GBN's Salary Analysis

Like many people, I try not to think too much about the relationship between my work and the pay I get. But occasionally I get curious, especially when I hear news about the rising cost of living.

I am now in my 11th year as a professional college professor. I started in 1991 as an Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My starting salary was $37,000.

This analysis looks at 10 years of salary and inflation data, from 1991 - 2001. (See below for an 11th year update.)

My 2000-2001 salary in the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was $56,425.

News flash: I received notification of my salary for 2002-2003 on November 25, 2002. I received a 2% increase, from $58,179 to $59,343. The inflation calculator at the BLS says inflation from 2001 to 2002 was 2.37%. More analysis is forthcoming.

For 1991-2001 only, let's take a look at my salary advancement over the decade.

What do these numbers mean? It depends on how you want to interpret them. Several interpretations:

• My 10 years of experience has increased my real, inflation-adjusted salary by 18.2% ($56,425 / $47,750). In constant 1991 dollars, this would be the same as a raise from $37,000 to $43,734.
• Because I relocated (and got a salary increase when I did), my cost of living changed. My current $56,425 salary would need to be 28% greater in Chapel Hill to be consistent with a $56,425 salary if I had stayed in Urbana (and were receiving the same salary), or $72,224 ($56,425 * 1.28).
• Conversely, according to the Homefair cost of living calculator, my $56,425 salary in Chapel Hill is consistent with a $48,306 salary in Urbana. Examined this way, my real, cost of living-adjusted salary increase over 10 years is $11,306 ($48,306 - $37,000) or a 30.5% increase (NOT taking inflation into account).
• Let's combine both inflation and cost of living. My cost of living-adjusted salary in Chapel Hill 2001 is equivalent to 30.5% more than my cost of living-adjusted salary in Urbana 1991. Inflation during the same period has been 29%. This means my inflation and cost of living-adjusted salary should be $62,314 if I were living in Urbana ($48,306 * 1.29), or $93,168 ($72,224 * 1.29) for living in Chapel Hill, assuming a 18.2% inflation-adjusted increase in salary.
• Based on both cost of living and inflation, my current salary of $56,425 is $36,743 (39.5%) less than a 18.2% increase should be.
• Alternatively, my actual increase in salary from 1991 to 2001 adjusted for cost of living and inflation is:

• The net increase is thus 11.1% ($6260 / $56425) in inflation-adjusted 2001 dollars accounting for cost-of-living change from Urban to Chapel Hill.

2001-2002 update

For the 2002 academic year, my salary was increased $625 + 2%, from $56,425 to $58,179. The $625 was the state-mandated increase for faculty. The 2% was the across-the-board increase allocated to each academic unit. In the letter informing me of this increase, my Dean wrote there were no differentiations based on merit, therefore all faculty would receive approximately the same percentage increase in salary.

Consider: For the most highly paid faculty ($122,728 for 2000-2001), 2% is an increase of $2455. For me, the 2% increase is $1129, less than half as much. In my opinion, equity would have been spreading the total 2% increase for the school equally across all faculty members, instead of giving faculty with the highest salaries the largest pay raise.

The BLS Inflation Calculator indicated inflation of 2.48% during the 2001 calendar year (update: later, they adjusted it to 2.85%). I'm happy to report that my total increase in compensation for 2001-2002 is 3.11%, putting me ahead of inflation.

Notes:

• Homefair only gives current cost of living comparisons. I've compared the cost of living in 1991 to the cost of living in 2001, but using 2001 data.
• At both Urbana and Chapel Hill, my contract is for the 9-month academic year. By teaching summer school and getting occasional grants, I have increased my annual salary by up to 18% in some years. These calculations only include my base 9-month salary.
• There were many reasons to leave Urbana for Chapel Hill. I don't wish to imply that I somehow wish I were still in Urbana: I don't!
• There are serious questions about the utility of both the CPI and cost of living comparisons. For example, the CPI looks at seldom-purchased items such as washing machines, rather than weighting more realistic weekly purchases. The cost of living adjustments are based on a variety of factors (including, notably, state and local taxes), including some which might not be relevant for everyone.
• We don't live in Chapel Hill (we couldn't afford to), we live in a house we built in Efland, about 17 miles west of Chapel Hill.
• A main reason for moving to Chapel Hill was so Ilana could have better job prospects. Her current income, combined with the fact that all of our student loans are finally paid, means that our overall combined "buying power" has increased.
• Executive salaries in Library and Information Science is compared annually. From the 2000 ALISE statistical report: "A decade ago five deans and directors reported salaries in excess of $90,000, with the highest being $110,400. For 2000 twenty-five deans and directors reported salaries above $90,000. Last year, five deans and directors reported salaries of $120,000 or more with the highest being over $159,000. All in this category were in US schools. Seven schools reported executive salaries in the range of $100,000 to $119,000. In 1999-00, eleven deans and directors reported salaries of $120,000 or more with the highest being $200,000. All in this category were in US schools. Ten schools reported executive salaries in the range of $100,000 to $119,000. As has been noted, salary differences are influenced in part by rank."
• ALISE also produces salary statistics for professors at different ranks. The mean reported salary in 1999-2000 for assistant professors is $56,747, the median is $54,626. For new (1st year) assistant professors, the mean is $56,646, the median is $50,125.
• UNC has its own salary data. For the 1999-2000 academic year, the latest for which data are published, assistant professor faculty salaries in SILS are $51,311 (median) and $51,028 (mean). See Table 30 in the UNC Statistical Fact Book.
• We have an internal SILS faculty committee, which reports results somewhat more accurately than UNC (because we know better who the full-time faculty are). For 2000-2001, mean figures for salaries were: $100,831 (full professor, not including the dean), $65,620 (associate professor) and $55,033 (assistant professor). These amounts do not include supplements given to chaired professors and associate deans, I understand.
• For 2000-2001, the Dean of SILS (my boss) made $141,960, which is about 2.5 times my salary. Note she has a 12-month appointment, versus my 9-month appointment.

Resources:

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Home has lots of information about the Consumer Price Index, including an inflation calculator.
• ALISE Library and Information Science Education Statistical Report 2000
• The reference desk as UNC's Davis Library has a binder with all faculty salaries at UNC-CH. This does not seem to be available online anywhere.
• Here's a Chapel Hill News article from May 29, 2002 talking about raises of 10% and more in 2002 for UNC's top administrators.