CUPA-HR has released its data on overall higher ed pay increases, as well as changes in workforce size for 2021-22. Higher Ed Pay Increases Have Not Kept Pace With Inflation The soaring inflation rate has far outpaced pay increases for the higher education workforce. According to findings from CUPA-HR’s annual workforce surveys for 2021-22, overall... View Article
Minority-serving institutions (MSIs) play an important role in ensuring students from underrepresented races and ethnicities receive a quality education. While there is an abundance of research on students who attend MSIs, little research has examined the MSI workforce, specifically, how the racial/ethnic representation of faculty, administrator, professional and staff reflects the student populations being served.... View Article
New research by CUPA-HR has found that U.S. colleges and universities with women presidents or provosts have higher representation of women in administrative, dean and faculty positions than institutions led by men. The study also found that colleges and universities with women presidents have higher pay for women in administrative positions than institutions led by... View Article
Throughout 2021, HR practitioners have proven their resilience time and again by positively impacting higher education not only in response to the ever-evolving pandemic, but also in building more flexible, diverse and inclusive workplaces. CUPA-HR captured many of these higher ed success stories, as well as leadership advice, helpful resources and workforce data trends in... View Article
According to the CUPA-HR 2021 Benefits in Higher Education Annual Report, fewer than 40 percent of higher ed institutions offer paid parental leave to new parents. The recently released report examines the benefits offered to higher ed employees, including healthcare plans, wellness programs, paid time off, tuition benefits and retirement. For institutions that offer it,... View Article
The pandemic impacted every area of the higher ed workforce, including non-exempt employees. According to CUPA-HR’s recently released 2021 Staff in Higher Education Annual Report, the size of the non-exempt staff workforce saw a drastic decline during the pandemic, an understandable outcome given the number of non-exempt higher education employees whose work can only be... View Article
The higher ed professional workforce decreased slightly in size during the pandemic, though certain positions saw notable increases. According to CUPA-HR’s 2021 Professionals in Higher Education Annual Report released today, the number of full-time exempt higher ed employees decreased by 0.4 percent in the last year (2020-21), compared to an overall 4.4 percent increase in the... View Article
The severe budget cuts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic forced many colleges and universities to freeze hiring, cut positions, and, in some cases, decrease salaries. According to CUPA-HR’s recently released Administrators in Higher Education Annual Report, when salary increases occurred in the higher ed workforce over the past year, they tended to go... View Article
Editor’s note: Be sure to join Paul Yakoboski, senior economist at TIAA Institute, and Melissa Fuesting, survey researcher at CUPA-HR, on Wednesday, May 26 at 2:00 p.m. (ET) for the webinar, “Faculty Retirement Patterns and COVID-19: Impacts, Challenges and Opportunities.” In addition to their findings on changes to the expected retirement age for faculty, Paul... View Article
The severe budget cuts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic forced many institutions to freeze hiring, cut positions and, in some cases, decrease salaries. The recently released 2021 CUPA-HR Faculty in Higher Education Report highlights the overall changes to faculty size and salaries over the past year. In the academic year prior to the pandemic... View Article
Today, March 24, is Equal Pay Day. Originated by the National Committee on Pay Equity, Equal Pay Day is meant to bring awareness to how far into the year women working full-time must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. One way CUPA-HR strives to build awareness around pay equity is by... View Article
Editor’s note: Be sure to join Paul Yakoboski, senior economist at TIAA Institute, and Melissa Fuesting, survey researcher at CUPA-HR, on Wednesday, May 26 at 2:00 p.m. (ET) for the webinar, “Faculty Retirement Patterns and COVID-19: Impacts, Challenges and Opportunities.” In addition to their findings on changes to the expected retirement age for faculty, Paul... View Article
Higher ed institutions know how critical it is to have a diverse workforce, equitable hiring and compensation practices, and an inclusive work environment for all. Yet this work can be daunting for HR teams who don’t know where to start. After all, improving DEI for faculty and staff doesn’t have a one-time quick-fix solution —... View Article
The higher ed workforce has been hit hard due to COVID-19-related causes. According to a recent article by The Chronicle of Higher Education, 650,000 higher ed jobs were lost last year. With potential budget reductions on the horizon, this number is sure to climb. While workforce reductions may be necessary for some institutions to stay... View Article
The higher ed skilled craft workforce possesses the skills necessary to maintain and improve the physical facilities and infrastructure of college campuses. However, the aging of this workforce and the lack of younger workers to take the place of older employees as they retire puts institutions in a challenging position to attract new talent. CUPA-HR’s Higher... View Article
Editor’s note: Be sure to join Paul Yakoboski, senior economist at TIAA Institute, and Melissa Fuesting, survey researcher at CUPA-HR, on Wednesday, May 26 at 2:00 p.m. (ET) for the webinar, “Faculty Retirement Patterns and COVID-19: Impacts, Challenges and Opportunities.” In addition to their findings on changes to the expected retirement age for faculty, Paul... View Article
Between pivoting with the COVID-19 pandemic, confronting racial issues, making strides toward more equitable workplaces, and managing already hectic workloads, higher ed HR has had its hands full this year. Yet in the middle of it all, resilient HR pros continue to find ways to positively impact the higher education landscape. As 2020 comes to... View Article
