UA Announces Plan for Pay Increases

UA Announces Plan for Pay Increases

By University Relations - Communications
Printer-friendly version PDF version
Photo: John de Dios/UANews
Photo: John de Dios/UANews

Many UA employees will see larger paychecks beginning in September.

The University announced on Friday a plan to invest significantly in employee salaries and graduate assistant stipends in the coming fiscal and academic year.

It is the start of a multiyear salary plan designed to make UA compensation regionally and nationally competitive while recognizing the contributions of faculty, staff, appointed personnel and graduate assistants.

"The UA's success is dependent upon the incredibly talented faculty, staff and graduate assistants who dedicate themselves to our mission. We must attract and retain world-class employees and graduate students and show them that their work is valued," said UA President Ann Weaver Hart, who has made it a priority to invest in employee salaries.

All benefits-eligible UA employees who are meeting performance expectations will receive a modest increase in pay, beginning with the pay period that starts on Sept. 12. Additional increases may be given based on job performance, market-based salary trends or internal salary equity.

This is the first institution-wide compensation program the University has been able to provide in three years.

Student leaders and UA shared governance groups asked the University to prioritize investment in employees and graduate assistants. The multiyear compensation program was developed in line with their recommendations, said Andrew Comrie, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

This will be the first time a University-wide salary increase has occurred under the UA's new Responsibility Centered Management, or RCM, budget model, which decentralizes the University budget and gives units more direct control over their own funds. 

Under RCM, all revenues flow to the colleges, which then share in the cost of central administrative services. That means money for the multiyear compensation plan now has to be a recurring part of unit budgets, with funding coming from a combination of new revenues and reallocations, Comrie said.

Additional technical information and instructions for the Sept. 12 implementation will be provided to unit administrators next month.

Comrie said it's important for the University to invest in employee salaries in order to maintain the UA's reputation for excellence. Faculty salaries are now about 15 percent below the national median.

"We want to have a positive employee morale outcome, but what's as important, if not more so, is that we won't be excellent if we don't invest in ourselves and keep smart, quality people here," he said. "We like being a top 20 public research institution, and we want to stay there."

UA@Work is produced by University Communications

Marshall Building, Suite 100. 845 N. Park Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719 (or) 
P.O. Box 210158B, Tucson, AZ 85721

T 520.621.1877  F 520.626.4121

Feedback University Privacy Statement 

2024 © The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona