Maryland's Public System of Higher Education

The USM in 2010: 

Responding to the Challenges that Lie Ahead

Faculty Recruitment and Retention

To achieve eminence, the USM must recruit and retain the highest-quality, diverse faculty. Improved compensation and benefits are key to this effort.

High quality faculty are key to the attainment of excellence at USM institutions. Academic program quality and ranking, appropriate "start-up" packages, and clear and equitable promotion and tenure systems are among the variables that determine whether faculty will seek employment at specific institutions. Compensation is another important faculty recruitment factor. Given the significance of this variable, Board of Regents policy directs the USM to "seek increases in funding to attain and to maintain a faculty salary structure for each of its constituent institutions which is merit-based and in which the average faculty salary is at or above the 85^th percentile of that institution's classification group."

Benefits are also central to effective recruitment. While the USM offers competitive health and other benefits, there is a gap between the optional retirement benefits it offers and those offered by public institutions in nearby states; this gap is a function both of employer and employee contribution levels. The employers' contributions to optional retirement plans range from 11% in Delaware (with a 4% employee contribution), 10.4% in Virginia (with a 0% employee contribution), 9.29% in Pennsylvania (with a 5% employee contribution), 8% in New Jersey (with a 0% employee contribution) to 6% in West Virginia (with an 8% employee contribution). In Maryland, the employer contribution is 7.25%, with no employee contribution.

In addition, existing State Retirement System regulations exclude compensation for summer school and summer-research grants from the "earnable compensation" on which retirement benefits are calculated. These regulations place the USM at a competitive disadvantage, especially in disciplines characterized by substantial funding for summer projects.

Of course, recruiting faculty members is only the initial step. Retaining them is an ongoing challenge. Factors shown to increase retention include competitive compensation, clearly communicated expectations, appropriate reward and recognition systems, participation in shared governance, and the availability of professional development opportunities.

USM Response

USM institutions will:

• Address strategies for achievement of the 85^th percentile for mean faculty salaries at all ranks.
• Provide incentives to develop and implement hiring practices and procedures that lead to enhanced faculty diversity.
• Provide ongoing development programs for department chairs that focus on faculty recruitment and retention strategies and skills.
• Support the inclusion of summer salary and temporary payments for special projects as "earnable compensation" upon which optional-retirement program benefits are based.
• Support optional-retirement legislation that increases employer and employee contributions.
• Implement "success" programs that include institutional orientation programs, clear information about roles and rewards, professional development opportunities for all faculty, and structured assistance with promotion and tenure processes for tenurable faculty.
• Increase the number of endowed chairs to recruit distinguished faculty, and use current endowed chairs to reward distinguished faculty already at the institutions.