AAAFSA pay equity report reaction

In 1988, the African-American Association for Faculty, Staff and Administrators criticized a University study of pay equity, saying that parts of the report were hidden from the public and that it did not address many important issues. Last month, the group complained that the entire issue of pay equity is still being ignored. But University officials defended themselves this week, saying that since the release of the study they have conducted many follow-up investigations and have taken measures to prevent pay inequity. The study examined the salaries of A-1 and A-3 employees which, according to Clelland, included most administrators and staff members of the University. The study concluded that black employees were paid less and promoted at a lower rate than their white counterparts. Deputy Provost Richard Clelland said the entire study was not released to the public only because it would have revealed private information about individuals' salaries. "The University administration never gives out information to the public on individual salaries," Clelland said. Clelland also said the entire report was released to the University's Affirmative Action Committee. But AAA Tri-Chair James Gray said he thought the entire study could have been coded to ensure privacy and released to the public. Gray also said that even if the study were not coded, it would be difficult to determine individual salaries. "I think there must have been some way of disguising the report for the protection of individuals," Gray said. "And simply having figures does not mean it can be determined who the person is." In addition, Gray said the association was disappointed with the original report because it did offer a comparative analysis of University salaries with the salaries of people working in the same fields outside the University in the Philadelphia area. "The study did not show the difficulties people were having surviving even though I know we had requested that be a part of the study," Gray said. The salary equity study was done by Towers, Perrin, Forster and Crosby, a private consulting firm, and was divided into two main sections. One section examined promotion rates and pay increases. The other section analyzed actual salaries. Gray and Thomas Henry, another AAA tri-chair, said the University has done nothing since the study was released to correct these problems. "The University does not respond to issues," Henry said. "The study shows there was a pay inequity, and that has not been dealt with, then or now." But Clelland said follow-up investigations have been done since the release of the study. According to Clelland, Barbara Butterfield, the former vice president of Human Resources, held a number of open forums for people to come to discuss problems with the pay equity study. In addition, he said the heads of each department had to justify the salaries of people at the bottom and top of each classification. And Bradley Williams, manager of compensation, listed a number of ongoing follow-ups to the study. Williams said there is a salary equity program at the University in which Human Resources determines how much people should be paid according to their experience and sends reports to University centers and schools two or three times a year. In addition, he said Human Resources looks at salary increases given in July and determines if those raises are fair. "I think Human Resources continues to be vigilant to the issue of salary equity," Williams said. But Henry said administrators told the association that nothing is currently being done because the University is still looking for a permanent vice president of human resources. But Barry Stupine, acting vice president of Human Resources, disagreed, saying salary equity is an issue his office investigates continuously. "Salary equity resources are far greater than one person," Stupine said. "Investigations have been going on for many years and will continue." Stupine said that in the last few months, a management report was done on the protected classes -- women, people over 40, minorities and the disabled -- and how they stand compared to other groups. "When inequities are seen, compensation people are out working with managers to stop the inequity," Stupine said. "There is an attitude -- we always try to stop inequity. The issues are taken very seriously by people at human resources." In addition, Stupine said a new pay equity study will be done before the spring of 1993. Stupine also emphasized that many problems are being resolved. For example, he said, 30 percent of total University staff members are black, and only 16 percent of recent layoffs were black.