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Re: Fwd: faculty salaries



University systems and the value society places on them vary hugely around the globe.  For us, the relevant comparison class is Canada, and then the United states - since SFU competes for academics largely on the North American market.  It is surprising, if true, that Canadian salaries should be higher, on average, than US ones. Not so much so for entry level ones, but but for ones at the top.

Still, there are rather large differences between the US and Canadian systems.  One is that US academics often (perhaps usually) only get paid for 8 or 9 months a year, have the summers off, and are free to take other employment then.  The other is that there are huge differences in salaries between states  and between institutions.  Salaries at a state college in rural Alabama are likely to be half of what they are, say, Harvard or Washington University, St. Lewis.  Differences on that scale simply do not exist in Canada. So the average salary is not very informative.

The question of where SFU fits, and where it ought to fit, on that spectrum is a really a difficult one to answer.

Martin


On 07/11/2013 7:19 PM, Neil Abramson wrote:
I received this today. It seems our salaries are pretty good compared to international rates. We may be plummeting versus salaries at other Canadian universities, but there's a long way to the very bottom.

All the best
Neil

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Gerardo Otero <otero@sfu.ca>
Date: 7 November, 2013 11:26:27 AM PST
To: Brian Green <brian_green@sfu.ca>, Neil Abramson <neil_abramson@sfu.ca>
Subject: faculty salaries
Reply-To: Gerardo Otero <otero@sfu.ca>

Dear Neil and Brian:

As you'll see in the article linked below, Canadian faculty wages seem to be the highest in the world on a purchasing-power parity. 


Thus, here's my interpretation of recent SFUFA surveys and yesterdays meeting: our members may actually be more interested in principles and values such as divesting from the oil industry and FAIRNESS in wages within Canada. That is to say, it is inaccurate to say that we are interested in salaries or money per se. What we don't like is that other people doing the same work as us are getting paid more. Perhaps it would be worth making this distinction, as evidently not many people were swayed by the trustees messenger about how costly it may be to have the option to divest from oil.

Great meeting yesterday, by the way!

Best, Gerardo


--
Gerardo Otero, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology 
   and Associate Member of the
School of International Studies
Simon Fraser University
Vancouver, BC  Canada
http://www.sfu.ca/~otero/
Tel. +778-782-4508