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Merit-based system looks at big picture

Sarah Guzzardo
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 9, 1998
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UA professors may not get apples for being good teachers but could earn a hefty bonus under a new set of merit pay guidelines.

The University of Arizona restored a plan this year to reward teachers based on their overall performances. The guidelines released last week are designed to help each UA college or department develop a merit program to recognize employees for outstanding performances.

"These guidelines are very similar to last year's - the big difference is faculty is now part of the overall program," said Elizabeth Ervin, UA's vice provost for academic personnel.

The new plan is divergent from last year's Teaching Incentive Program, which gave bonuses based solely on the number of hours spent in the classroom.

"It did not take into consideration the entire spectrum of the faculty's work and performance on behalf of the students," Ervin said. "The university had to come up with money internally to reward faculty deserving a raise but left out of TIP."

The state will allocate an amount equal to 2.5 percent of the total of all university employee salaries for the new merit program.

An individual bonus is capped at 5 percent of the employee's base salary. Those employees whose salaries are funded by grants must look to the grant for the merit pay adjustment, Ervin said.

The guidelines apply to classified staff, graduate assistants, appointed personnel and faculty members.

All faculty - under the supervision of deans and department heads - must have received an annual performance review for the 1997-98 academic year with an overall rating of "satisfactory" or "meets expectations" to be eligible for merit pay.

"Faculty members who receive a higher rating will receive a higher allocation," Ervin said. "The merit allocation is not a one-time amount. It will become a permanent part of an individual's salary base."

Faculty chairman Jerry Hogle said he is glad faculty members will be lumped with other employees for merit allocations.

"The faculty is delighted, and I am too, to participate in the same state merit pool that every state employee is a part of," said Hogle, also an English professor.

Hogle said this year's merit program is similar to one in previous years - last year's TIP fund lasted for a year, he said. During the UA's stint with TIP, faculty who did not teach a minimum of six units were excluded from the bonuses given to other state employees.

"TIP was narrowly defined. If a faculty member was not teaching a certain number of units, he or she was not eligible and it didn't matter why," Hogle said, adding that independent study and sabbatical were not included.

Ervin said TIP was unpopular because it excluded a large number of faculty - specifically tenured faculty.

"It did not take into consideration the entire spectrum of the faculty's work and performance on behalf of the students," she said. "The university had to come up with money internally to reward faculty deserving a raise but left out of TIP."

Unlike TIP, the criteria for merit pay is based on performance this year, Ervin said.

"The allocation is based on quality. It's an incentive to do well," Ervin said.

The merit pay adjustment is effective Jan. 1, 1999, and will be added to paychecks received two weeks later, she said.

Sarah Guzzardo can be reached via e-mail at Sarah.Guzzardo@wildcat.arizona.edu.










Financial Times Fall 98