Frequently Asked Questions

The current pay practices were established more than ten years ago and have not kept with market fluctuations.

The goal of the compensation study was to:

1. Determine the University’s current position and competitiveness in the relevant market(s), which can be used to determine recommendations and approaches for moving forward
2. Establish updated salary structures, administration and guidelines.

The previous pay grades are not a part of the new salary structure.  While both structures used a numerical value for the naming system, the systems are not connected.  For example, a pay grade 107 is NOT a pay band 7.  The previous pay grades were developed more than 10 years ago.

Email communication was sent to all full-time employees hired prior to August 2021.  If you did not receive an email, it’s likely because you are either part-time or hired after August 2021.  If you are full-time and were hired prior to August 2021 and you didn’t receive an email, please contact compensation@wku.edu.

It is important to note that the study involved a comprehensive review of job descriptions for all full-time positions on campus .  This included:

• Employees completing the Essential Functions Worksheet;
• Supervisors completing the Job Analysis Questionnaire;
• Identification of market matches for benchmark positions;
• Validation of those market matches;
• Position slotting;
• Hierarchical and reporting structure validation;
• Calculation of recommended salary adjustments, and;
• Development of a new compensation philosophy and pay administration guidelines to ensure that WKU’s structure is competitive within the marketplace.

The project began in the Spring of 2019 with an expected completion in 2020; however, the study was paused as the University adjusted their priorities in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

No.  No one will lose their job or receive a pay cut as a result of the compensation study.

In addition to those who volunteered, others were invited to participate in order to represent a varied cross-section of the University community.  Additionally, Staff Senate, Faculty Senate and the Strategic Plan Implementation committee also nominated members to serve. The role of the Advisory Committees was to represent the views of faculty and staff; provide advice, guidance, and counsel; and advocate for their campus constituents.

Having outside consultation for these broad and complex endeavors is quite common across higher education.  A consulting engagement helps to bring about expertise, objectivity and ideas explored and implemented by other institutions.  A consultant also helps to support the significant workload efforts that are a natural part of these projects.   Consultants also guide the process through effective project management using proprietary applications and tools so that the projects remain on course and within stated objectives.  Helping to formulate an implementation strategy is also an expected outcome of consulting services.  Specific to WKU, Segal (formerly Sibson) Consulting was selected for the Compensation and Performance Development initiatives.  Segal is a nationally ranked consulting firm recognized for its work with higher education institutions across the country, and it is our belief that their expertise and experience supported a successful completion of these important strategic initiatives.

 All of the University’s full-time positions, both faculty and staff, were reviewed as part of this study.

A new salary structure has been created for full-time faculty and staff positions.  It was necessary to set up a new structure rather than try to update the old structure.  The new structure will be effective July 1, 2022, while some phase 1 salary adjustments were effective January 1, 2022.  Individual emails were sent to each employee with their updated pay band on April 20, 2022.

• In a general sense, the first step was to establish a thorough and accurate understanding of the job responsibilities assigned to each position. Essential Function Worksheets were completed by the employee and Job Analysis Questionnaires were completed by their immediate supervisor.
• The next step was to identify similar positions in the marketplace that matched at least 60 percent of the job responsibilities.
• Once position matches were in place, market data was analyzed.
• Using the market data, a decision was made regarding proper slotting. The midpoint of the salary structure that most closely represented the market rate indicates which band a job should be slotted.  All positions where market data wasn’t collected and/or available, were slotted based on a comparison to similar jobs with varying levels of responsibility across the University.

Not necessarily.  An employee’s job attributes (payroll schedule, title, etc.) could change as a result of this study, but that will be reviewed in later phases and communicated as needed. 

Salary compression occurs when salaries become minimally differentiated from those with more experience.  Segal looked at the amount of time an individual has been in their current position and the length of time it takes to gain proficiency in that job.  Strategies to address salary compression will be considered based on available budget dollars and institutional priorities in future phases of the study.

A reclassification request from your supervisor may be necessary when there is a substantive change in the duties and responsibilities of the job.  Human Resources will analyze the job description and determine if the duties and responsibilities have changed significantly (more than 60%).  If this is the case, your position will be re-evaluated to determine if a new classification is necessary.

Reclassifications (pay band changes) directly related to the study’s results will be paused until January 1, 2023 to allow time for additional phases of the comp study to be completed.

If you believe your pay band may be wrong because your duties have changed over time, a reclassification request from your supervisor may be necessary.  A reclassification should be considered if the duties and responsibilities of the job have changed substantially (more than 60%). 

 

If you believe your pay band is wrong as a result of the compensation study, a review may be initiated by your Supervisor.  Reclassifications (pay band changes) directly related to the study’s results will be paused until January 1, 2023 to allow time for additional phases of the comp study to be completed.

