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Merit Pay for Faculty

Austin Peay remains committed to recognizing and rewarding great performance, which is why the University is moving to a merit pay system for employees, also known as pay-for-performance. This new system will allow us to administer compensation in a fair manner.

The merit pay structure also allows the University to successfully recruit, retain, and reward high-performing employees. Our faculty and staff are consistently finding new and innovative ways to succeed and should be rewarded for their hard work. 

 

Overview

Annual faculty evaluation reviews shall be conducted for the following reasons:

  • To provide faculty with feedback about the extent to which they are meeting or exceeding minimum performance expectations, as identified in the Faculty Evaluation Review form.
  • To discuss professional development goals.
  • To determine the eligibility of faculty for performance-based salary increases or bonuses when funds are available.
Definitions of performance-based salary increases and merit salary increases are provided below.
  • Performance-based Salary Increase or Bonus: A salary increase or one-time bonus awarded to full-time faculty who meet minimally acceptable performance expectations.
  • Performance  – a collection of activities/tasks that form a coherent unit of work, e.g., academic assignment (teaching), scholarly and creative activity (research), and professional contributions and activities (service) pertinent to the faculty appointment. 

Please see Policy 2:053 Annual Faculty Evaluation Review

How Merit Pay Works

  • The amount of the individual merit increase will vary according to employee's performance contributions and the available merit budget allocated to each department.
  • Every department will be operating with a percent of merit pool budget allocation based on total department salaries. - TBD by Budget Advisory Task Force
  • The total of employee merit increases within a department cannot exceed the department’s allocated merit budget.
  • Deans, Human Resources, and Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action will conduct review and audits of all submitted spreadsheets.

Eligibility

  • Overall Composite Rating (OCR) score of 2 or higher = Eligible for performance based salary increase or bonus.

  • Overall Composite Rating (OCR) score of 3 or higher = Eligible for merit salary increase or bonus.

Performance Evaluations

The annual performance review process will serve as the primary method for assessing and rewarding employees. Departmental supervisors and leaders will be responsible for evaluating their employees’ performance annually and for determining merit increases for each employee. Supervisors will provide feedback regarding an employee’s performance during the review period and explain how that performance translates into a pay decision.

Click to learn more about performance evaluations

Frequently Asked Questions

The term “pay for performance” refers to a pay strategy where evaluations of individual performance have significant influence on the amount of pay increases given to each employee. The new pay structure positions the University to successfully recruit, retain and reward high-performing employees.

Austin Peay remains committed to recognizing and rewarding great performance, which is why the University is moving to a merit pay system for employees, also known as pay-for-performance. This new system will allow us to administer compensation in a fair manner.

  • The amount of the individual merit increase will vary according to employees’ performance contributions and the available merit budget allocated to each department. 
  • Every department will be operating with a percent of merit pool budget allocation based on total department salaries.
  • The total of employee merit increases within a department cannot exceed the department’s allocated merit budget. 
The total merit pool will be determined by market trends, economic conditions and available funding.
Employees with an Overall Composite Rating (OCR) of 3.00 or higher on relevant performance evaluation.