Purpose and Charge

The CSU Strategic Roadmap 2035 identifies Institutional Competitiveness as a key priority. Competitive compensation is central to enhancing CSU’s competitiveness, as it can enhance retention and recruitment of faculty and staff. To this end, President Parsons has convened a Working Group on Compensation to make recommendations that will inform a comprehensive employee compensation strategy. This group includes faculty and staff from across the university, and will convene from May through December 2026, and the group’s work will result in a report to the President. The President’s charge to the group in May 2026 included the following items:

• General Compensation Philosophy: Develop a general compensation philosophy that lays out the values and principles in which the University’s compensation structure and practices are grounded.
• Total Compensation vs. Salary Compensation: Benchmark total compensation (i.e., salary plus benefits) against salary compensation to ensure comprehensive and competitive faculty and staff compensation packages.
• Faculty Compensation Strategy: Assess the impact of current tenure-track/tenured and contract/continuing professor promotion raise levels, including in relation to the market and to positive and negative effects on salary compression. Make any pertinent recommendations about adjustments to raise amounts and/or decompression processes, with attention to feasibility, timing, and potential impacts. Consider and make recommendations on different models of faculty compensation beyond tenure and promotion.
• Market Comparison: Benchmark faculty and administrative professional staff salaries against AAU public peers. Make prioritized recommendations regarding classifications, ranks, and disciplines in greatest need of market adjustments, including proposed approaches for addressing identified gaps.
• Supplemental Pay Process: Assess policies and practices around supplemental pay of faculty and staff.
• Off-cycle Merit Process: Examine policies and practices regarding off-cycle merit increases.
• Short-term (Annual) Performance Incentives: Consider possible models to provide short-term performance incentives for faculty and staff.
• Strategies to Close Compensation Gaps: Identify and recommend concrete, implementable strategies to close priority compensation gaps over time within existing or projected institutional constraints. This should include consideration of funding approaches; phasing and prioritization; tradeoffs; policy changes; and alternative compensation models that could be deployed within existing or projected resource constraints.

The group will report to the President with recommendations by December 31, 2026. The group’s report will include proposed strategies, sequencing and key considerations for implementation.

Working Group Updates

May 2026: The Working Group held an initial meeting. The group received the President’s Charge, discussed the requirements, and laid out logistics and timelines for future meetings.

June 2026: The Working Group reviewed the guiding principles and compensation philosophy that has been utilized by the Office of Human Resources, and agreed to create a set of definitions related to compensation to better inform campus conversations and the development of compensation strategies.  Over the summer, the group will divide into subcommittees to address and complete objectives and deliverables.

Working Group Chairs

Eric Ray, Vice President for Human Resources
Melinda Smith, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs; University Distinguished Professor, Biology

Working Group Members

Heather Bellotti, Administrative Professional Council Representative; Human Resources Partner for the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance
Ryan Brooks, Master Instructor, Animal Sciences
Samantha Conroy, Associate Professor, Management
Brendan Hanlon, Vice President for Operations; Chief Financial Officer
Evan Horn, Classified Personnel Representative; Facilities Management, Electrical Trades
Laura Jensen, Vice Provost for Planning and Effectiveness
Lisa Kutcher, Department Chair of Accounting; Professor, Accounting
Jennifer Martin, Faculty Council Vice Chair; Associate Professor and Meat Extension Specialist, Animal Sciences
Bob Meehan, Associate Director of Classification and Compensation
Andrew Norton, Faculty Council Chair; Professor, Agricultural Biology
Zoelle Pointon, Classified Personnel Representative; International Programs, Department HR Manager
Allen Robinson, Dean of the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering; Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Atmospheric Science
Teri Suhr, Chief Total Rewards Officer (Benefits, Payroll, HRSC, Well-Being and EAP, Employee Housing Programs)
Trish Torrez, Administrative Professional Council Chair; Admissions, Business and HR Operations Manager