ASSUMPTIONS
1. A faculty member is entitled to be rewarded appropriately for his/her performance as a teacher and scholar, and for the level of her/his other contributions made as a member of a Department¹ and of the University, by making progress during his/her term of service along an established salary profile determined by a Career Progress/Merit (CP/M) Plan.

2. A majority of McMaster faculty members fulfil their duties satisfactorily.

 
PRINCIPLES
The principles underlying the CP/M Plan are as follows:

1. The standard salary scale defines in real terms the career profile of a faculty member of par merit.

2. Par connotes satisfactory performance and implies competent discharge of the duties normally associated with a faculty appointment at McMaster.  A faculty member who performs these duties satisfactorily is of par merit; if performance is significantly better than satisfactory, the faculty member is of above par merit.  In any year  a majority of faculty members receive at least a par increment.

3. The standard salary scale starts at the floor salary for an Assistant Professor.

4. The parameters of the CP/M Plan are as follows:

 4.1 Par Increments in the CP/M Plan’s Salary Scale.  Annual steps in the par salary scale are equal over the first fifteen-year range (Range 1), then equal but lower over the next ten-year range (Range 2), and then equal but lower again until retirement (Range 3).  The par increments in Ranges 2 and 3 are decreasing fractions of the Range 1 par increment, namely:

  Range 2: 0.75 of Range 1 par increment
  Range 3: 0.50 of Range 1 par increment

4.2 Value of a Par Increment.  A par increment shall equal the annual amount needed for a faculty member awarded par merit each year to reach 1.81 times the floor salary for an Assistant Professor at the end of 15 years (see Appendix A for calculation).

4.3 Breakpoints in the CP/M Plan’s Salary Scale.  Some faculty members  proceed more quickly,  and some less quickly, to the breakpoints between the ranges.  The breakpoints are set at the following multiples of the floor of the Assistant Professor salary scale: 1.81 (between Ranges 1 and 2)
2.21 (between Ranges 2 and 3)

Near the breakpoints between the ranges, awards are "feathered"  (see Appendix B).  Once a faculty member reaches the final breakpoint, her/his par increment remains that associated with Range 3 until retirement.

4.4 The Number of Par Increments in the CP/M Plan Awarded Each Year per 100 Faculty Members.  This number  for each year is determined by negotiation in the Joint Committee.  The number of par increments per 100 faculty members is normally 120.  The number of par increments in each range is determined by the distribution of faculty members across the ranges.

4.5. Annual Increments.  A faculty member’s CP/M award in a particular year lies between zero and 2.5 par increments, in steps of 0.25 par increments.  Within this range of awards, there is no limit on the amount by which a faculty member's award may vary from year to year.

 
PROCEDURES
The following description assumes that the negotiated number of par increments per 100 faculty members exceeds 100.

1. The Chair² is responsible for making these procedures known to new faculty members.  The Chair should periodically review with the Department the factors that are used for evaluating teaching, research, and service.  Such factors might include:  (a) for teaching — student and peer evaluations and awards, class size, course level, service vs. program teaching, supervision of graduate students, and pedagogical innovations; (b) research — the relative weights and duration(s) of credit for books, chapters, papers, contributions to refereed conferences, patents, performance or expression art, external grants and recognition, etc., and (c) service — administrative service (student counseling, for example), contributions on Departmental,  Faculty, University, and external committees or panels, organizing major workshops or conferences, etc.  Different Departments and Faculties may set somewhat different percentages for the basic components of the CP/M scheme — teaching, research, and service.  An individual faculty member may discuss with their Chair and Dean a personal departure from these percentages, and the likely duration of the departure.  The default percentages for teaching, research, and service are 40%, 40%, and 20% respectively unless the Dean approves either a Faculty-wide or Department-wide variance or a variance for a specific individual or class of individuals (e.g., teaching professors).

2. Each Faculty receives one par increment for each of its faculty members in the CP/M Plan.  Three quarters of the par increments beyond 100 per 100 faculty members (normally, 15 per 100 faculty members) are allocated among the Faculties in proportion to their faculty complement.  The remaining quarter constitutes a common University pool to be allocated at the discretion of the President, the Vice-President (Academic), the Vice-President (Health Sciences) and the Deans on the basis of their collective assessment of differential merit among Faculties and the exceptional needs of particular Faculties as they may arise.  The primary purpose of the common University pool is to reward excellence rather than to address salary anomalies due to market differentials.

3. Any across-the-board (ATB) salary increase that is negotiated in the Joint Committee is applied to the entire standard salary scale, that is, to all salary floors, to the values of the par increments, and to the  breakpoints.  Normally, any ATB increase takes effect on July 1.

4. It is the responsibility of the Chair to request from each faculty member an annual report (and  an updated curriculum vitae) indicating contributions during the past year.  No CP/M award may be made in the absence of this report.  The Chair, after consultation within the Department, recommends to the Faculty Dean the appropriate CP/M award for each faculty member.  In the case of faculty members with significant University duties outside the Department (e.g., teaching in an inter-disciplinary Programme), it is the Chair’s responsibility to seek input from an appropriate individual (e.g., a Programme Director) regarding the discharge of these duties.  The Chair must provide the Dean with a full justification for the recommended CP/M awards.

5. The Faculty Dean meets with each Chair to review the recommendations.  At this meeting, the Dean should ensure that the Chair has consulted within the Department, and, where appropriate, outside the Department, before submitting the recommended CP/M awards for the Dean’s consideration.  The Dean, who has a responsibility to ensure consistency across Departments in the Faculty, may modify the Chair’s recommendations.  The Dean may also reserve some fraction, typically one-third, of the par increments beyond 100 per 100 faculty members for allocation at this stage.

