Adams School of Dentistry: Faculty Salary Policy

This document outlines the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry's policies for determining faculty salaries, covering both the initial salary negotiation process at the time of hire and the annual salary increment process in subsequent years. It establishes the criteria, procedures, and responsibilities of Chairs and the Dean in making fair and performance-based salary recommendations.

Unit Policy

Title

Adams School of Dentistry: Faculty Salary Policy

Introduction

Purpose

This document outlines the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry's policies for determining faculty salaries, covering both the initial salary negotiation process at the time of hire and the annual salary increment process in subsequent years. It establishes the criteria, procedures, and responsibilities of Chairs and the Dean in making fair and performance-based salary recommendations.

Scope

This policy applies to all faculty — both tenure and fixed term — at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry.

Policy

There are two fundamental phases to developing salaries for faculty in the UNC School of Dentistry. These phases relate to:

• Salary level negotiated at the time of hire;
• Salary increments recommended in the years following the initial hire.

1. Initial Salary Negotiated at the Time of Hire

In the School of Dentistry, the salary level recommended for a new faculty is formalized by the Dean who recommends the new appointment, together with salary considerations, to the University. The level of salary recommended at the time of hire is based upon a consultative process with the specifically involved Chair, as well as many other considerations. These include:

• Qualifications of the new hire
• Experience
• Rank
• Responsibilities to be filled
• Administrative load
• Discipline for which the position is being recruited
• Likely grant activity
• Likely patient care activity
• Market conditions
• National/International standing

In general, when recruiting for new faculty below the level of departmental chair, the Dean takes into account the above-noted salary factors, and consults:

• The specific departmental chair about probable level of salary that may be needed to recruit successfully;
• The existing salary matrix in the UNC School of Dentistry;
• The salary information published annually by the American Dental Education Association Deans of other dental schools for further input into current salary norms

During employment negotiations, the Dean consults the Chair as necessary, including considerations pertaining to the salary offer. All departmental chairs receive copies of the written terms and conditions developed for each new hire in their Department, including all details pertaining to compensation.

2. Annual Salary Increments

Annual salary increments for individual faculty members are recommended by their respective Chairs, who forward the recommendations to the Dean for further approval. Chairs and administrators reporting to the Dean constitute a unit, with the Dean as head, who administers salary increments for Chairs and administrators by the same process as Chairs do for their respective faculty.

Each year the School may be allocated state salary increment moneys based upon legislative recommendation, that is, in turn, implemented through the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina. Traditionally, the state salary increment for University faculty may be presented as a mix of mechanisms, including: (a) defined, across-the-board or cost-of-living increases, (b) merit increases, and (c), one-time payments. For the purpose of this document, these distinctions will be ignored in the interests of exposition and coherence. Thus, the mix (if any) of mandated increment moneys will be figuratively rolled into one, and described as if it were a single bonus. The division and the allocation to departments and units of the salary increment funds received by the Dean is accomplished after setting aside a salary redistribution holdback of not more than 5% of the total to deal with redistribution and other situations described below under "Other Factors". The net allocation of salary increment funds to a Department or unit is calculated on a "share" basis, computed separately for dental and allied dental education faculty. In terms of annual process, each year any state salary increment allocated to the School, less the redistribution amount, is divided by the number of faculty in the school (dental and allied dental education separately), resulting in average increment figures we call a faculty "share". The Department Chair or unit head receives an amount of salary increment money calculated by multiplying the number of full-time salaries by the value of the share. This process, shaped, honed and polished over many years at the School of Dentistry, has served well. By definition, the process also has had the effect of working to counteract excessive faculty salary discrepancies among departments.

When determining annual salary raises, departmental chairs and unit heads are encouraged to focus on actual salary increment amounts, rather than simply percentage increases.

Chairs and units heads recommend salary increments based upon a careful, formal annual performance review of each faculty member. The evaluation process is based upon performance on three or four (if applicable) specific evaluation parameters. These are (1) Teaching, (2) Research and Scholarship, (3) Clinical Performance in Patient Care (if applicable), and (4) Service to the Department, School, University, State and various other constituencies. These four performance parameters are weighted, and are intended to reflect what we expect faculty to do in order to earn tenure and promotion, as described in the School's Promotion and Tenure Manual. The Manual, as this salary policy, speaks to both tenure and fixed term faculty.

For the Chair to accomplish the annual evaluation, faculty are asked yearly for an inventory of information focusing on:

1. teaching responsibilities (didactic, patient care, laboratory);
2. student evaluations of that teaching;
3. examples of new teaching innovations;
4. mentoring of graduate students, including dissertation committee service;
5. research activities in both sponsored and non-sponsored categories;
6. research publications in the refereed literature;
7. other scientific reports;
8. refereed abstracts;
9. invited scientific presentations and lectures;
10. direct patient care activities;
11. service activities for the school, the university and the state;
12. service activities for state and national government and scientific/professional organizations;
13. service in the form of externally offered continuing dental education;
14. special awards and recognition.

This evaluation process, refined over many years, results in quantitative scoring that permits the Chair to rank his or her departmental faculty. The performance review for every individual faculty member is discussed by the Chair, the Dean, and 4 Associate Deans representing Academic Affairs, Research, Clinical Affairs, and Administration/Planning. During this latter phase, modifications to the evaluation can be, and frequently are, made.

In the School of Dentistry, Chairs are held to the principle that the salary increments must not contradict the annual, formal performance review for departmental faculty. It is the role of the Dean's office to see that this principle is not ignored.

3. Other Factors in Annual Salary Increment Determinations

There are other factors that will influence decisions on annual salary increments. On occasion, these factors might become operational at non-regular times during the year. Examples of other factors that may influence the annual salary increment are:

1. Acceptance of responsibilities in addition to teaching and research;
2. Faculty retention consideration;
3. Changing market condition;
4. Inadequate or restriction in funding source;
5. Dealing with growing inequity situations;
6. Correcting salary discrimination on the basis of gender or race (this may become obvious through annual University faculty salary equity studies);
7. Named professorships.

By and large, consideration of other factors, together with the "shares" approach to allocating funds to departments and units, are the primary ways to reduce institutionally undesirable salary dispersion.

4. Explanation of Salary Increment to Faculty

As is customary in the School of Dentistry, each faculty member must be advised in writing of his/her salary increment, the resulting total salary figure for the academic year, and the percentage increase represented by the increment. As part of the letter, the Chair should tie the increment recommended to the work performance of the faculty member during the past 12 months, and under special circumstances, to longer-term performance (e.g., 3 years) or other mitigating factors described above.

5. Annual Review of Salaries

Salary recommendations are initiated by the Chair and are reviewed and approved by the Dean. The Dean, as well as the University Administration, apply salary reviews that seek to identify salary disparities that should be eliminated immediately, eliminated over a specified time period, or should be retained with a proper explanation for the apparent disparity (or actual lack thereof).

6. Grievance Mechanism

Faculty members who are dissatisfied with the Faculty Salary Policy, with their salary increment, or with their salary level are invited to discuss their concerns with the Dean of the School of Dentistry. If the faculty member fails to find satisfaction, he/she is then advised to appeal, using the University's established grievance procedures.

Contact Information

Primary Contact

Jennifer L. Brame, EdD, MS
Professor, Assistant Dean for Faculty Development 
Adams School of Dentistry
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Email: Jennifer_Brame@unc.edu 
Phone: 919-537-3168