Competing with the market: Salary adjustments and faculty input

Abstract

It has been argued that one of the most pressing concerns for higher education during the next two decades is going to be the shortage of faculty. Unfortunately, there are also projections that institutions will continue to experience significant budget reductions. Current fiscal realities and projections of increasing faculty shortages suggest that in the short run market forces will be the predominant determinant of salary adjustments for many institutions. However, responding purely to market forces in an academic setting challenges fundamental values about equity and the merit of a given professor's work. This paper discusses how one major public university used faculty input in its process of distributing salary dollars specifically designated as “market adjustment monies.” Findings from an analysis of data on faculty perceptions about the process and its outcomes indicated that, net of receiving an adjustment, the more opportunity faculty members have had to be involved in the salary adjustment process, the greater their level of satisfaction with its outcomes.