Last year brought major changes to the higher education landscape. Turnover reached a peak, prompting more attention than ever to retention and recruitment, while looming policy changes in overtime pay and Title IX regulations further complicated long-term planning. And, though it may feel like unprecedented change is the new normal, timeless HR topics like onboarding... View Article
This blog post was contributed by Alexander L. Reid and Chelsea R. Rubin of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 imposed significant new taxes on nonprofit organizations, including colleges and universities. Specifically, section 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code imposes a 21 percent excise tax on applicable tax-exempt... View Article
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) indicated in the federal government’s May 22 spring regulatory agenda that it plans to issue a proposed rule by September addressing the extent to which students who perform services for private higher education institutions are considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Under the NLRA, employees working in the private... View Article
As noted in previous CUPA-HR research, community and technical colleges are ahead of the curve when it comes to pay equity for women and minority staff. Now, just-released findings from this year’s Faculty in Higher Education Survey show that associate’s institutions also have higher levels of representation and pay equity for both women and racial/ethnic... View Article
Like much of the American workforce, college and university professors are aging — the majority are between the ages of 55 and 75. As these baby boomers (who are mostly White males) near retirement, what do their successors look like? Are higher education institutions doing a good enough job of hiring more diverse faculty to... View Article
We know the faculty model in higher ed is changing, with adjuncts (part-time faculty) making up more and more of the faculty workforce in institutions across the country. But what does the big picture look like in terms of adjunct numbers, bargaining power and pay? Data from last year’s CUPA-HR faculty salary surveys tell the... View Article
What does the staff workforce look like in higher ed? How long do they stay in their positions? Are women and minorities well-represented and paid equitably? Which staff positions have the highest salaries and which have the lowest? How does this pay vary across the country? These are some of the questions we sought to... View Article
Last May, the Department of Labor issued its final rule on overtime eligibility, raising the minimum salary threshold from $23,660 to $47,476, and set a compliance date of December 1, 2016. Many in human resources spent a majority of the last half of last year preparing for the change — undertaking classification and compensation studies,... View Article
According to data from CUPA-HR’s Faculty and Department Heads in Higher Education Salary Survey, the hottest disciplines for new faculty hires in higher ed are nursing, psychology and English language/literature. Mathematics and music round out the top five. Other Findings: Racial/ethnic minority tenure-track faculty are paid equitably at all ranks, but the representation of... View Article
CUPA-HR’s 2017 Administrators in Higher Education Salary Report has been released, and data show that while salaries for college and university administrators increased this academic year, many saw cuts to their executive-only perks. Higher ed administrators saw an average median base salary increase of 2.2 percent over last year. The percentage of institutions providing full... View Article
Performance reviews in the vast majority of organizations follow this trajectory: setting objectives, feedback, manager assessment and rating, consensus meeting, salary/bonus decisions. But does this process really work? Is it efficient? Is it consistent across the organization? Is it viewed as a value-add? Most employees would answer with a resounding “no.” So what’s the solution?... View Article
Update: On November 22, a U.S. District Court judge from Texas issued a preliminary injunction postponing the effective date of the overtime rule, meaning the rule will not go into effect on December 1. With less than 30 days left until the rule raising the Fair Labor Standards Act’s exempt salary threshold to $47,476 takes... View Article
On September 30, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued final regulations implementing Executive Order 13706 (EO) requiring federal contractors and subcontractors working on or in connection with covered contracts to offer their employees up to seven days of paid sick leave per year. Although DOL has made some minor revisions to the proposed rule, the... View Article
There is no doubt the Department of Labor’s new FLSA overtime rule will significantly impact higher education. Colleges and universities across the country will need to reclassify hundreds of positions as well as address resulting morale, salary compression, budgetary and service delivery issues — all by the December 1 compliance deadline. If your head hasn’t... View Article
Updated July 6, 2016 On May 18, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued its final rule on overtime eligibility, raising the minimum salary threshold from $23,660 to $47,476. Employers must be in compliance by December 1 of this year, which leaves very little time for what’s sure to be a lot of work. If you’re... View Article
The February 16 webinar, “FLSA Overtime: How, When and Why to Prepare,” was the largest in CUPA-HR history. With 1,884 sites logged in and 2,500+ participating, the topic is obviously top of mind for all of us in higher ed HR. Presenters provided background information regarding the proposed changes to the overtime regulations and specific... View Article
On February 17, CUPA-HR and the American Council on Education, along with other higher ed associations, met with the U.S. Department of Treasury to discuss the ongoing issues surrounding the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate as it relates to student workers in colleges and universities. February’s meeting was a follow-up to a January 2015 conversation... View Article
In preparation for the pending FLSA overtime announcement, CUPA-HR will be hosting a 90-minute webinar on February 16 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Developed in partnership with Sibson Consulting and several higher ed HR practitioners from across the country, the webinar will focus on the dynamic challenges higher ed institutions face in responding to the proposed... View Article