next »

[oatmeal]

One of my colleagues asked me this question and I thought I would ask the forum. (I did give some general advice, though I would hate to lose this colleague). I am not sure what forum section to put it under, so I thought I would try here. Hu is in the running for a Chair of Department at a IIA institution. It is a 12 month contract. Hu asked me what sort of salary one could expect. I had no idea. In general terms, is that an "accepted" formula for working out a salary (for negotiating purposes). Here are some details:

The average for a Full-Professor at the institution on a 9 month contract is $85,000. So, what should a Chair expect? Is there some kind of basic way to work this out. Obviously details are dependent on the institution, the department, and the credentials of the person. The position is in the Social Sciences. Any insight would help my colleague. Thanks.

[anthroid]

Depending on rank and experience, I suspect $90K is about right given what you're saying about the average for Full.  This is assuming that your colleague would be going in as late Associate or early Full.  I say this based on the average you quote--the salary range for Full is likely between $70-100K for a nine-month contract, so a 12 month for a beginning Full would be right around $90K.  You should advise your colleague to try to negotiate for an 11 month contract instead if at all possible.  That extra month in summer really isn't necessary to run a department well, and getting summer time off helps with maintaining a research agenda.  I speak from experience!

[sinatra]

I agree with anthroid. $87,000-$93,000 would be a fair range, depending on the factors that anthroid identified. Other things to consider would be (a) existence of a stipend for chair duties, (b) amount of money contributed by the university to a retirement plan (e.g., matching or set percentage), and (c) elements of the benefits package as a whole (e.g., 1/2 tuition for dependents vs. full, type of medical/dental/vision participation, life insurance, etc.).

[clean]

For what it's worth, our chairs get an extra $300 a month (yes, three Hundred), but they also get a course reduction each term, and teach 2 summer classes, but are paid for 3.  So they get $3600 plus 1/12th of their salary, and course reductions.  They are supposed to work five days a week, and be available 'business hours'.