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Salary Ranges Process

Salary Ranges reflect both the role of the job within the university, and external market practices.

The university is a complex organization with a wide variety of jobs, and competes in a wide variety of markets, depending upon the job. Human Resources/ Compensation collects and analyzes market data from multiple markets including other public higher education institutions and local employers. Compensation uses carefully selected published salary surveys to ensure that the University has access to current and quality data. These surveys are conducted on an annual basis.

A salary range is the range of pay rates from minimum to maximum, established for a salary grade or class that typically reflects the competitive labor market value.  The development of salary ranges involves the comparison of the University's internal evaluation and ranking of the positions coupled with external salary data.  This salary data is gathered and updated through industry specific surveys of companies and Universities with similar pay programs and practices.  ³ÉÈËÍ·Ìõ's salary ranges will be evaluated annually using salary survey data from a variety of comparable sources.

One of the key components of a salary administration program is a salary structure.  A salary structure is simply a hierarchy of job grades and salary ranges established within an organization.  The salary structure at ³ÉÈËÍ·Ìõ will be expressed in terms of job grades. 

Process:

1. Information about the position is gathered to determine the scope of the main responsibilities, specific duties, decision making autonomy and reporting lines of each position.
2. Position is analyzed against existing positions so that it aligns and fits within the University Pay Plan.
3. Positions are then compared to market data based on
   1. Industry (e.g., higher education)
   2. Institution size, and;
   3. Geography (e.g., local, regional or national)
      1. Local Market
         1. The Local market area includes all of the El Paso and surrounding areas to include local school districts, city and county. Most classified and selected administrative and professional positions are included in this market.
      2. University Market:
         1. The University market is all institutions reporting in the designated categories in the following annual compensation surveys:
            1. College and University Professional Association – Human Resources (CUPA-HR)
               1. Administrators
               2. Professionals

• Staff

1. Western Management Group
   1. Edu Comp
   2. Collegiate Athletics
2. Higher Education Information for Technology Services (HEITS)
   1. Technology Salary
3. Once the appropriate scope for the position is determined, we rely on salary survey sources to identify other similar positions in the market.  A position with a direct market comparison is called a benchmark position.
4. Benchmark Positions at Market Rate
   1. Benchmark positions are matched to the median market salary. This is how pay ranges midpoints are assigned to positions. The “salary spread” for ³ÉÈËÍ·Ìõ State staff positions is 50%. (E.g., If a market median salary for a position is $47,000, that position is assigned to salary range of 50% between the minimum and maximum.)