Several chancellors in the UNC System are getting pay bumps from the UNC Board of Governors.
The increases go beyond the 1.5 percent raise given to all state employees as part of the North Carolina budget passed by the General Assembly.
The adjustments include a 3.14 percent jump for UNC – Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt, above the 1.5 percent state-mandated increase. That brings Folt’s annual salary to $596,448. North Carolina State Chancellor Randy Woodson received an identical 3.14 bump over the 1.5 percent from the state to bring his salary to $617,376.
Chancellors at Appalachian State University, Elizabeth City State University, North Carolina Central University, UNC – Charlotte and Western Carolina also received bumps ranging from .81 percent to 14.63 percent for Charlotte Chancellor Philip Dubois. System President Margaret Spellings said his increase was due to “a pay equity issue that arose from the hiring of the new Chancellor at ECU.”
Spellings said these increases were an attempt to bring all of the chancellors across the system into the market range for their positions.
“This board has, for a couple of years now, been working to get competitive market salary ranges for each of the chancellors,” Spellings said after the meeting. “And this was the next step in that journey. And we are nearly there.”
The raises came after the Board of Governors approved pay raises for chancellors in November 2015 – a move that was criticized because of the secrecy that surrounded the increases.
Board chair Lou Bissette said the board “learned a lot of lessons last year.”
“We’ve determined that we didn’t do it correctly last year, but we think we did this year.”
Bissette added the board is moving toward more transparency in general, pointing to the public comment sessions now being held and that the board meetings are now streamed online.
Bissette said the board thought there were benefits from splitting the pay increases up, rather than just allocating the full increases last November.
“Nobody felt like that was a good thing to do in one bite,” Bissette said. “And so we made those increases. And then this pretty much completes that process that was begun two years ago when we had a market survey.”
Even with the increases, the two highest-paid chancellors – Woodson and Folt – are still below the market rate for their positions, according to the system’s figures, but every other chancellor is at least at the floor of the salary range.
“Here forward, we’re going to be looking at performance-oriented increases,” Bissette said. “But we needed to get everybody at least to the bottom part of their ranges.”
Woodson does have an incentive package that allows him to reach the market salary range for his position, but Folt does not. Spellings said the possibility exists that could change.
“There are, obviously, discussions at the [UNC – Chapel Hill] Board of Trustees about vehicles for Chancellor Folt that might be akin to Chancellor Woodson’s.”
As far as the performance metrics that will be used to decide future increases, those are still to be determined. Bissette said it is hard to find one umbrella that will cover all of the system’s institutions.
“The uniqueness of our system and the different campuses, that’s what makes this system great to me,” Bissette said. “But they are all different and unique, and there are not many times you can apply an across-the-board policy.”
Related Stories
‹
INSIDE CAROLINA LIVE 2/18/23 - State Game and Jawad Williams!Tommy Ashley and Joey Powell host Inside Carolina Live ahead of the critical game for the Heels against NC State on Sunday. Jawad Williams joins the show for hour 2. You can watch this week's episode on YouTube here or listen to the radio broadcast via the player below.
One on One: Can’t Stop UNC’s Move to RaleighEditor’s Note: The UNC System has shared with Chapelboro.com that UNC President Peter Hans does live in the university president’s home. The column does not yet reflect that fact. Too late. It has already been done. The Spangler building that served as headquarters of the UNC System is dark and empty for the first time […]
New UNC Police Chief Aims to 'Make Campus Proud' of Department With students coming back to campus and the first week of classes commencing, newly hired UNC chief of police Brian James says he is excited to build community trust and keep the school safe this semester.
UNC Working to Address Mental Health Issues on Campuses Across SystemThe administration at UNC – Chapel Hill commissioned the Mental Health Task Force in the spring of 2018 to address what is being described as “one of the most critical issues” being addressed in higher education across the country. The task forced worked “to really examine the whole scope of the issue, what promising practices […]
UNC System Reportedly Approves Process to Find Next PresidentIt appears the search for the next UNC System president will follow a similar confidential process that brought about the hire of Margaret Spellings in 2015 to now find her replacement. Spellings, the former United States secretary of education under George W. Bush, resigned from the position at UNC halfway through the recently concluded academic […]
UNC - Chapel Hill Monitoring Bill that would Allow Alcohol Sales at Athletics EventsA bill that would allow alcohol to be sold at athletics events on campuses across the UNC System is awaiting the governor’s signature to become law. And UNC – Chapel Hill officials appear eager to see its approval. The North Carolina House overwhelmingly voted this week to approve the Senate version of the bill. Advocates […]
After Tumultuous Academic Year, UNC Board Still Divided on Silent SamWhile the Confederate monument known as Silent Sam wasn’t officially on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting of the UNC System Board of Governors, it was still on the minds of many at the meeting. The initial mid-March deadline for a new plan for the statue that stood on the UNC – Chapel Hill campus for […]
UNC Governors Will Not Discuss Silent Sam at May MeetingContinuing a series of delays, the UNC System Board of Governors will not discuss the future of the Confederate monument on the UNC – Chapel Hill campus known as Silent Sam at the board’s May meeting. Board chair Harry Smith made the announcement Tuesday afternoon. “In early March, we set the May meeting of the […]
UNC Chair Says Faculty had Good Meeting Discussing Silent Sam with Board of GovernorsLeslie Parise announced late last month that she would be stepping down from her role as faculty chair. She joked during her address to the Board of Trustees University Affairs committee on Wednesday that leaving two years into the three-year appointment was fitting with recent university turnover. “Because, as you know, interim is kind of […]
Board: IDs at 12 UNC Campuses Don't Comply with Voter LawIdentification cards for students at most of the University of North Carolina system campuses fell short of qualifications set in state law to comply with a new photo voter identification requirement next year, state elections officials said Friday. Friday was the deadline for the State Board of Elections to certify which ID cards for universities, […]
›
These salaries are out of sight, but of course not to other high ranking universities. All ships of academic administrstors rise together while adjunct professors do the work at little pay per hour teaching. Now who becomes an academic administrator? After one has spent seven plus years in college to refine one’s specialty to the point where five or so advanced professors agree your dissertation is worthy, one goes on to become an assistant professor. Then one has three years to prove one’s work is worthy of merit to get retained and another four to get tenure. After 14 years or so of carving out a specialty of national significance, who,would become an academic administrstor? Some really good people who care about their colleagues. But from my experience at the U of Michigan. Vanderbilt University, and UNC Ch way to few. Many discover is they do,the drudge work for the administrstor right above them they can get reappointed and then tenure. Once on this course they discover they need to keep only a few above and around them happy to continue on a lucerative career path. This is easier than educating demanding students and trying to get self centered colleagues to work together. When students complain about decisions they say well they are students. And when colleagues complain and have other ideas they say they are prima donas. Meanwhile they and their ilk rise together.
University administrators should be held accountable for their decisions and should be evaluated by successful faculty members. Until this happens these raises and salaries are just like blowing smoke! Sorry to be cynical, but I observed a lot of poor administrators and if you ask any faculty member who,has served more than 10 years most will agree with what I say. Just saying!