Compensation

Position & Budget Control

To ensure the equitable, responsible, and strategic allocation of campus resources, position and budget control processes have been designed by institutional leadership. Position and compensation issues that deal with temporary funds and/or are not subject to further review related to compliance, equity across areas, or new resources may be approved by each Vice Chancellor (VC) or Chancellor (C) for their areas. This approval remains contingent upon Chancellor approval required for certain actions per policy as well as any request for discussion by the full VC/C group at their biweekly meeting. All personnel decisions and expenditures must still pass an HR/AA/EEO and Budget Office review. For more information, please see the position/budget control process.

Annual Compensation Analysis

Annually during the summer (in alignment with the budget development process) a holistic, institution-wide compensation analysis will be conducted and the Chancellor’s Cabinet will consider whether funds are available to sponsor a compensation adjustment program for the following fiscal year. If insufficient funding prevents compensation increases for a particular year, the compensation analysis should still be completed each year as scheduled. This allows for on-going planning by an institution to address equity and/or parity issues, which in turn could be used to influence salary progression priority.

As part of this annual compensation analysis, information reviewed may include:

• Time at UW-Green Bay and/or Universities of Wisconsin Administration
• Time in specific position
• Performance (as documented in annual performance evaluations)
• Scope of the assigned responsibilities (as documented in position descriptions and org charts)
• Placement in the salary range as compared to market (Universities of Wisconsin Administration Median, CUPA comparison group medians, etc.)
• History of previous non-pay plan compensation adjustments

Institutional compensation adjustment programs may be instituted utilizing any of the following reasons as outlined within the Compensation & Pay Plan Policy:

• Competitive Factors (including Recruitment/Retention/Market)
• Parity
• Performance/Merit

Once budgetary dollars and purpose for the compensation program are determined, a summary of the criteria by which any compensation changes will occur and a guidelines document for process will be discussed with the Compensation and Workload Committee and subsequently communicated to all employees. This process will happen before specific compensation decisions for individuals are made. The decision-making authority for any compensation decisions should be shared with employees as well. 

Compensation Adjustments

Universities of Wisconsin Administration Pay Plan

The pay plan recommendation requested by the Board of Regents and the Universities of Wisconsin President must ultimately be approved by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JCOER). Per Wis. Stat. § 230.12 (3)(e), the Board’s pay plan recommendation is submitted to the State’s Administrator of the Division of Personnel Management (DPM) who will submit a proposal to JCOER for adjusting compensation via the pay plan.

SYS 1278: Universities of Wisconsin Administration Pay Plan Distribution Framework for University Workforce provides the Chancellors of each institution with the pay plan distribution guidelines for faculty, academic staff, university staff, and limited appointees. The UW-Green Bay Compensation & Pay Plan Policy outlines specific system-wide and institutional requirements for pay plan eligibility.

Base Rate Adjustments

A base rate adjustment can be approved on a temporary or ongoing basis, and may be appropriate in the following situations:

1. Change in Duties: Adjustment to recognize a substantive ongoing change in the duties and responsibilities of a filled position that does not result in a title change.
2. Outside Offer:  Adjustment which reflects a salary increase necessary to retain a person who has received an outside offer of employment (with comparable duties and responsibilities) at a rate higher than their existing rate.
3. Adjustment for Retention:  Adjustment used when the employing department is aware that an employee is actively seeking other employment and the resultant loss of the employee’s knowledge and experience would be a detriment to the department, division, or university.
4. Competitive Factors*: Adjustment made in response to competitive market factors or compensation analysis data provided for comparable roles.
5. Equity Adjustment: Adjustment made to address pay disparities relative to protected statuses (e.g. gender, race, age, etc.)
6. Parity Adjustment*: Adjustment used to address significant pay compression or to provide equal pay for equal duties when employee’s salary has been determined to be lower than other employees performing similar duties at the same level of proficiency with comparable years of experience and education.
7. Merit/Performance*: Adjustments that allow for recognition of employees’ superior or meritorious performance.
8. Temporary Change in Duties: Adjustments may be made when an employee assumes an additional temporary assignment of non-recurring short-term responsibilities which are reasonably related to their ongoing position. A temporary change in duties adjustment may also be made when an employee is appointed to an interim or acting position and expected to assume the job duties of the interim role for less than 50% of the time. 