6. Subsequently, the Faculty Dean reviews the recommendations for the Faculty’s Departments with the Dean of Graduate Studies, who has a responsibility to ensure consistency across Faculties.  This review may result in further changes to the recommendations.

7(a) It is the Dean’s responsibility to inform each Chair of the probable CP/M awards to the faculty members in the Chair’s Department, and the Chair’s responsibility to inform each faculty member of his/her probable CP/M award, and the basis for this award.

  (b) Any faculty member has the right to question his/her probable CP/M award, and it is the Chair’s responsibility to provide each faculty member with an opportunity to discuss the determination of the award.  If, after this discussion, the faculty member remains dissatisfied, the faculty member and/or Chair may ask to meet with the Faculty Dean for an informal review of the award.

8. It is the responsibility of the President, the Vice-President (Academic), the Vice-President (Health Sciences) and the Dean of Graduate Studies to allocate the par increments reserved for University-wide distribution among the Faculties, after consultation with the Faculty Deans.  On the basis of the allocation of the additional par increments referred to above, each Faculty Dean may adjust some of the earlier awards as appropriate.

9. Following the completion of the procedures outlined  above, the President  informs each faculty member of her/his final CP/M award.

10. If the faculty member remains dissatisfied with his/her final CP/M award, and already has discussed the award with the Chair as provided for in 7(b), the faculty member may ask the appropriate Vice-President to appoint a Review Committee to review the award.  Such a request shall normally be lodged within six months of the effective date of the award.  The Review Committee shall  consist of the Vice-President (Academic), or the Vice-President (Health Sciences) when appropriate, who will serve as Chair, and two  faculty members, normally from the same Faculty as the faculty member requesting the review.  The two  faculty members will be appointed by the Vice-President (Academic), or by the Vice-President (Health Sciences) when appropriate, in consultation with the faculty member requesting the review.  The decision of the Review Committee shall be final.

ACROSS-THE-BOARD (ATB) INCREASE. The  percentage increase in faculty salaries determined by negotiation in the Joint Committee.

BREAKPOINTS.  The salary levels where one range changes to another.

CAREER PROGRESS.  The course of a faculty member’s salary during her/his career at the University.

FACULTY MEMBER.  A person holding an academic appointment under the terms of the Policy and Regulations with Respect to Academic Appointment, Tenure, and Promotion.

MERIT.  The worth assigned to the contributions of a faculty member in teaching, scholarship, and other relevant activities.

PAR.  Satisfactory performance of the duties normally associated with an academic appointment at McMaster.  It follows that par is a descriptive and not a statistical term.

PAR INCREMENT.  The salary increment provided through the CP/M Plan to  a faculty member who performs his/her University duties satisfactorily.  For an individual faculty member, the value of the par increment is determined by the range in which her/his salary lies.
 

The calculation of the values of par increments is based on the following assumptions.

1. The monetary value of a par increment has been calculated so that a faculty member who received average par merit awards over his/her career, would at the end of 35 years receive a salary roughly 2.5 times the floor salary of an Assistant Professor.

2. To speed the progress of those hired at lower salaries, the CP/M scheme originally had four ranges, and the value of the par increment declined at each breakpoint.  Those breakpoints were determined by calculating the salary a faculty member would have after a given number of years, if the faculty member were awarded par merit.  It was assumed that a faculty member would spend 15 years in Range 1, 10 years in Range 2, 5 years in Range 3 and 5 years in Range 4. Those breakpoints were set roughly at:

1.80 (between Ranges 1 and 2)
2.20 (between Ranges 2 and 3)
2.35 (between Ranges 3 and 4)

The actual value of the first two breakpoints is closer to 1.81 and 2.21.  With these two breakpoints a faculty member starting at the Assistant Professor floor and receiving par merit would achieve a salary for the 36th year of 2.48 times the floor salary.

3. To maintain the objectives of the original system in the face of the elimination of  Range 4, the monetary value of a par unit should be calculated using Range 1 as its basis.  A par unit shall equal the annual amount needed for a faculty member awarded par merit each year to reach 1.81 the Assistant Floor Salary in 15 years.  More clearly,

Par unit = (Assistant Floor Salary X .81) / 15

Sometimes, a faculty member’s CP/M Plan increment increases his/her salary such that it crosses a breakpoint.  This requires a recalculation of the appropriate CP/M Plan increment, because of the lower par increment associated with the range above the breakpoint.  In such situations, the recalculation is based on the following equation:

 M   =   A/L (L)   +   (1 - A/L) U

where M is the actual increment awarded; L is the value of the faculty member’s increment calculated in terms of the par increment below the breakpoint; U is the value of the increment calculated in terms of the par increment above the breakpoint; and A is the absolute difference between the breakpoint and the faculty member’s salary prior to the application of any increment.  Put differently, the award is the weighted average of the value of the increment appropriate to the two ranges.  The weight applied to the increment appropriate to the lower range is the amount of salary room up to the breakpoint, expressed as a proportion of the increment, and the weight applied to the increment appropriate to the higher range is 1 minus this proportion.

Approved by the Joint Committee
February 7, 2007

¹The word "Department", wherever it appears, should be taken to mean "Department, Programme or School".  back

²The word "Chair", wherever it appears, should be taken to mean "Chair or Director". back

MUFA - pdk
February 2007