Employee Merit FAQ

Effective 1/1/24, a 3.5% merit increase for university staff and (non-temporary) faculty for performance ratings of 3,4, or 5.

BOR policy 11.B.3A defines merit increases for faculty and university staff. Since UCCS is increasing pay for levels three, four and five ratings, the merit increase is determined by performance ratings. Employees with level two or one ratings are not eligible.

We have made significant progress in improving compensation for our UCCS community members. As a result of this work, we have completed an equal pay study and made many process changes to ensure future compliance. We have ensured university staff are paid at least at the minimum of their pay range, increased Academic Advisor pay to address our ongoing recruitment and retention issues, and we have increased both minimum lecturer and instructor pay.  

In the past, merit percentage increases were determined within each college or unit which allocated a pool of funds without a campus-wide standardized rubric for performance evaluation or percentage allocation. This year, after careful consideration and consultation with campus leadership including cabinet, deans, and the leaders of Faculty Assembly and Staff Association, we standardized the merit increase percentage (3.5%) for all eligible faculty and staff who received a three, four, or five performance rating. This option provides for better consistency between units and colleges and addresses equity across campus as we engage in future merit increase discussions.

As we move into an inclusive process to design our UCCS compensation philosophy, strategy and implementation, we do not anticipate that future merit increases will be assigned in this way (the same merit pay increase percentage to three, four and five ratings.) Next year’s merit increase process will be determined by our work this academic year to design our UCCS compensation philosophy and strategy.

Effective August 2023:

• Lecturers will see their minimum increase to $3,000 per 3-credit hour class.
• Student employees will increase to $15.00 per hour.
• Classified and University Staff will have a minimum pay rate of $15.75 per hour.
• Instructors have a minimum pay to $50,000 for a 100% appointment. This includes visiting instructors.

Your pay is not the only component of your total compensation. Vacation and sick time, CU's contributions to your health, dental and vision insurance, CU's contributions to your retirement plan, and many other benefits add to your overall total compensation. It’s important to know what your total compensation package is worth and includes. Go to the following website to learn more.

Over this academic year, Human Resources will use an inclusive process to engage with the campus community on creating a compensation philosophy.  This will allow us to develop and implement strategies to actualize the philosophy over 2–3 years by tailoring our strategy in allocating annual increases in compensation to achieve our compensation philosophy.

Additionally, we will embark on updating our performance evaluation standards and processes to better manage compression and equity issues to align with our compensation philosophy. We will continue to acquire data to develop pay ranges for tenure and tenure track faculty positions and perform market analyses to create strategies for FY25. This important work will create a foundation for future compensation decisions and strategies to support the needs of our employees.

Faculty and Staff will have an opportunity to provide input on the development of the UCCS compensation philosophy in various campus meetings starting this fall. We encourage the campus community to engage in these meaningful conversations over the next year. The goal will be to develop an overall compensation philosophy and performance process that will address current and future pay challenges and performance inconsistencies. This will involve extensive work and change management to address current and future compensation needs to retain top talent at UCCS. 

Classified Staff are not included in this increase. Classified staff received an increase in July 2023, in accordance with the state personnel rules.

To be eligible for a January 1 merit increase, employees must be in an active, regular (not temporary) faculty appointment or university staff, on the effective date (January 1).

• University staff, research faculty or regular faculty must have a completed performance evaluation for the most recent performance cycle with a rating of meeting expectations or higher (3, 4, or 5).  No merit increases will be provided to employees who received a level 1 or 2 rating.
• University leadership will provide performance updates on employees hired between July 1 and September 30 to ensure they are meeting expectations. If they meet expectations or are above expectation they are eligible for 50% merit awarded (1.75%).
• Merit increases are applied to base salary only. Additional temporary non-base building pay is not eligible for a merit increase.

• Employees that are transferred or promoted into their positions after November 30th will not be eligible for the merit increase. Instead, the merit increase the employee would have received, if not for the promotion or transfer, will be factored into the pay recommended for the promotion or transfer after November 30th. 
• Supervisors who have not completed all performance evaluations for their team members will not be eligible for their own merit increase.
• New employees hired after September 30th are not eligible for the merit award.

Employment classes not eligible for merit increases:

• Classified staff
  • Classified staff receive increases based upon the State of Colorado Department of Personnel Administration schedule, which provides for increases (when available) starting July 1 each year.
• Temporary research faculty and research affiliates
  • Temporary faculty are not eligible for merit increases.
• Student employees
  • The student hourly minimum wage has increased to $15.00 per hour.
• Temporary staff (including working retirees)
  • Temporary staff will be paid at a minimum of $15.00 per hour.

An increase that raises an employee’s continuing/ongoing salary is considered a “base-building” pay increase. A non-base building pay increase is temporary and has an end date. For more information, please see Human Resources policy 300-016 Compensation Principles for Faculty https://vcaf.uccs.edu/policies/uccs/policies