The University of Michigan’s annual Salary Disclosure Report was released on Dec. 8, 2023. According to the report, faculty salaries increased by an average of 3.7% and staff salaries increased by 3.1% at the Ann Arbor campus in 2023. Merit increases averaged 4% for executive officers and 4.3% for deans.
Student tuition and fees make up 75.2% of the General Fund, state funding makes up 12.9% and costs recovered from sponsored research activities makes up 11.6%. The General Fund pays for teaching and academic services across all U-M schools and colleges except for Michigan Medicine, central administration, academic and research facilities, utilities, operations, maintenance and public goods like the University Library.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Thomas Finholt, vice provost for academic and budgetary affairs, said most faculty and staff salaries are paid from the General Fund.
“In 2023, the General Fund budget for faculty salaries was $442.3 million and $630.3 million for staff salaries, which combined made up 45% of general fund expenses,” Finholt said. “The all funds budget for faculty salaries was $721.1 million, which is 14% of total expenses, and $1.3 billion for staff salaries, which is 24% of total expenses. In all, faculty and staff salaries were $2 billion, which is 37% of the University’s total expenses.”
All University teaching faculty are either on the Clinical Track, Tenure Track, Research Track or are LEO Lecturers. The Tenure Track includes assistant professors, associate professors, and professors. Lecturers, meanwhile, are non-tenure-track instructional faculty. They teach a wide range of courses and are eligible for the University’s benefits package for faculty and staff, but operate on contracts. There are approximately 1,700 lecturers across all U-M campuses, all of whom are represented by the Lecturers’ Employee Organization. They are currently employed under a three-year contract that expires in April 2024.
The Office of Budget and Planning’s Faculty and Staff Headcount Detail found that in 2023, 38% of Tenure-Track faculty employed at the U-M Ann Arbor campus were women, an increase from 37% in 2022. While only 32% of professors were female, 43% of associate professors and 49% of assistant professors were female. Meanwhile, 56% of lecturers were women, a number that has stayed relatively constant since 2014. Forty-seven percent of total regular instructional faculty were women, a 6% increase from 2014. This includes faculty who are tenured, tenure-track and regular not on tenure-track, as well as lecturers and clinical faculty.
In an interview with The Daily, School of Education freshman Kathryn Forberg said she found the higher proportion of male professors in the education field to be intimidating.
“Knowing more than half of professors (at the University) are males makes me feel that I will be at a disadvantage in the education field when I begin my career,” Forberg said. “There should definitely be more women teaching in higher education as they can give diverse perspectives to the classroom and act as role models for other females.”
While faculty headcount by gender is updated every academic year, the most recent studies focused on gender pay disparities among U-M professors were commissioned by the Office of the Provost in 2011. The study included 1,955 faculty members and found that female faculty were paid 1.6% less than male faculty for rank and time in rank. The average salary for women was $110,578, while the average salary for their male counterparts was $127,847. The study also found that female faculty had been employed at the University for, on average, 11 years, while males had been employed for an average of 14 years.
Forberg said that while gender pay disparities are prevalent today, she believes they can be overcome.
“I am optimistic that there will be a way to overcome these pay disparities in teaching,” Forberg said. “I think one of the best ways to do so is by the government enforcing laws that mandate equal pay for equal work.”
In 2022, the schools with the highest-paid faculty were the Ross School of Business and the Law School, while the lowest-paid schools were the School of Music Theatre & Dance and the Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning.
For the 2023-24 academic year, the Law School, the Business School and Michigan Medicine had the highest average salaries, with the average Law School salary being $259,800. The lowest average salaries were the Music, Theatre & Dance School, Taubman College, and Stamps School of Art & Design, and the average Art & Design School salary was $96,612.
All schools within the university experienced salary cuts from the 2022-23 academic year to the 2023-24 academic year. The analysis found that the School of Information experienced the smallest cut of 2.58% while the College of Pharmacy experienced the largest cut at 11.12%.
Finholt told The Daily that salaries may fluctuate within the same position from department to department and year to year for many reasons.
“Faculty and staff within the same positions may have different salaries due to seniority or merit, when individuals are judged to perform at a very high level,” Finholt said. “Salaries also fluctuate yearly due to promotion status, and from department to department based on market differences.”
Education freshman Kaity Lee said she expected the average salary in the School of Education to be lower.
“I was pleasantly surprised because I thought the average salaries were going to be much lower,” Lee said. “Educators go through a lot of training and anyone who works in education helps develop the next generation, shapes our futures and connects with us on a personal level.”
Daily Staff Reporter Sachi Gosal can be reached at sgosal@umich.edu.