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[muggins]

I really need some advice. I have received a verbal offer for an Associate Dean position that includes salary and rank. I'm wondering how to approach the negotiation. For example, if the initial offer is 115K and I want to end up at 127K what number do I come back with? And if I want a higher rank, say move from Associate to Full, how do I factor that in? FYI, the Dean is handling the negotiations. Thanks for your help.

[offthemarket]

You come back with data and a realistic expectation about what your salary should be.  If you expect 127, you need to express a reason that makes sense to them - for example if this is a public institution you can learn what he other ADs make.

I think an Associate Dean offer is not negotiable up to being a Dean at the offer.  An AD does a fundamentally different job.  You're saying you want the Dean to quit so you can have her job?

[ucprof]

Never negotiated a dean job, but I guess it is similar to a prof job.  First, congratulations!  I know little about rank at the admin level but at the prof level it can be tricky to try to negotiate rank.  I'm guessing the same at the dean level.  Do the different ranks not have very different functions? When I negotiated my current position it was not like buying a car, i.e. I did not ask for X+delta to end up at X.  Rather, I suggest to tell them what kind of offer you would accept.  If it is close to where they are already they will likely work to make it happen.  If you are maxed out on salary then try for some perks like housing allowance or car allowance or something to bring you closer to where you want to be.  But I would try for the salary you want first.  Best if you have some rationale for it - like if you would lose money on cost of living differential from current position, or if the increase in responsibility is commensurate with a certain increase in salary, etc.  Most first offers are by no means the final offer.  

[bud04]

Uc prof and Offthemarket, I think OP is not asking to negotiate to be a Dean. When people come into an institution as an Associate Dean, they can negotiate faculty rank too. This way the new Associate Dean might also be an Associate Professor or a Full Professor too. Then they can go to the faculty if they get tired of being an admincritter.

I say, do your research and present a good case. What faculty rank did the Associate Dean have that you are replacing? What salary did they have?

Good luck.

 

[sibyl]

For any negotiation, "Getting to Yes" is a great book to read, because it helps you to approach the negotiation not as a contest but as a means for cooperatively reaching goals.  There is no magic number that you can plug into a formula that gets you a target number (e.g. original offer = 115, ultimate goal = 127, magic number = 142).

You have to know what is important to you and what is important to them and how you can trade off one for the other.  It may be, for example, that they can't meet your salary demand but that they would be willing to bring you in at the rank of full professor.  Or you could have a full professor rank, or a higher salary, but no tenure.  Would you accept those conditions?  Maybe they would be willing to exchange professional development funds for salary -- let's say the job comes with a $3000 fund, but they'd be willing to bump your salary $1000 instead of giving you that fund.  Or perhaps you would be willing to teach a class on weekends or evenings in order to get that extra salary bump.  You need to give them something important to them in order to get them to give you something important to you.

Good luck.