Adjustments to faculty compensation are being made in July and August 2022 as a result of a comprehensive compensation program review designed to address the strategic goal of providing a rewarding employee work experience.   

The faculty component, a collaborative effort between Human Resources, academic leadership, and Business and Administration, was completed in June. Compensation adjustments are now being implemented, resulting in a salary increase for approximately half of Georgia Tech faculty members, excluding Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). Because GTRI recently conducted a market salary adjustment program, it was not included in this exercise.   
  
As part of the compensation review, Georgia Tech’s Executive Leadership Team approved adopting a new minimum wage for Georgia Tech, which went into effect in November and December 2021. Staff compensation adjustments were made in December 2021.  

The academic market study was conducted to better align faculty members’ salaries with the market and strengthen Tech’s ability to attract and retain the best faculty across all categories.  

In fiscal year 2023, most of the faculty members included will receive a maximum increase of 5% applied after the cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), for eligible state employees. The percentage was selected for consistency with the staff exercise that had a 7% cap before COLA, and to not overly burden grants for faculty members on sponsored funds.   

A small number of faculty members will receive necessary individual adjustments as recommended by the deans. This is because their roles weren’t matched to market by Deloitte, the consulting firm for the project, and/or based on unique disciplinary market insights, internal equity, compression, and high-demand fields. 

Faculty pay adjustments went into effect July 1, 2022, for 12-month faculty, reflected in July 29 paychecks. Pay adjustments for 9-month faculty will be effective Aug. 1, reflected in Aug. 31 paychecks (or Aug. 26 for employees paid biweekly).   

Those who are eligible for an increase (and their managers) will receive notification via email from Georgia Tech Human Resources in July and may also view their increases on oneusgconnect.usg.edu during the week of their respective pay dates (July 29 and Aug. 31 for monthly and July 29 and August 26 for biweekly).  

In fiscal year 2023, minimum increases to faculty members paid on sponsored/external funds will be optional and determined by the supervisor and school chair or unit head based on funding source policies and available funding.   
 
Initial plans were to introduce faculty compensation adjustments in early 2022. However, extra time was needed to align on a common benchmark, understand the differences between faculty with similar titles and ranks, and clear hurdles associated with incomplete or not updated data, plus the necessity to pause while entering the COLA (a statewide exercise that allowed us to increase salaries for all eligible faculty and staff salaries). 

Program guiding principles included being consistent with the staff exercise whenever possible and practical; reflecting the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion within our faculty; leveraging the insights and knowledge of deans and school chairs/unit heads; and ensuring transparency and clear communication.  

Input to align faculty members’ salaries with the market included faculty salaries at peer institutions, benchmarking other Association of American University (AAU) institutions as identified by the deans, an independent compensation study, and an employee census.