AP 3-55 Faculty Salary Plan

Arapahoe Community College
Series 3 – College Personnel
AP 3-55 Faculty Salary Plan

Originated: June 1996

Revised: March 2000; March 2002; April 2002; June 2003; March 2005; August 2013; May 2014; July 2016; July 2018; May 2019; May 2023

Effective: June 1996; March 2000; April 2002; May 2002; June 2003; retroactive July 2004; August 2013; May 2014; July 2016; July 2018; May 2019; May 2023

References: BP 3-10; BP 3-31; BP 3-55; BP 3-65; SP 3-31; SP 3-55; SP 3-65; AP 3-10; AP 3-44

Approved:

Stephanie J. Fujii, Ph.D. President, Arapahoe Community College

PURPOSE

To establish guidelines for compensation of regular faculty that recognize performance in teaching and service, consider salary adjustment factors, and are consistent with State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education (SBCCOE) policies and System President's procedures. This procedure shall be reviewed each year for alignment with Board policies and System President procedures.

This Procedure contains pertinent information affecting faculty members, current through the date of its issuance. To the extent that any provision of this Procedure is inconsistent with State or Federal law, State Board for Community Colleges, and Occupational Education Policies (BPs) or Colorado Community College System President’s Procedures (SPs), the law, BPs and SPs shall supersede and control. BPs and SPs are subject to change throughout the year and are effective immediately upon adoption by the Board or System President, respectively. Faculty members are expected to be familiar with and adhere to the BPs, SPs as well as College directives, including but not limited to this Procedure.

Nothing in this Procedure is intended to create (nor shall be construed as creating) an express or implied contract or to guarantee employment for any term. The College reserves the right to modify, change, delete or add to this Procedure as it deems appropriate. 

SCOPE

This procedure applies to regular faculty members. 

PROCEDURE

This procedure incorporates the requirements established in BP 3-55 Faculty Salary Plan and SP 3-55 Faculty Salary Plan. If there are any discrepancies, BP 3-55 & SP 3-55 prevail. 

Base Building Salary Increases

Faculty may earn base building salary increases through:

1. Merit Based Salary Increases

   A Commendable rating should receive the full percentage merit increase. An Exemplary rating receives an additional merit increase as compared to the Commendable rating. The additional amount will be set based on budget availability. 

2. Education and Professional Development Awards

   A faculty member receiving a rating of Commendable or Exemplary may earn Education and Professional Development Awards in the same year. However, a single activity may not be applied toward both awards (refer to AP 3-44 Faculty Professional Advancement). Education / Professional Awards are base building and funding for awards is from the salary pool. 

   1. A faculty member may earn a maximum of fourteen Education Awards. The criteria are listed in Appendix A: Education Awards for Graduate Degrees and Graduate Courses. Faculty members may receive an Education Award by earning a graduate degree or by completing courses that apply to a graduate degree and are relevant to the discipline in which they are teaching. A faculty member may earn a maximum of six Professional Development Awards in addition to Education Awards. Activities comprising a Professional Development Award need to be approved by the supervising Dean or Provost (refer to AP 3-44).

   2. The value of each Education and Professional Development Award is 1.3% of the current ACC minimum starting base salary. 

   3. The deadline for submitting applications for Education and Professional Development Awards is March 1st and awards are effective August 1st. Official transcripts and supporting documentation must be submitted on or before May 30^th.

3. Equity

   Salary adjustments may be made to bring salaries into alignment if disparities exist in departments. Equity reviews are completed by the Dean and Provost / Vice President of Instruction in coordination with HR.

4. Marketplace Demand 
   The marketplace demand factor may be used to keep salaries for ACC faculty competitive with salaries for similar teaching positions.

Non-Base Building Salary Increases

Faculty may earn non-base building salary increases through temporary pay increases and other budget allocations including Department Chair, Coordinator and Program Chair compensation, grants, special projects, CTE Accreditation, and Concurrent Enrollment oversight.

Non-base building salary increases may be structured to be PERA eligible and within PERA limits for increases in compensation.

Initial Salary Computation for New Faculty

The initial salary of a new faculty member depends upon several factors: the value of the current ACC minimum starting base salary, the educational level of the new faculty member, the recent, relevant teaching and work experience of the new faculty member, and marketplace demand. The process for initial salary computation applies to new faculty on regular and limited contracts.

1. ACC minimum starting base salary
   The minimum starting salary is based upon a bachelor's degree (or Associate degree plus CTE credential) earned from an accredited college or university. The base salary for new faculty will increase each year by 50% of previous academic year salary increases for the commendable rating. The Provost / Vice President of Instruction, Faculty Senate, and Human Resources must together approve an increase over that amount. Any increase shall not exceed the increase for a Commendable rating in that academic year. 

2. Salary Computation
   Starting with the ACC faculty base salary, add the relevant education award adjustments indicated in Table 1: Education Awards for Graduate Degrees and Graduate Courses. 

   1. Add Education Awards up to 14. These awards are based upon relevant graduate degrees and courses that apply to a degree higher than a bachelor's degree. Such courses must be taken at an accredited college or university and must be within the course work accepted for a master's or doctorate degree. No courses outside a relevant master's or doctorate degree apply to these awards.

      Credit hours refer to semester credit hours. Multiply quarter credit hours by two-thirds to obtain equivalent semester hours. Education Awards are cumulative to 14 awards. The value of each Education Award is 1.3% of the current ACC minimum starting base salary. 

      Table 1: Education Awards for Graduate Degrees and Graduate Courses

      Degree	Education Awards
      Associate degree plus CTE Credential	0
      Bachelor's degree	0
      Bachelor's plus CTE Credential	2
      Master's degree	5
      Master's plus CTE Credential	7
      Master's plus 18 graduate credit hours	7
      Second Master's	10
      Terminal Master's Degree (48 credit hours or greater)	10
      ABD (all but dissertation)	10
      Earned Doctorate (EdD, PhD)	14

       

   2. Add prorated teaching and work experience up to five years. A year of any combination of teaching and/or work experience, as defined below, increases the prospective faculty member's minimum starting base salary by 1.3%, up to a maximum of five years. A maximum of one-year credit is awarded for each year of teaching, work, or a combination thereof.

      Teaching Experience must be relevant to the program area in which the faculty member is hired. No more than one year of teaching experience may be given for any twelve-month period, regardless of the number of credits taught. One year of postsecondary teaching experience is equal to 30 semester hours, or 45 quarter hours, or the standard full-time faculty load at the new faculty member's previous college and must include assessing student learning.
      
      Non-college teaching experience (including training programs, high school teaching, and postsecondary teaching) that does not involve college credit is counted as one year of teaching experience for every two years of full-time equivalent experience described. A maximum of one-half year credit is awarded for each full-time equivalent year in any twelve-month period.
      
      Work Experience is recent experience in a profession, industry, or business that is relevant to the faculty member's program area. Recent work experience refers to experience within 10 years of the initial contract starting date. One year of work experience is equivalent to 2,000 hours of professional, industry, or business experience. However, no more than one year of work experience may be given for any twelve-month period.
      
      For both teaching and work experience, Human Resources and the Dean of the program area determine the timeliness and relevancy of the teaching and/or work experience. Human Resources calculates the number of teaching and/or work experience years and computes salary.

   3. Add CTE work experience. Notwithstanding anything in this AP 3-55, new faculty in Career and Technical Education are eligible to receive additional work experience awards above the normal five-year cap as long as their total awards for education and teaching/work experience do not exceed 19. For CTE faculty, recent work experience refers to relevant industry experience within 20 years of the initial contract starting date. Work experience must be relevant to the program area in which the faculty member is hired. This option for achieving awards is intended to account for the lack of available relevant graduate level degrees in CTE fields.

   4. Add marketplace demand, if applicable. 

      The marketplace demand factor may be used to keep entry salaries for ACC faculty competitive with salaries for similar teaching positions. In no case can marketplace demand be used to give a new faculty member a greater salary than a continuing faculty member with similar experience and training in the same or similar program area.

      When circumstances warrant a higher salary based upon marketplace demand, the Provost / Vice President of Instruction, in consultation with the Dean of the program area and Human Resources, determines the marketplace demand value using two components: 1) attributes of the faculty member based upon special training, skills, or creative work, and 2) attributes of the discipline or program area that result in lack of applicants or difficulty hiring faculty members to fill open positions. Final salary will be reviewed by Faculty Salary Committee Representative and Human Resources. Written justification for awarding a marketplace demand increase shall be kept in the faculty member's personnel file. 

   5. Multiply salary by percent of contract (e.g., full-time=1.0; 50%=.5) 

Other Salary Considerations

1. Faculty members on limited contracts are eligible to receive Commendable or Exemplary merit increases based on performance evaluations. The merit increases are applied to the following academic year in the event the limited faculty member receives another contract, either limited or regular.

2. Faculty members who transfer to administrative positions at ACC and then return to faculty assignments at ACC are eligible for merit increases which will be added to the base salary the faculty member had prior to the administrative appointment.

3. Faculty members assigned to fulfill any faculty duty during the terms outside of fall and spring semesters as part of their contract will have these assignments calculated as part of their regular salary. Such faculty will be assigned the equivalent of 166 faculty workdays pursuant to BP 3-10 Administration of Personnel.

4. Faculty members with overloads beyond 30 credit hours in a contract year are compensated for the overload credit hours per the pay schedule for instructors. Overloads during the fall and spring semesters are paid at Level 1. Overloads are not part of a faculty member's base salary and cannot be used for computing base building salary increases.

5. Faculty members with teaching assignments during the summer are compensated at Level 3 of the instructor pay schedule. This compensation is not part of a faculty member’s base salary and cannot be used for computing base building salary increases. Any summer assignment other than teaching is compensated at the prevailing hourly rate.

6. Retired Colorado Community College System full-time faculty with post-retirement teaching assignments are compensated at level 3 of the instructor pay schedule.

Review and Appeal

1. New Faculty
   At the time a new faculty member is offered a contract, a copy of this procedure and the salary computation worksheet will be provided. It is the responsibility of the new faculty member to review his or her salary to see that it is in accordance with the provisions of this procedure. If a question of placement, advancement, or interpretation of the salary plan arises, a representative of Human Resources will explain to the faculty member how his or her salary was computed. 
2. Review and Appeal
   Should any faculty member have questions or concerns regarding the salary computation, the first step is to request a meeting with a representative of Human Resources to review the computation. This review meeting shall occur within 10 calendar days of the start of the contract. If there are concerns after this review, the faculty member may appeal to the College President (or designee). A written appeal shall be made within 10 calendar days of the Human Resources review stating the nature of the concern, the steps taken by the faculty member to resolve the concern, the portion of the procedure the faculty member believes has been violated, and the requested resolution. The College President will review and respond within 10 calendar days from the date the request is received. The decision of the College President is final. 

FACULTY SENATE SALARY COMMITTEE

1. Definition and Composition

   The Faculty Senate President and/or Faculty Senate Executive Committee represent the faculty on all matters relating to faculty salary and compensation. The Faculty Salary Committee is part of Faculty Senate and functions as a Faculty Senate standing committee as stated in the Faculty Senate by-laws.  The Committee has no fewer than five members (at least one member from each School), elected by the faculty to serve two-year, staggered terms, plus one representative from the Faculty Senate Executive Committee. The Committee members are selected by September 15th of each year. The Committee elects its own chairperson. 

2. Duties and Responsibilities of the Committee

   1. As charged by the Provost / Vice President of Instruction, or the Faculty Senate President, the Committee periodically reviews AP 3-55 Faculty Salary Plan and makes suggestions for modifications. Committee recommendations are forwarded to the Faculty Senate President and the Executive Committee for approval. The Faculty Senate President engages the entire Faculty Senate in discussion and approval. Once recommendations are approved, the Faculty Senate President forwards the recommendations to the College President and Provost / Vice President of Instruction. The College President has final approval authority on ACC procedural changes. In the spirit of shared governance and open communication, the Committee may elicit feedback from Administration during the review and recommendation process.

   2. Upon request, or as charged by the Provost / Vice President of Instruction, or Faculty Senate President, the Committee may review Education/Professional Development Awards, department release levels, adjusted credit hours, interpretations of the Salary Plan, or other compensation issues. The Committee forwards its recommendations to the requesting party with a copy to Faculty Senate.

REVISING THIS PROCEDURE

ACC reserves the right to change any provision or requirement of this procedure at any time and the change shall become effective immediately.