression within Salary Ranges
In order to attract qualified candidates to our University while recognizing pay
compression concerns for existing employees, the University will maintain internal
equity in pay practices and hiring rates. Faculty and staff employees’ salary movement
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through their respective salary ranges will be based on performance and workplace
expectations. Supervisors will encourage professional development opportunities for
employees to facilitate movement and progression through salary ranges. Supervisors
will receive training on employee advancement and performance evaluations so that all
departments have appropriate development possibilities. Such development may lead
to salary increases and/or career advancement opportunities.
Transparency
A compensation strategy (as opposed to a philosophy), approved by the Chancellor, will
be distributed to all employees annually. This strategy will consist of pertinent action
items formulated in response to current conditions.
A summary of the criteria by which any compensation changes occur (whether acrossthe-board, cost-of-living, merit, promotion, market, or adjustments to offset
compression) should be made known to all employees before compensation decisions
are made. The decision-making authority for any compensation decision should be
made available as well. Overtime and overload policies will be clearly stated and based
upon departmental and operational needs.
Responsibilities
Human Resources Department
The Human Resources Department is responsible for maintaining the classification and
compensation programs in a fair and non-discriminatory fashion. The responsibilities
include classifying new positions, reclassifying current positions when job duties and
responsibilities change, assigning appropriate job titles based on duties and scope of
responsibility, determining the appropriate level of pay for new hires and promotions,
maintaining internal equity, monitoring salary ranges for compression, market updates,
and related activities designed to keep the system consistent with the University’s pay
strategy and facilitating progression through the ranges, as appropriate.
The Human Resources Department will collect market data or market trend data for all
jobs on an annual basis and make recommendations to University leadership regarding
adjustments to the plan, consistent with the University’s pay strategy and financial
capabilities. Market and trend data will be reviewed with the Committee on Workload
and Compensation annually. Changes in compensation philosophy and strategy will be
made with input from appropriate faculty, academic staff and classified staff governance
committee, depending on the affected employee group.
Chancellor’s Cabinet
The Chancellor’s Cabinet is responsible for ensuring that the compensation philosophy
advances the University’s operational needs and strategic goals. The Cabinet will also
play a vital role in maintaining the integrity of the philosophy by adhering to its
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objectives in their actions. The Chancellor has final authority for any decisions related
to the compensation philosophy.
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