University of Maryland, College Park
PAE-11: Sustainable Compensation

All University System of Maryland Staff are paid salaries above minimum wage. Non-exempt staff members' wages are based on a pay scale, which is revisited every other year. The pay scale is determined by a market analysis to ensure the university is offering a fair living wage, and pay scales are adjusted based on benchmarks against the regional area. Exempt staff members' salaries are based on a broadband scale that includes target hiring ranges. Market data is used to determine the hiring ranges, and the market average becomes the top of the target hiring range, while the bottom of the range is 20% less than the market average. Every exempt position is benchmarked against the region when it comes in. The University System of Maryland (USM) has a policy to maintain the faculty salary structure at each of its constituent institutions such that average faculty salary (for all persons defined as faculty) is at or above the 85th percentile of that institution's classification group. The annual national survey of salaries for "instructional faculty" published by The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is used to benchmark faculty salaries. USM Policy states that every effort should be made to make adjunct faculty compensation professionally appropriate and competitive. If the University has to cancel a class less than 30 days prior to the class start date, adjunct faculty assigned to teach the class are either reassigned to a comparable class or compensated 10% of the payment amount specified in the contract or appointment letter for that class.