Pay for Performance Making Inroads among University Faculty

I've heard plenty of talk about performance-based incentives and variable pay for college and university faculty, but this is the first actual approved plan I've run across.

As part of its recently approved collective bargaining agreement, Kent State has implemented a plan offering cash bonuses to 864 tenure-track faculty members.  The plan establishes a "success bonus pool" which will be divided among the faculty members if the university reaches its goals to improve retention rates for first-year students, increase the research dollars it generates and increase the amount of private money raised through its foundation.

According to Lester Lefton, Kent State's president, the message behind the new pay-for-performance plan is that faculty members should benefit from the work they do that influences a university's success.

Comments

[Wally Bock]

Interesting post, Ann. What I find interesting is who is NOT included. No staff are included in this incentive plan even though they're responsible for a lot of how students, especially new students, experience the university. The fund raising staff of the Foundation are not included, even though they're the ones doing most of the fund raising. Non-tenured faculty are not included, even though, if Kent State is like many other universities they carry a large share of the teaching and counseling load.

[Ann Bares]

Wally:

You make a good point. I assume and hope that there is a parallel incentive effort underway for other University staff, for all the reasons that you mention.

This particular plan, if I understand the information from Kent State correctly, impacts tenure track faculty (not yet tenured).

Thanks - as always - for the comments!

[Career Encourager]

Ann - Interesting post. It's time that the tenure system got a little bit of a shake-up. I am glad to see that retention rates for first year students are included as long as it is for retention at the University, and not department-specific. As a graduate student myself, I have witnessed some bizarre things happen in the name of the "advisor" role that faculty are supposed to play once an incentive plan is implemented. In cases where the incentive is weighted towards research, advising quality is poor to non-existent. In cases where incentives are weighted towards department retention, students are not always encouraged to pursue minors or even changes in major that would ultmately be best for them.

[Ann Bares]

CE:

Great points. As anywhere else, faculty incentives must be approached with care and thought, and with an eye toward unintended consequences.