1. Investments in Staff and Faculty Members
Since my arrival as TXST president, we have made significant progress to improve total compensation for staff and faculty members and to increase the number of employees.
Growing compensation
- In FY2023, we dedicated nearly $28 million to permanent pay raises (a 7.2% increase over our FY2022 salary pool).
- For FY2024, we again made similar investments by creating a $5.6 million performance-based merit pool for eligible employees; providing a cost of living adjustment of 2% to regular staff and faculty members who earned under $100,000 (base salary) per year; implementing a $30,000 minimum salary for full-time employees; and dedicating $1.75 million to provide market-adjustment increases to the salaries of faculty members who were underpaid according to market comparisons.
Increasing the Number of Employees
- Compared to two years ago, we have 142 more benefits-eligible faculty members and 215 more benefits-eligible staff members, representing an overall increase of 10%. I heard you loud and clear that we needed more hands to do the work of this great university, and I hope you are starting to see that help is on the way (even though I am keenly aware that there is much remaining to do here).
Looking toward FY2025, we are planning to add even more positions and to create more salary increases, which will help us make progress towards ensuring all employees earn market-competitive salaries.
Instructional Faculty Title Series
This coming fall semester marks a significant milestone as we will invest more than $2.2 million in the creation of a new faculty title series consisting of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor of Instruction titles. This career path provides long-deserved recognition for the work our teaching-emphasis colleagues have done over the years. It also creates new advancement opportunities for these faculty members, ensuring that their talents and contribution to student success are recognized.
We will take a phased approach to fully fund the new faculty title series. During the first year, all lecturers and senior lecturers will be eligible to be considered for the title of Assistant Professor of Instruction. A committee has developed guidelines that will allow qualified lecturers to be appointed to the rank of Associate Professor of Instruction or Professor of Instruction in the first year of implementation. Appointment guidelines are available in individual departments and the portal for those who choose to enter the new faculty title series is currently open with a deadline of May 15, 2024. In year-one of the rollout, Associate Professors of Instruction and Professors of Instruction will receive a 7% increase in salary. In year-two of the rollout, Professors of Instruction will receive another 7% increase in salary. Just as is the case for tenure-line faculty, all appointments to Associate or Full professor of Instruction are subject to approval by the Provost and the President.
Salary Compensation Study
The data-gathering portion of the compensation study, which began in 2023 with the goal of bringing all employee salaries up to market-competitive levels over the next several years, is almost complete. We will update all staff position descriptions across the university by the end of May, and then, we will use these data to inform our decisions on how to allocate salary increases as we look toward Fall 2024.