A salary dispute in the College of Arts and Sciences has prompted a university investigation after confidential information was publicly circulated by a professor.
Professor Robin Hahnel petitioned the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Dean of Academic Affairs for a raise that would bring his salary in line with his colleagues' after he learned he was the lowest paid full professor in the department of economics, he said. He received his colleagues' salary figures from an anonymous source "outside the department" while investigating whether he was being underpaid.
Hahnel's salary is $47,000 lower than the department's highest salary, a university official confirmed.
AU faculty's personal information is treated as confidential. Publicly circulating names next to salary figures is considered an issue of serious misconduct and those involved may be subject to discipline, according to the office of the general counsel.
"In this case, the university has already begun looking into the facts and circumstances surrounding the unauthorized disclosure," Thi Nguyen-Southern, associate general counsel, wrote in an email.
Hahnel resigned as chair of his department's strategic planning committee, and on Sept. 24 circulated a letter explaining his reasons and detailing the salary figures of his colleagues after university officials refused to respond to his request for a salary adjustment, he said
University officials were unhappy with Hahnel's decision to circulate the salary numbers. "Professor Hahnel has a perfect right to raise issues," said Kay Mussell, Dean of CAS. "In my judgment he does not have the right to invade the privacy of his colleagues."
Hahnel said it was necessary to circulate his colleagues' salary information because he thought others in the department needed to know how great the disparity was between faculty of the same rank.
"I didn't think its fair why I'm the only one who's seen it," he said. "I wouldn't be concerned with the salary differences, if they correspond to differences in contribution people have and are making."
Hahnel has studied and taught at AU for close to 30 years, and in that time authored 10 books and numerous journal articles.
"He's a well qualified faculty member who publishes at a high rate," said John Willoughby, chair of the economics department. "He's a good teacher." He added, "I support any faculty members' right to grieve and to get information."
AU does not have to make salary figures publicly available because it is a private institution, whereas state-sponsored universities and colleges must disclose them, faculty and university officials said. Salaries are initially set according to the market's demand for a faculty member's expertise. Raises are then determined by an annual peer review of faculty within their departments. Salaries can also increase with promotions, such as from associate to full professor. Or if a faculty member gets an outside offer AU may match it. There is no minimum or maximum that a faculty member can be paid, Mussell said. Salary "ranges develop over time because faculty members careers develop over time," according to Mussell.
Some AU faculty are troubled by a salary system that doesn't take into account personal or health issues. If a professor is unproductive for a couple of years because of personal reasons there is no way for him or her to address that, Willoughby said.
AU needs a more transparent salary structure in order "to make sure people doing similar levels of work with similar levels of seniority aren't being paid drastically different salaries," Willoughby said. "With more salary transparency it would be easier to address these issues."
Other university officials disagree. Ivy Broder, dean of academic affairs and acting provost, wrote in an email: "The salary determination process is not secret. All faculty members are aware that salaries are based on performance, as well as market factors."
Mussell said that a person could petition to have their salary increased by bringing in comparable figures from a similar institution, or from an outside offer. But Mussell admitted, "there are no mechanisms to bring salaries in line with one another."
Hahnel said he plans to pursue his claim through the faculty grievance committee. The committee sends its findings to the provost, who will then decide whether to adjust his salary.
