Christine Collier
Staff Writer

In 2003, at the request of the Board of Trustees, President Stephen Morgan appointed a task force assigned with the duty of developing a compensation increase recommendation each year.

What better way to establish a fair rate of pay for the employees at the University of La Verne, then to turn to the employees themselves?

“We get a chance to study the data and then determine how much of a percentage increase we need to give our staff in order to remain competitive with other universities,” said Sharon K. Davis, professor of sociology and faculty representative for the Compensation Task Force.

The surveys studied are categorized into three groups: faculty, administrative and professional (A&P), and classified.

According to the “Principles of Compensation” document, the Task Force seeks to establish pay targets for each of these groups, which “is the average compensation paid for similar or comparable positions at the time of the most recent salary survey.”

“It’s a huge amount of work pulling statistics and looking at the averages of other institutions,” said Robert Neher, interim provost and a member of the Compensation Task Force.

This huge amount of work takes a considerable amount of time.

The Task Force begins meeting in January every other week for four months until they submit their recommendation to the president in late April.

From there, the president considers the Task Force’s recommendation and then will make his recommendation to the Board of Trustees sometime in early May.

However, prior to the Compensation Task Force, a large part of the responsibility for compiling these facts and figures was left up to the Faculty Salary Committee.

Davis, as the co-chair of FSC, was automatically granted a seat on the Compensation Task Force. She not only has nearly 25 years of experience as a faculty member, but she can act as liaison between the FSC and the Task Force as well.

“The Compensation Task Force is broader based than the Faculty Salary Committee,” Davis said. “It allowed us to work together with the other employee groups; as the Faculty Salary Committee we can’t speak for classified and administrative staff.”

Before the Task Force was formed, FSC was primarily accountable for creating a proposal and speaking directly with administration over the annual salary increases.

However, when the Compensation Task Force was assembled in 2003 there was some initial apprehension on the part of FSC.

“I think there was a real fear at first that [the Task Force] was a middle layer that had to be dealt with; that we wouldn’t have direct access,” Davis said. “But I think what we’ve discovered is that it really allows us to get together with different employee groups that we wouldn’t normally have a chance to see and talk to and together we can craft something that is going to work for all of us.”

Yet, why would anyone work so diligently for something they receive no additional compensation for beyond that of their normal salaries?

“We want to make sure people get paid properly,” said Frank Montalvo, chief human resources officer and Compensation Task Force chair. “It’s our hope to become more competitive.”

Beside concerns over compensation and benefits, it appears school pride also plays a role in the members’ motivation to remain dedicated to their work.

“I think our school is so special and our employees are fabulous,” Davis said. “I’m personally hoping someday to see us above average in salary because we are above average in everything else.”

The University definitely seems to share in this sentiment. Last year marked the largest dollar amount ever spent on compensation increase in ULV history.

However, there can be considerable obstacles to overcome in the quest to find the ideal pay target for each position.

“It’s always a real challenge to try and keep up with other universities that have bigger endowments or larger sources of funding,” Neher said.

The Task Force takes into consideration market fluctuations and the unique qualifications of employees when recommending increases for each employee group.

As a result, ULV employees might have a better chance at receiving the kind of annual salary increase they deserve.

Christine Collier can be reached at ccollier@ulv.edu