The Council once again identified the Faculty Salary Equity Study as an issue for discussion during the fall semester. Sheri Plenert, from the Office of Equal Opportunity, was invited to present information on this issue at the September Council meeting. Her presentation included some background information and an update on the progress of the Salary Equity Study that would be completed in Spring 2001. Specifically, she reported that

• The study, which has been conducted annually for more than ten years, looks at faculty salaries to identify females and minority males who may have inequitable salaries.
• The existing model is being run along with two other models with the intention of identifying the model, which will best meet the needs for NC State.
• A nationally recognized consultant, Louis Haignere, has been retained by the university to assist with model review and implementation.
• Council members have been included in this process. The Council will be provided with updates regarding the study. Input from the Council is most welcome.
  
  

The Council continues to be concerned about the use of information from the model and the lack of a feedback loop to the Provost's office on flagged individuals. The issue of whether flagged individuals should be notified of this fact remains open because we do not know how the data is used currently by the Provost, Deans or Department Heads.

At this stage, the Salary Equity Study has not been presented to the university community. The Council has not been provided with updates so we do not know where the Study stands. We have several recommendations that we hope will make the Faculty Equity Study more useful.

Recommendation 1: Communication on the progress of the Faculty Salary Equity Study should be routinized. The person responsible for the Study should contact the Chair of the Council on the Status of Women with the tentative schedule of the Study and then arrange a time to report to the Council at a regularly scheduled meeting.

Recommendation 2: The Faculty Salary Equity Study should be completed as early in the academic year as possible so that faculty are generally on campus when the Study is released.

Recommendation 3: The Faculty Salary Equity Study should be posted to the North Carolina State University website.

Recommendation 4: Administrators should respond to the Faculty Salary Equity Study with a specific action plan that is made available to the faculty generally on the North Carolina State University website. This plan should include a feedback process from Department Heads and Deans to the Provost on how they will address any flagged inequities.

Recommendation 5: An EPA Professional Salary Equity Study should be developed to identify and address potential salary inequities among EPA Professional employees.

The Council endorses the efforts being made by the Provost's Office to analyze the Faculty Salary Equity Study. The Council plans to be involved in future discussions related to this issue. We look forward to written responses to our recommendations at the beginning of the 2001-2 academic year.