Re: salaries off the pay scale

[Andrew von Nordenflycht <vonetc@sfu.ca>]

To my mind, the question that raises is "which end of the scale is out of whack?"

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ronda Arab" <ronda_arab@sfu.ca>
To: "Faculty Forum Mail List" <academic-discussion@sfu.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2013 2:05:10 PM
Subject: salaries off the pay scale


Hello all, 


I know that market differentials and retention awards are a controversial issue, but I can't help but feel it is something that needs to be discussed. 


I was poking around on the Vancouver Sun public sector salary database and I came upon an Assistant Professor in Business Administration whose salary for 2011/2012 is listed as $126,355. Obviously, I am not going to give this person's name, but I did look Assistant Prof X up and discovered that s/he has been teaching at SFU since 2009, the year s/he graduated with the PhD. On the newly revised 2012 salary scale, this is the equivalent of a Full Professor step 14. 

I recognize that market differentials are used in departments in danger of losing top faculty to other universities that offer higher salaries than SFU, and to a degree I think this is necessary and justified. However, is it really justifiable and necessary to pay an assistant professor the equivalent of a full professor step 14? 


Thoughts? 


Ronda Arab 
Associate Professor of English 
Simon Fraser University 
8888 University Drive 
Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6 

ronda_arab@sfu.ca 
778.782.8506 (Burnaby) 
778.782.5164 (Surrey)