An Update on Compensation

Dear Colleague,

As you know, Faculty Senate recently shared a statement in support of competitive wages for staff. KU leaders share your concern about competitive wages for our employees. I want to make everyone aware that we are already on task. As part of Jayhawks Rising, our team addressing the objective to Increase Workplace Satisfaction at KU Lawrence and Edwards launched efforts in early spring to conduct and implement the findings of a comprehensive market wage study.

Competitive wage adjustments are one of our top priorities. Some of our new strategies – identifying new revenue streams, savings from procurement, and more – are helping us find resources to make needed improvements in competitive pay that helps make KU be an amazing place to work and grow.

State Budget Wage Increases

We thank the Kansas legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly for crafting a preliminary budget that includes support for 5% pay increases for state employees, which this year includes many of us in higher education whose positions may be supported by the State General Fund.

Because of our complex funding streams, the state budget only covers about a quarter of the funding needed to cover a 5% increase for KU employees. Our finance team is working hard to locate funds throughout the campus to ensure we can provide wage increases for all our employees. We will have more information to share with you soon.

Thank You

I appreciate your patience and diligence over the past several years. It’s been a complex time with many hard decisions that have tested our resilience and perseverance. While it is heartening to see these developments and know better times are ahead, we still have work to do. If you haven’t already, please watch the Chancellor’s Weekly video from March 15 to get a better picture of the initiatives taking place to ensure KU provides a workplace that values and supports its people.

Thank you for all you do for KU.

Respectfully,

Barb

Barbara A. Bichelmeyer

Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor