Over the past several years, ETSU has prioritized investments in faculty and staff salaries with the goal of bringing all employees' compensation to their market target or range.
Faculty Salary Enhancements
| Academic Year |
Faculty Salary Enhancements |
| 2022-23 |
|
| 2023-24 |
|
| 2024-25 |
|
Faculty Market Targets
ETSU has developed market targets for faculty positions based on datasets provided by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR).
Bringing Faculty Salaries Up to Market
Beginning in the Spring 2025 semester, ETSU began to close market gaps by providing additional, strategic, targeted salary increases for regular faculty members whose salaries are below market range. To fund the first round of these enhancements, ETSU identified $1.6 million dollars through vacancy management and other institutional efficiencies. Additionally, the College of Arts and Sciences reallocated another $500,000 to help close gaps for faculty in that college as a result of the university-wide Budget Model Update process. The total investment in faculty salary enhancements amounted to just over $2.1 million for the Spring 2025 semester.
Of the 639 regular faculty members (excluding the College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, and Family Medicine), Human Resources identified 388 that are below market targets. In March 2025, these 388 faculty members received pay increases, which were reflected on their March paychecks. Any salary increases made in Spring 2025 were provided retroactively to November 1, 2024, or the date of hire, whichever was most recent. So, individuals receiving an increase received a lump sum payment on their first increased paycheck to “catch up” from November (or their hire date) until the time the salary enhancement was made.
Faculty market-based salary increases for Spring 2025 were implemented in two phases.
Note that in all phases/options/calculations, the College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, and Family Medicine are excluded. Adjunct faculty also were not included in this process.
Spring 2025 Phase 1: Faculty
Phase 1 distributed $500,000 of salary funds reallocated by the College of Arts and Sciences as a result of the Budget Model Update. The distribution of these funds was limited to regular CAS faculty currently below market salary comparisons with those furthest from market rates being given priority. Adjunct faculty members were not included in this process. View an overview of the methodology for CAS salary enhancements.
Once these salary increases were calculated, market gaps were recalculated based on these increases for use in Phase 2 of implementation.
Spring 2025 Phase 2: Faculty
Phase 2 followed the distribution of Phase 1. Phase 2 distributed $1.6 million in salary resources to regular faculty below market targets with an emphasis on closing gaps across all faculty salaries that are currently below market. Note that Phase 2 also included CAS faculty, so some faculty that received an increase in Phase 1 of implementation may also have received an additional increase in Phase 2. View an overview of the methodology used in Phase 2.
Future Phases
ETSU cannot fully close market gaps in faculty salaries in a single year. The university will continue working to identify further funding to move faculty whose salaries are below-market closer to market targets in the coming years, with the goal of completely eliminating gaps. ETSU has identified a minimum market target of the 40th percentile of national comparison data based on rank and discipline for all incumbent regular faculty as a starting point for closing these gaps.
Faculty Salary Enhancements: Spring 2025 Methodology
For salary comparisons, ETSU used data available from the 2024 College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) annual survey disaggregated by faculty rank and instructional CIP Code. The faculty CIP codes were determined via historical Human Resource records, with input from deans and chairs, and review by Institutional Research. Faculty market-based salary increases will be implemented in two phases.
Note that in all phases/options/calculations, the College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, and Family Medicine are excluded. Adjunct faculty members also were not included in this process.
The numbers provided in the following examples are intended to provide a simplified explanation of the mechanics of the calculations and do not reflect the actual numbers used in the "real" salary adjustments.
Spring 2025 Phase 1: College of Arts and Sciences
As a result of the university-wide Budget Model Update process, the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) reallocated $500,000 to contribute to efforts to bring faculty salaries closer to market targets. Phase 1 distributed the funds contributed by CAS, with those furthest from market rates being given priority.
The distribution of these funds was limited to CAS faculty currently below market salary comparisons. Once these salary increases were calculated, market gaps were recalculated based on these increases for use in Phase 2 of implementation.
As noted above, this phase prioritized individuals in CAS who are farthest from their salary targets as determined by the ratio of the current salary to the current target. For example, if a faculty member A’s salary is $56,000 and the market target is $70,000, their corresponding salary as a percent of the target would be $56,000 / $70,000 = 80%. Likewise, if faculty member B’s salary were $82,000 and the market target is $96,000, their corresponding salary as a percentage of the target would be $82,000 / $96,000 = 85.4%. In this case, faculty member A would be considered farther from their salary target.
Phase 1 mathematically minimized the farthest distance from the salary target. In essence, it applied funds to those farthest from the target ultimately raising the “floor” for salary gaps. As the funds were applied, the number of individuals at the rising floor expanded. As an example, consider the following:
Faculty member A
Salary: $56,000
Target: $70,000
Gap (in dollars): $70,000 - $56,000 = $14,000
Gap (Sal % of Market): $56,000 / $70,000 = 80%.
Faculty member B
Salary: $82,000
Target: $96,000
Gap (in dollars): $96,000 - $82,000 = $14,000
Gap (Sal % of Market): $82,000 / $96,000 = 85.4%
Faculty member C
Salary: $75,000
Target: $100,000
Gap (in dollars): $100,000 - $75,000 = $25,000
Gap (Sal % of Market): $75,000 / $100,000 = 75%
In this example, salary resources would be applied to faculty member C until they reach 80% of the market after which remaining funds would be applied to faculty member A and faculty member B. This process goes on until all salary resources are exhausted. If we consider the same example with salary resources totaling $10,000, the increases would be:
Faculty member A:
Salary: $56,000
New salary: $56,000 + $2,059 (calculated increase) = $58,059
New Gap (Sal % of Market) = $58,059 / $70,000 = 82.9%
Faculty member B:
Salary: $82,000
New salary: $82,000 + $0 (calculated increase) = $82,000
New Gap (Sal % of Market): $82,000 / $96,000 = 85.4% (no change)
Faculty member C:
Salary: $75,000
New salary: $75,000 + $7,941 (calculated increase) = $82,941
New Gap (Sal % of Market): $82,941 / $100,000 = 82.9%
Total distribution:
$2,059 + $7,941 = $10,000
As demonstrated, all resources were exhausted before faculty member B qualified for an increase; however, this example also shows that none of the individuals are below 82.9% of the market target. Essentially, the market gap floor—for salaries as a percentage of the target—has been increased to 82.9%.