* Reasons with an asterisk are typically addressed as part of an institution-wide compensation program rather than through individual requests in accordance with the UW-Green Bay Compensation Philosophy & Salary Administration Guidelines.

Base adjustments must be funded with available base dollars. All adjustments shall be submitted on a Base Rate Adjustment Request. Adjustments are subject to the minimum and maximum of the applicable pay range. All base rate adjustments (except temporary change in duties) require approval of the appropriate Area Leader and additional approval in writing from the Chancellor. For full eligibility requirements, please see the Compensation & Pay Plan Policy.

Compensation Resources & FAQs

Compensation Resources

Compensation is determined in line with SYS 1277: Compensation which outlines the laws, rules, policies and practices pertaining to setting and adjusting salaries for all Universities of Wisconsin employees. Implementation of pay plan is outlined in SYS 1278: Universities of Wisconsin Administration Pay Plan Distribution Framework for University Workforce. Please see below for additional compensation-related resources:

• UW-Green Bay Compensation and Pay Plan Policy
• UW-Green Bay Compensation Philosophy & Salary Administration Guidelines
• UW-Green Bay Payment Guidelines for Temporary Instructional Staff
• Universities of Wisconsin Administration Salary Structure and links to Compensation Appendices

Compensation FAQs:

How do you convert the Universities of Wisconsin annual salary ranges to an hourly salary range?

To convert an annual range to an hourly range, divide the minimum and maximum salaries by 2080 (full time equivalent # of hours worked in a year)
Example:

• Salary Grade 17: $30,000 - $67,700
• Minimum: $30,000/2080 = $14.42
• Maximum: $67,700/2080 = $32.55
• Hourly Range 17 = $14.42 - $32.55

When did the current salary structure become effective?

The updated Universities of Wisconsin Administration salary structure became effective November 7, 2021. Universities of Wisconsin Administration Compensation Staff has developed a staffing plan to continue to update and maintain the salary structure as ongoing work.

What does the (B) and (C) mean in some job titles?

Within the Universities of Wisconsin Administration title library, some titles include a (B) or (C) after the title name. The Universities of Wisconsin Administration title and salary structure creates differentiated job titles for leadership positions found systemwide or university-wide based on a small, medium, and large institution designation. This is called scaling. Scaling is a type of further refining the market pricing for a job. A factor compensation professionals consider when looking at comparative peer salary data is budget/expenditures and size/FTE of an organization's structure. These letters reflect the Universities of Wisconsin Administration’s assessment of that comparative peer data.

Scaling is not title progression, so an employee at UW-Green Bay is not able to move from a C, to a B, to a non-lettered title. Universities of Wisconsin Administration has determined that UW-Green Bay (as an institution) is in scale C, so any employees that have been mapped to a title that includes scaling will see the letter (C) next to their title. This does not change the title mapping or the standard job description language. It only refers to a differentiation in salary structure based upon the size and scope of the institution.

How do I request a base rate adjustment for my position?

Base rate adjustments are typically initiated by the employee's supervisor, and are contingent upon budget availability, approval of the Area Leader and Chancellor through the Position & Budget Control Process, eligibility as documented in the Compensation & Pay Plan Policy, and appropriate justification per the Base Rate Adjustment Request. 

To start, employees are encouraged to engage in conversation with their supervisors around compensation. It is also recommended that the supervisor have conversations with the Division Leader and/or Area Leader prior to submitting any paperwork for a base rate adjustment to ensure that there is support and funding available for the adjustment and that the adjustment fits into the broader compensation strategy for the institution. Some reasons for compensation adjustment (i.e. market, parity, performance) are not typically addressed outside of an institutional compensation program.