It is the University’s goal to be as transparent as possible. As evidence of that, we partnered with multiple stakeholder groups on campus at the beginning of the project and continued that through this first phase of implementation.  Our website is maintained and updated regularly for faculty and staff to review. 

Job descriptions are held within departmental files.  A version of the Job Analysis Questionnaire was exported into job description formats and can be requested from Human Resources.

As part of later phases of the study, Human Resources will review job description information for those individuals still in the “transition group” (exempt on the semi-monthly payroll schedule).  At that time, you will receive notification of the upcoming change.

Grant funded (and other non-centrally funded) positions were excluded from the initialpay increases because their pay is not provided by University funding. Grant funded positions can receive the increase as long as the grant budget allows for it. If the person in charge of the grant deems it possible, individual EPAFs can be processed to give employees the increase. This is the same situation as the 1.5% increase for January 1, 2022.  For the current year, the PI could choose to reallocate funds from other lines as the sponsor will allow as long as program goals are still being met. Ultimately the grant must have the capacity to fund the raise. When it is time to propose the next year, the PI should allow for the increases in payroll with the new year budget.

Should you have additional questions, please contact your Supervisor.  Beyond that, employees with questions about the study can contact Human Resources at compensation@wku.edu.

• Faculty Structure
• Staff Structure

When we look at market surveys, we look at a distribution of pay levels for any given job or rank.  We like to review market data of the middle 50% of participants, this represents the 25^th – 75^th percentile of the data, which excludes both high and low outliers.  This range (from the 25^th to the 75^th) encompasses many individuals with a wide variety of demographics, experiences, skill sets, functions, etc.  We think about 25^th percentile as representing an individual that may just be starting out in job or institution.  As they build up their skillset and become a fully contributing individual, we expect them to move from below median to median and as they continue growth and development to above median.  We interpret the median as the target pay for a fully competent, contributing, and experienced individual in their role.  The median acts as a target and anchor to build a range around.

Faculty:

Faculty progression, by nature, looks very different than staff as faculty have a more defined and standard career progression. Typically, a faculty member starts as an Assistant Professor and moves to Associate Professor after 6-8 years, then they may be an Associate Professor for 6-8 years as well. We generally create ranges that are more narrow to account for this relatively quick progression through the ranks.  The minimum of the range creates a floor/threshold for each rank that still represents a competitive pay rate that allows you to recruit and retain faculty talent. 

 

Staff

For staff, we align with the markets as well, but their career progression as well as the type of job they hold is significantly more varied than faculty. As more institutions are using market-based pay approaches and targeting the median (or close to it), we are seeing the range narrow.  However, organizations still need flexibility to pay for the wide range of jobs within any given band as well as the individual characteristics of the people in the jobs. We need to create slightly wider bands to account for those differences. The bands increase in width as we move up the salary structure because as the jobs grow, it typically takes longer to be a fully competent individual in the role and the job grows in scope as well. Jobs in the upper bands of the salary structure also tend to be less clearly defined than those at the lower bands.

 

 

The first phase of implementation prioritized increasing the pay of some individuals who were below their pay band’s minimum.

The first phase of implementation prioritized increasing the pay of some individuals who were below their pay band’s minimum.  Exclusions, such as non-centrally funded positions, did apply.

The first phase of implementation prioritized increasing the pay of some individuals who were below their pay band’s minimum.  Exclusions, such as non-centrally funded positions, did apply. 

The phase 1 pay adjustments will be paid in the month of May, but the adjustments will be retroactive to January 1, 2022.

The strategy for the pay adjustments was to bring those individuals identified as being paid a salary that is below the minimum of their newly established pay bands to a level within the band.  The increases were intended to bring the individual to, or as close to, the new pay band minimum given certain parameters.  These parameters allowed more individuals to receive impactful adjustments given budgetary constraints, with increases set at no less than $1,000, but no more than $10,000.

The adjustment is based on the newly identified pay bands.  The pay band placement for each position was based on several pieces of information, including job responsibilities submitted on the Job Analysis Questionnaire.

At this time, the only adjustments are in the pay amount.  Additional changes such as payroll schedule or job titles may be reviewed at a different phase in the study.

Short-term disability (STD) insurance rates are based on salary and age. If you’re enrolled in STD insurance and receiving a salary increase, you will see a slight increase in that benefit deduction from your earnings. Long-term disability (LTD) insurance is paid by WKU.  

No one’s base pay will be decreased as a result of the study. 

A few components of compensation include cost of labor and cost of living.  Cost of labor (i.e., cost of talent and variability in pay based on geographic impacts in talent supply and demand) have been factored into the study; Cost of Living is not typically a driving factor in compensation studies given the variability in living expenses across individuals. 

 

Generally speaking, annual salary budget increases do not follow cost of living changes.  Salary increases take many things into account, such as the financials of the organization, changes in market, adjustments to internal equity and when possible, inflation.