Phase 2: Faculty Salary Enhancements
Phase 2 was applied to regular faculty positions across the institution (excluding the College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, Family Medicine, and adjunct faculty) after Phase 1 calculations were completed. Phase 2 distributed $1.6 million in salary resources to regular faculty below market targets with an emphasis on closing gaps across all regular faculty salaries that are currently below market. Note that Phase 2 also included CAS faculty, so some faculty who received an increase in Phase 1 of implementation may also have received additional increase in Phase 2. In Phase 2, all regular faculty whose salaries are below market targets received an increase. However, some faculty members' salaries may still be below market even after their raise. ETSU will continue to work to address these gaps in the coming years.
Phase 2 began by calculating the ratio of total funds available to the total “market gap.” The market gap is the difference between the salary market target and an individual’s actual salary. For example, if a faculty member’s salary is $56,000 and the market target is $70,000, the market gap is $70,000 - $56,000 = $14,000. The total market gap is the sum of all the individual market gaps for those below the salary market target.
If the total market gap is $4,000,000 and the amount of salary resources available is $1,800,000, the ratio would be $1,800,000 / $4,000,000 = 45%. In Phase 2, this ratio would be applied to each individual’s market gap to determine their salary increase. So, in the case of the individual with the $14,000 gap, their corresponding salary increase — based on the example calculated ratio of 45% — would be $14,000 * 45% = $6,300, ultimately reducing their salary gap by 45%
Staff Salary Enhancements
ETSU began making significant strides toward improving staff salaries beginning in the 2022-23 academic year. Since then, the university has provided some of the largest salary increases in the institution’s modern history.
| Academic Year |
Faculty Salary Enhancements |
| 2022-23 |
|
| 2023-24 |
|
| 2024-25 |
|
Staff Market Ranges
ETSU developed market ranges for most staff positions based on datasets provided by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR). However, CUPA-HR data is not available for all staff positions. In these cases, ETSU utilized datasets from CompAnalyst (a product of salary.com) to develop staff market ranges.
Bringing Staff Salaries Up to Market
Beginning in the Spring 2025 semester, ETSU began work to close market gaps by providing additional, strategic, targeted salary increases for staff members whose salaries are below market range. To fund the first round of these enhancements, ETSU identified $2 million dollars through vacancy management and other institutional efficiencies as a result of the Budget Model Update process.
In May of 2025, the university will provide raises to any staff member whose salary is below their market range to ensure that every staff member is being paid within the newly identified ranges. Salary increases provided in the Spring of 2025 will be provided retroactively to November 1, 2024, or the date of hire, whichever was most recent. So, individuals receiving an increase will receive a lump sum payment on their end-of-May paycheck to “catch up” from November (or their hire date).
ETSU cannot fully close market gaps in staff salaries in a single stroke.We will continue working to identify further funding to move all below-market staff salaries closer to market range in the coming years, with the goal of completely eliminating gaps.
Methodology for Establishing Staff Job Families
Job Family Definitions and Structure
ETSU established job family definitions by referencing data from the CUPA-HR salary survey, CompAnalyst (Salary.com), and similar frameworks used by peer universities. To ensure accuracy, ETSU partnered with Salary.com to review 100 job families using ETSU-specific job descriptions. Later, a second contract allowed for an additional 100 job families to be evaluated. Based on this analysis, Salary.com recommended a market-based job family structure, suggesting placements for each job family.
Market Structure Development
ETSU refined Salary.com’s recommendations to create a compensation framework that aligns with market trends while meeting university needs. In this structure, the lowest market salary is set at the midpoint of the lowest range. Each market band has a 35% spread for growth and differentiation, and a 12% progression between minimums ensures clear advancement and fair pay increases.
Data Validation and Source Selection
ETSU worked with university leaders to select CUPA-HR as the primary data source for market benchmarking because of its data integrity and strong alignment with higher education roles.
Job Family Assignment and Validation
The HR team reviewed all staff job descriptions to assign initial job family placements based on responsibilities, scope, and benchmark data. Unit leaders provided feedback, and HR incorporated changes before finalizing classifications and notifying employees. A collaborative process allowed staff and supervisors to address and resolve placement appeals.
Benchmarking and Market Target Development
To establish appropriate market benchmarks, ETSU matched job descriptions to CUPA-HR’s 50th percentile data for public doctoral universities with fewer than 25,000 students. When multiple CUPA positions aligned with a single ETSU job family, an average benchmark was used. If a direct CUPA match wasn’t available, ETSU used CompAnalyst data and adjusted it for industry relevance. Where necessary, additional adjustments ensured differentiation and accuracy in market targets.
Market Range Assignment
Each job family’s market target was mapped to ETSU’s salary ranges by aligning the target to the midpoint of the most appropriate range. Unit leadership reviewed these alignments to ensure consistency across the university, and final adjustments were made collaboratively.
Cost Analysis and Implementation Planning
ETSU analyzed current staff salaries to understand the financial impact of adopting the new market structure. The first step in implementation focused on the priority of ensuring all staff salaries met at least the minimum of their assigned market range.