Overall Rating Platinum - expired
Overall Score 88.14
Liaison Tonie Miyamoto
Submission Date Dec. 6, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Colorado State University
PA-11: Employee Compensation

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.90 / 3.00 Tonie Miyamoto
Director of Communications and Sustainability
Housing and Dining Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

The local living wage (based on a family of four and expressed as an hourly wage):
17.16 US/Canadian $

Percentage of all employees (regular full-time, regular part-time, and temporary workers) that receive a living wage (benefits excluded):
81.60

Does the institution have employees of contractors that work on-site as part of regular and ongoing campus operations?:
No

Percentage of employees of contractors that work on-site as part of regular and ongoing campus operations that the institution has verified as receiving a living wage (benefits excluded) (0-100; enter ‘0’ if unknown):
---

The total compensation provided to the institution’s lowest paid regular (i.e., permanent) employee or pay grade meets or exceeds what percentage of the living wage?:
200 percent

A brief description of the minimum total compensation provided to the institution’s lowest paid employee or pay grade, including any in-kind benefits included as part of the total compensation figure :

Colorado State's lowest regular pay grade (excluding temporary and probationary positions of six months or less) is Dining Services II. The CSU HR office confirmed that all regular (i.e. permanent) positions on campus, including Dining Services II, receive benefits. Our methodology for this credit was using the lowest pay grade's median salary of $30,900 and adding the dollar value of university benefits. Wherever possible, benefits were specifically calculated for a Dining Services II pay grade (see attached document for specific details).

The University’s State Classified employees are eligible for a wide array of benefits including the following:
• Medical Insurance (Vision and Rx)
• Dental Insurance
• Medicare
• Life Insurance
• Short-Term Disability Insurance
• Worker's Compensation
• Unemployment Insurance
• Leave Sharing
• Flexible Spending Accounts (medical and dependent care)
• Mandatory and voluntary retirement plans (PERA and the University’s 403b vendors)
• Health Fairs and Wellness Programs
• Tuition Scholarship Program
• Employee Study Privilege
• Commuter Transit Benefit
• Parking Discount
• Childcare Discounts

Details on benefits can be found at http://www.hrs.colostate.edu/benefits/. In addition, CSU also provides an Employee Assistance Program (https://eap.colostate.edu/) and Commitment to Campus (http://facultyandstaff.colostate.edu/commitment-to-campus.aspx) program to assist all staff, but particularly our lowest paid staff, with valuable resources, discounts, and benefits that range from family counseling to legal assistance to tickets to athletic and cultural events. Only benefits directly related to health, education, retirement savings, and family care were calculated for this credit. Other benefits including athletic tickets, cultural tickets, and discounts with community businesses were not included in this credit.


Has the institution made a formal commitment to pay a living wage?:
Yes

A copy or brief description of the institution’s written policy stating its commitment to a living wage:

An initiative that started in 2016, the new living wage – an annual income of $30,000 as a baseline for salaried employees – has become a source of pride for many at CSU. As of September 1, 2018, CSU adjusted salaries for those making less than $30,000 to $30,000 and addressed the compression that results from these adjustments as defined within this analysis. For employees working at a level of less than satisfactory (i.e. State Classified “Level 1” or “Administrative Professional "Unsatisfactory”), salaries are adjusted for the Living Wage to the $30K minimum but do not address the impact of Compression until performance issues are mitigated. In performing our analysis, we focused on all existing State Classified and Administrative Professional employees with salaries less than $30,000 and those over $30,000 where compression existed. We’ve engage impacted units across campus as well as APC (Administrative Professional Council) and CPC (Classified Personnel Council) Leadership in the formulation of the methodology and resulting impacts.

https://source.colostate.edu/guest-column-living-wage-for-employees-has-positive-impacts/


Has the institution made a formal commitment to provide a living wage to its student employees and/or graduate teaching/research assistants (e.g. by adopting a student bill-of-rights)?:
No

A brief description of the institution’s commitment to a student living wage:

During the 2016 election, voters in the state of Colorado passed Amendment 70, which is incrementally increasing the minimum wage in the state to $12 per hour by 2020.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

We recognize that it may appear to be a data outlier for a university as large as CSU to not report contractors as part of regular campus operations. All of our dining services, cleaning/custodial, maintenance, groundskeeping, snow removal, parking/bike operations, trash/recycling/composting, bookstore operations, etc. are self-operated and we do not have contractors on campus as part of regular operations. This is a point of pride for CSU and while it pose challenges for this credit to directly employ our lowest paid staff, we believe that the benefits package (including study privilege and tuition discount) is the best way to support and foster growth for our lowest paid staff members.

It is also worth noting that while CSU has many temporary staff that are not considered regular (i.e. permanent) employees, many still receive benefits. All State Classified hourly staff receive benefits by virtue of being employed and any State Classified employee who works 8 hours or more per month also receives the State's contribution toward their benefits. Administrative Professional hourly employees who work 50% time or greater are eligible for benefits. In addition, any staff member (student, non-student hourly, or graduate assistant) who works for 30 or more hours per week is eligible for Affordable Care Act health insurance and CSU requires supervisors to flag those staff members when they fill out the new employee form in the HR system so benefits can be offered.

When reporting compensation for Colorado State University, it is important to note that CSU is a state employer bound by the state classified rules of classification and selection for state classified employees. Information about the compensation system and pay structure can be found on the State of Colorado's Division of Human Resources' Department of Personnel & Administration website at https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dhr/compensation. The State of Colorado annually produces a compensation report working with a consultant that included a market analysis of state classified salaries ranges.


We recognize that it may appear to be a data outlier for a university as large as CSU to not report contractors as part of regular campus operations. All of our dining services, cleaning/custodial, maintenance, groundskeeping, snow removal, parking/bike operations, trash/recycling/composting, bookstore operations, etc. are self-operated and we do not have contractors on campus as part of regular operations. This is a point of pride for CSU and while it pose challenges for this credit to directly employ our lowest paid staff, we believe that the benefits package (including study privilege and tuition discount) is the best way to support and foster growth for our lowest paid staff members.

It is also worth noting that while CSU has many temporary staff that are not considered regular (i.e. permanent) employees, many still receive benefits. All State Classified hourly staff receive benefits by virtue of being employed and any State Classified employee who works 8 hours or more per month also receives the State's contribution toward their benefits. Administrative Professional hourly employees who work 50% time or greater are eligible for benefits. In addition, any staff member (student, non-student hourly, or graduate assistant) who works for 30 or more hours per week is eligible for Affordable Care Act health insurance and CSU requires supervisors to flag those staff members when they fill out the new employee form in the HR system so benefits can be offered.

When reporting compensation for Colorado State University, it is important to note that CSU is a state employer bound by the state classified rules of classification and selection for state classified employees. Information about the compensation system and pay structure can be found on the State of Colorado's Division of Human Resources' Department of Personnel & Administration website at https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dhr/compensation. The State of Colorado annually produces a compensation report working with a consultant that included a market analysis of state classified salaries ranges.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.