Most University of Wyoming benefited employees will receive a base pay raise of $1,400, along with additional increases addressing market, merit and compression issues, following action by UW’s Board of Trustees last week.
The raises were made possible with an appropriation of about $13.8 million annually from the Wyoming Legislature and Gov. Mark Gordon during the recent budget session. Set to take effect in the fiscal year that begins July 1, this is the first broad-based raise for UW employees since July 2023.
“We appreciate the support of the governor, lawmakers and the trustees for this increase, which attempts to address cost-of-living and market concerns while providing flexibility to direct dollars to where they’re needed most,” UW President Ed Seidel says. “We know it won’t fully address compensation issues across the university, but it’s a significant step for us.”
Under the plan approved for UW staff employees, in addition to the $1,400 annual increase in base pay for those making less than $200,000 annually -- which will cost a little over $2.3 million -- UW’s Office of Human Resources will review all positions to determine if they meet the minimum for the pay grade for each respective job title. If positions are below the minimum rate for the pay grade, an adjustment will be made to bring the position up to the minimum. This is expected to cost about $1 million.
The remaining staff salary pool of about $3.6 million will be used to address market-informed merit and compression issues. Funding will be distributed at the unit level based on each unit’s percentage of total payroll for staff employee base pay. Distribution will be at the discretion of the unit vice president or director, with plans reviewed and approved by the provost for academic colleges and the appropriate vice president for non-academic divisions. All staff raise plans will be reviewed by the associate vice president for human resources.
All eligible faculty members will receive the $1,400 increase in annual base pay, which is expected to cost about $1.5 million, with benefits. Additionally, up to $1 million will be allocated on a college-by-college basis to address faculty positions with pay that is below 65 percent of market value, based upon Oklahoma State University data for Carnegie R1 research institutions. Remaining dollars, to be calculated following the base pay and market distributions, will go to academic departments -- based on each department’s share of the overall faculty payroll -- to be used to address market-informed merit increases on a percentage basis.
Plans for faculty will be reviewed and approved by the provost and associate vice president for human resources.
