05/07/2024

Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to provide you with an update on work completed so far this year on the Total Compensation and Benefits (TCB) Review Project, and before we get too far into the summer, to share information about how the project will continue this summer and into the fall.

SUMMARY OF THE TCB PROJECT

As a reminder, the project is comprised of four workstreams: the staff compensation program, the faculty compensation program, the market review of total compensation and benefits for faculty and staff, and the faculty and staff compensation and benefits survey. More information on the project goals and objectives and the project team are included on the project website.

SPRING 2024 OBJECTIVES AND WORK COMPLETED

In January, the university engaged Lockton Companies, a privately-held professional services organization, to partner with us as our consultants on the project. We kicked off the staff workstream in January, when Lockton met with approximately 13% of our staff in listening sessions to better understand their perceptions related to the total compensation and benefits offerings at the university, in addition to holding formal meetings with the project team and university leadership. Lockton returned to campus in mid-March to officially launch the faculty compensation workstream. Kickoff events included time with the project’s Internal Advisory Committee (IAC), the faculty working group, and the Faculty Salary Committee. In addition, Lockton conducted listening sessions with approximately 14% of our faculty.

Lockton shared with the project team that this high level of participation is unusual and, in their opinion, demonstrates a notable commitment to inclusion of the interests of our campus community as we complete this project. Thank you to all who participated in these listening sessions. The success of this project depends on the active involvement of our community, and we are grateful for your time, insight, and commitment at this stage.

In partnership with the IAC and faculty and staff working groups, we have made strong progress toward our spring goals, including:

  1. Conducting a review and validation of job functions in staff position descriptions;
  2. Drafting a staff job architecture, including clearly defined job families and levels of work; and
  3. Reviewing the university’s list of peer institutions for compensation and benefits benchmarking.

KEY THEMES IDENTIFIED IN KICKOFF VISITS

As an outcome of their time spent on campus with staff and faculty stakeholders, Lockton developed a set of key themes representative of the aggregated and de-identified insights, opinions, experiences, and perceptions shared during the staff and faculty listening sessions. We have included a high-level summary of those themes here and also made it available on the project website.

These key themes will inform the project team’s work over the course of the project. While many themes emerged throughout these discussions, we would highlight the following topics that were prevalent across both staff and faculty input:

  • The university faces challenges in the attraction and retention of both faculty and staff talent given Tacoma’s high cost of living and the university’s ability to keep pace;
  • The university experiences additional recruiting and retention pressures from local industries outside of higher education;
  • Faculty and staff are concerned about staff retention and the gap in institutional memory due to departures of long-tenured employees;
  • Depending on personal circumstances and time at the institution, opinions about the strength of the benefits and retirement program vary; and
  • There is a strong desire across campus for improved transparency with regard to the university’s total compensation and benefits offerings to include both program design and supporting policies.

In response to the last bullet above, we are working on a series of educational sessions regarding the university’s current approach to faculty and staff compensation, an overview of current benefits offerings, and an overview of the university’s financial model, including how funds are allocated for faculty and staff compensation and benefits. We anticipate holding these sessions in anticipation of the survey and market assessment project work scheduled for the early fall–watch your email for those opportunities.

SUMMER WORK PRIORITIES AND NEXT STEPS

Over the summer, we will continue to work with Lockton and university leaders to finalize the placement of staff positions into the job architecture, to begin the market assessment of university compensation and benefits, and to continue preparing for a comprehensive compensation and benefits survey to be delivered to all faculty and staff in Fall 2024. In the fall, we will incorporate both these key themes and outcomes from the market assessment into the refresh of the university’s compensation philosophy/ies. We anticipate taking a set of recommendations forward to President Crawford in early 2025 ahead of the Budget Task Force, budget approval process, and benefits renewal process for fiscal year 2025-26.

For additional information, please visit the Total Compensation & Benefits Project webpage or contact the project team at TCB@pugetsound.edu. 
 

We hope you have an enjoyable summer.

Drew Kerkhoff, Provost

Kim Kvaal, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer