Salary & Equity
The campus maintains a faculty committee for the resolution of salary grievances and oversight of the appeals process. The Salary Equity Appeals Committee (SEAC) is a committee of faculty members selected jointly by the Boulder Faculty Assembly Executive Committee and the Vice Provost and Associate Vice Chancellor of Faculty Affairs. Members of the committee will be outgoing members of the Vice Chancellor's Advisory Committee (VCAC). This committee will review any appeal regarding salary equity that has not been resolved at either the primary unit or college/school level. Members of the committee will serve for a term of one to three calendar years. These members may also serve on the Provost's Advisory Committee during the same time period. The Vice Provost and Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Affairs chairs the committee.
CU Boulder maintains a strong commitment to the principles of merit-based evaluation and salary equity. The ultimate responsibility for equity in the salary-setting process rests with the primary unit. When inequities are identified, the cost of correcting the inequity is the responsibility of the department or primary unit unless the dean wishes to relieve the unit of this responsibility.
The appeal process is a multi-step process. Each department or primary unit is required to maintain a written policy that describes the evaluation and appeal process within the unit. Copies of these procedures are to be kept on record at the department, dean, and vice chancellor levels. In short, appeals can only be based on a faculty member's salary and may not be based solely on an annual raise. Equity claims must be based on the salaries of other faculty members in the unit as a whole. If the faculty member is equitably paid in comparison with most other faculty members of similar career merit, the faculty member may not base a claim of inequity on the salary of a single member whose salary is unusually high with respect to that group. Claims cannot be made based on a comparison of salaries of faculty members outside the grievant's primary unit. Other conditions and limitations on appeals exist, and aÌýdescription of the campus policyÌýrelated to salary equity appeals, and the format to use in submitting appeals can be downloaded: