UWM Comprehensive Compensation Review

Date:

September 28, 2026

Background

The Department of Human Resources (HR) developed guidelines, informed by human resources best practices, for a pilot program to regularly review employee compensation. These guidelines establish a framework for assessing employee compensation and providing relevant market and compensation data to university leaders to support informed compensation and budgetary decisions.

Overview of Comprehensive Compensation Review Framework

A comprehensive compensation review (CCR) creates a framework to ensure employee compensation is evaluated on a routine basis with an assessment of pay fairness and appropriateness. A regular compensation review provides a method to recognize employees and ensure they are adequately compensated over time. UWM’s comprehensive compensation review will occur on a five-year cycle, with a cohort of eligible employees reviewed each year.

Definitions

Salary Grade: Represents a designated salary range for a job. Each salary grade includes jobs that have similar levels of responsibilities, complexity, scope, etc.

Salary Range: Identifies the lowest salary (minimum) to the highest salary (maximum) that can be paid to an individual holding a position assigned to that salary range.

Official Title: The title assigned to a position from the Universities of Wisconsin Title and Standard Job Description Library, outlining the general responsibilities of a position in that title. Each Official Title corresponds to one salary grade/range within the Universities of Wisconsin Salary Structure.

Job Family: A grouping of Official Titles (jobs) that share common work, training, skills, and knowledge. Each Official Title belongs to one Job Family; Job Families are identified in the Universities of Wisconsin Title and Standard Job Description Library.

Compensation Category: Universities of Wisconsin Administrative Policy 1277: Compensation identifies six broad compensation categories. The following categories are in-scope of this policy:

• Category A: Salary grade structure consisting of the 21 salary ranges (15-35) each with an assigned minimum and maximum dollar value. Generally, University Staff, Academic Staff, and Limited Appointees are assigned to Category A, although there are noted exceptions.
• Category B: Compensation category that includes a minimum salary (no maximum) for instructional academic and research job titles. These minimum salary levels are linked to faculty salary minima.
• Category C: Compensation category that includes unique or specifically defined positions; salary ranges are determined on a case-by-case basis with consideration to market.
• Category D: Compensation category that includes salary grades for faculty. These titles have only prescribed salary minimums due to the nature of the work.
• Category E: Compensation category that refers to the salary structure for senior/vice presidents and provosts/vice chancellors.

Parity Adjustment: An adjustment that may be used to correct salary inequities as documented for individuals or groups of employees.

Market Adjustment: An adjustment that may be used to adjust salaries to increase retention or alleviate pressures due to external competitive factors.

Solid Performer: Solid performance is an indication of satisfactory performance, typically via performance evaluation, by an employee when considering the employee’s performance in total. Employees on a formal performance improvement plan are ineligible for designation as a solid performer. Employees must demonstrate solid performance and have been eligible for the most recent pay plan to be eligible for a comprehensive compensation review pay adjustment.

Fiscal Year: A period used for accounting and budgeting purposes; for the Universities of Wisconsin, this period is July 1 to June 30.

Records

While public employee salaries are generally a matter of public record, the Wisconsin Public Records Law specifically exempts from release “staff management planning” documents, which include salary and wage planning, and compensation analyses may not be releasable under the law. Accordingly, records related to compensation analyses should be treated as confidential and should not be released by Human Resources or any unit or employee, including in response to requests from employees. Requests for records related to compensation analyses should be referred or forwarded to UWM’s Public Records Custodian.

Guiding Principles

These guidelines acknowledge and reflect the following guiding principles:

• A comprehensive compensation review is intended to emphasize retention; primary areas of focus are (1) employees who have not progressed within salary range as expected with regard to market and (2) employees in titles/functions with retention issues.
• Guidelines should consider the appropriateness of pay adjustments across all in-scope UWM employees; adjustments should not create or exacerbate compensation issues.
• To create clear and efficient review processes, employees will be reviewed as part of a cohort based on job families. The compensation review will also consider areas of salary compression/salary inversion for employees performing similar job duties at UWM.
• A compensation review does not guarantee a pay adjustment for employees. However, employees should be informed of and understand the process and criteria for consideration of potential adjustments.
• Guidelines establish processes to review current salaries; however, any pay adjustments will be contingent on funding availability.
• Guidelines acknowledge institution, unit, and departmental budget constraints, which may limit units’ ability to adequately address compensation issues.
• The comprehensive compensation review is not intended as a substitute for addressing known compensation issues. Appointing Authorities should continue to regularly review employee pay and employ the use of other discretionary adjustments when a known compensation issue exists.

Responsibilities

• Human Resources Classification and Compensation Team: The HR Classification and Compensation team reviews and analyzes cohort data along with comparable data sets to make recommendations based on parity, market factors, or career progression.
• Human Resources Business Partners: HR Business Partners review the results with Appointing Authorities and make assessments/recommendations within the context of their supported units.
• Divisional Finance Officer: Divisional Finance Officers (DFOs) provide financial planning and make recommendations to support pay adjustments for impacted employees.
• Appointing Authority (i.e., Deans and Division Heads) Appointing authorities review compensation recommendations and financial position to determine the need and amount for employee adjustments.
• Supervisor: Supervisors offer recommendations on any employee-specific information to be considered as part of the Guidelines, including attainment of new skills/qualifications, changes in duties, performance, etc.

Guidelines for Comprehensive Compensation Review

1. Eligibility for Comprehensive Compensation Review
   1. Employees in Scope for Comprehensive Compensation Review
      1. Academic Staff, University Staff, Faculty and Limited Appointees with appointments of 50% or greater.
      2. Employees must be deemed a solid performer based on their most recent performance evaluation and have been eligible for the most recent pay plan.
      3. Source of salary funding (e.g., general purpose revenue, external/grants) alone does not limit eligibility.
      4. Employees on an unpaid leave of absence are eligible and the increase will be realized once the employee returns to active pay status.
   2. Employees ineligible for Comprehensive Compensation Review
      1. The following employee types are not included in the comprehensive compensation review.
         • Positions that fall under Compensation Category C and E
         • Student Assistant, Graduate Assistant, and Student Hourly appointments
         • Temporary and Project University Staff
         • Ad Hoc employees
         • Employees represented through a collective bargaining agreement
         • Athletic Coaches
      2. Employees hired, transferred, rehired, or promoted within 2 years of the fiscal year in which their position is being reviewed.
      3. Instructional Academic Staff not having served in their positions for two Fall semesters and two Spring semesters (consecutively).
      4. Employees who have received a title change with a compensation adjustment or a compensation adjustment within 2 years of the fiscal year in which their position is being reviewed (Excludes State of Wisconsin Pay Plan disbursements and temporary base adjustments/overloads to take on additional responsibilities).
      5. Employees who have given notice of resignation or retirement within 30 days of the comprehensive compensation review effective date.
      6. Employees who have accepted a Voluntary Separation Incentive Program (VSIP) agreement.
2. Comprehensive Compensation Review Timeline
   1. The comprehensive compensation review will occur over a five-year cycle with one cohort reviewed each year.
   2. Each compensation review will align with the fiscal year calendar. Preliminary data will be reviewed in the fall, with confirmation of eligibility criteria based on the October employee profile (timeline includes employees with an Annual, Academic, and Hourly Pay Basis).
   3. An analysis of the employee population will be conducted with recommendations provided to the Appointing Authority at least one month prior to the Divisional Budget Deadlines.
      1. The timeline is intended to correspond with the budget planning process and to consider availability of resources for adjustments.
   4. The effective date for recommended increases for employees is the start of the first full pay period in January of the following calendar year.
   5. Appointing Authorities may stagger applicable adjustments over the 5-year cohort cycle, to most effectively apply increases based on department needs and available budget.
      1. Appointing Authorities should work with the HR Classification and Compensation team and DFOs to determine how to stagger adjustments over multiple years.
3. Cohorts for Comprehensive Compensation Review
   1. Within each year of a comprehensive compensation review cycle, a subset of employees will be reviewed as a cohort.
   2. Compensation review cohorts are established based on the Universities of Wisconsin Title and Total Compensation (TTC) Job Families. When a cohort is up for review, all employees meeting the eligibility criteria will be reviewed for a possible pay adjustment.
   3. Cohorts are reviewed in no particular order, and an initial analysis will be completed to gauge the number of employees in each cohort with compensation gaps and the significance of those gaps.
   4. Cohorts are subject to change. When changes are warranted, adjustments should be made to ensure job families will be reviewed at least once every 5 years.
   5. Cohort membership details are included in Appendix 1 of the Guidelines.
4. Consideration of Pay Adjustments and Funding
   1. When a cohort is reviewed, the HR Classification and Compensation team will complete an analysis of available data including the criteria below, where available. Recommendations will be forwarded to the Appointing Authorities for consideration.
      1. Internal Equity/Parity Review: An internal salary analysis will be conducted to determine if there are any equity/parity issues that need to be addressed. Analysis will compare similarly situated employees with consideration to title, years in position, and years of service. Parity review will also consider adjustments needed to address salary compression/salary inversion.
         • Recommended adjustment amounts will reflect the need to close any identified compensation gaps.
      2. Market Review: A market review to consider external factors will also be conducted. This will include a review of salaries of counterpart positions external to UWM as well as a review of turnover information if available.
         • Recommended adjustment amounts will reflect the need to close any identified compensation gaps and address areas of retention risk.
      3. Priority Scaling for employees within each division/college: Employees with recommended compensation adjustments will be assigned a priority to highlight the magnitude of concern associated with each position for Appointing Authorities.
   2. Available central funds for comprehensive compensation review increases are available for the remainder of the fiscal year (June 30 end date) in which they’re implemented due to a January effective date. All divisions (colleges, auxiliary and central support and infrastructure divisions) will need to support any approved increases in their budget going forward.
   3. Additional discretionary pay adjustments remain available to Appointing Authorities, as warranted, allowing pay adjustments due to major change in duties (with or without title change), market/competitive factors, and to remedy inequitable compensation (e.g., parity), or performance.
   4. Individual increases may not exceed the amount recommended by HR Compensation and no employee can receive more than a 10% base increase as part of this process. Additional restrictions may be implemented as necessary.

Employees are not guaranteed a pay adjustment as part of the comprehensive compensation review and there is no appeal process. Employees who have questions or concerns about their compensation should contact their supervisor.

Appendix 1

Compensation Review Cohorts

The listing of job families below does not indicate the order in which they will be reviewed.

Cohort	Job Families
A	Academic Services and Student Experience Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Outreach and Community Engagement Research Teaching and Learning (Non-Instructional)
B	Animal Care Services Arts Athletics Communications and Marketing Compliance, Legal, and Protection Dining, Events, Hospitality Services, and Sales Facilities and Capital Planning Health and Wellness Services Libraries, Archives, and Museums Public Broadcasting
C	Administration Advancement Finance Human Resources Information Technology Sponsored Programs, Grants, and Contracts
D	Instructional Category Teaching and Learning
E	Faculty

Notes:

1. Cohorts are assigned based on the UW Title and Total Compensation Standard Job Description Library. Job Families can be found for a designated title in the TTC Job Library.
2. Cohorts are not identified in a particular order. In the initial years of review, cohort assessment will be dictated based on areas of greatest need.
3. The following Job Families are excluded as they include positions not eligible for Compensation Review:
   • Category C
   • Executive
   • Other
   • Post-Degree Training
   • Student Assistant
   • Student Hourly
   • Temporary Employee
4. Cohort membership is subject to change as necessary to execute an effective compensation review program.