On October 8, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued an interim final rule effective immediately, which raises the DOL prevailing wage levels under the four-tiered wage structure. The ruling will increase the DOL prevailing wage as follows: Level I from the 17th percentile to the 45th percentile Level II from the 34th percentile to the... View Article
Today, August 26, is the 100th anniversary of Women’s Equality Day. On this day in 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted, giving American women the right to vote (although not all women were free to exercise that right). While the adoption of the amendment was a paramount victory for women in... View Article
Higher ed HR professionals play a central strategic role in shaping the organizational environment of their institution, but what can the data tell us about our HR teams? CUPA-HR’s latest research report, The Higher Ed HR Workforce, examines the people and positions that make up the higher ed HR workforce. The positions examined in the... View Article
According to findings from CUPA-HR’s Benefits in Higher Education Report — Paid Time Off, Tuition Reimbursement, and Retirement, associate’s institutions have some of the most generous retirement benefits in comparison to doctoral, masters or baccalaureate institutions. The 403(b) plan is the most popular retirement plan for both private institutions (where 92 percent offer it) and... View Article
As higher education leaders plan for possible delays in campus openings, the staff who service the infrastructure of the campus and maintain its upkeep may be most at risk of being furloughed or losing their jobs. According to the recently released CUPA-HR 2020 Staff in Higher Education Annual Report, it is critical to consider expected... View Article
A recent CUPA-HR research report provides a snapshot of health professions faculty, one of the fastest-growing disciplines in higher education. The report, Faculty in the Health Professions: Growth, Composition, and Salaries, indicates that the overall number of health professions faculty increased by 19 percent since 2014, compared to a 6 percent increase in the number... View Article
Professional leadership positions in higher education often serve as the pipeline to higher-level administrative positions. For this reason, it is crucial to examine representation among these positions. CUPA-HR’s recently released 2020 Professionals in Higher Education Annual Report surveyed 396 professional positions. Of those positions, 38 percent are leadership positions that require supervising others or directing... View Article
We recently shared a blog post highlighting three different ways to visualize data from CUPA-HR’s Data Visualization Challenge. Data visualizations can be used to inform and persuade when tough decisions must be made — something every institution is facing during the COVID-19 crisis. Transforming raw data into eye-catching visualizations can help campus leaders identify trends... View Article
As colleges and universities strive to create a more equitable and representative workforce, there has been increased emphasis on recognizing and exploring the pipeline that leads to leadership positions. The 2020 CUPA-HR Administrators in Higher Education Annual Report, released today, highlights data collected on the pipeline for three key positions: institution president/CEO, provost/chief academic officer... View Article
Many higher education institutions will face a tough road in the coming months. While the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is still unknown, it is almost certain that most higher education institutions will be confronted with the challenges of lower student enrollment and, with the resulting decrease in tuition revenue, reduced operating budgets. Many... View Article
Even as HR leaders across the country are helping their institutions navigate telework arrangements, paid leave and other COVID-19 challenges, they are looking ahead to what’s next. How will enrollment numbers and institutional budget be affected in the coming months, and what will the impact of those changes be on workforce planning? Never has data... View Article
This year, March 31 has been designated by the National Committee on Pay Equity as Equal Pay Day. The date illustrates the gap between salaries for men and women in the U.S. by showing how many days past year-end women who work full-time must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. CUPA-HR... View Article
Editor’s note: You may have missed this article when we published it last March. It’s been updated here with additional resources and related content. For more on using data strategically, drop by the Ask-Us-Anything event the CUPA-HR Data User Group this week, where higher ed HR professionals who are using CUPA-HR data to inform decisions... View Article
We’ve been speaking with HR practitioners at colleges and universities around the country to find out how they’re using data and analytics to drive decision-making on campus. Here, Don Lerew, HRIS and payroll manager at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, tells us how he uses data to help develop compensation strategies and ensure pay equity and... View Article
It’s hard to believe another year is in the books, and a new one is already underway! As you jump back into your work in this new year, we hope you’ll take some time to read about some of the great work your HR colleagues are doing at colleges and universities around the country. CUPA-HR’s... View Article
Did you know that 90 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual? That visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text? That the brain can get the sense of a visual in less than 1/10 of a second? That visuals and emotions are stored in the same part of the brain? For these... 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
“If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.” – Jim Barksdale, former Netscape CEO And therein lies the problem of NOT using sound data to drive decision-making in business — everyone has an opinion, and everyone thinks his or hers is the right one. While many... View Article
Benchmark (v.): Evaluate, check, or measure (something) against a standard. One of the best strategies higher ed institutions can use to attract and retain talented, top-tier faculty is to offer competitive pay. And one of the best ways to ensure your institution is offering competitive pay is to benchmark that pay against other institutions. Benchmarking faculty... View Article