A Study of Faculty and Administrators\u27 Perceptions of the Factors Affecting Salary Increases at Utah State University

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were any differences in faculty members\u27 and administrators\u27 perceptions of those factors which should be influential and those factors which are actually accounted for in making decisions pertaining to salary increases at Utah State University. The data for this study was collected from 55 administrators and 303 faculty members at Utah State University. A total of 21 factors, which were identified as being influential and/or determinants of faculty salary increases at Utah State University, were analyzed through the testing of four hypotheses using the chi square test for independence. The critical region for the testing of all four hypotheses was set at the .05 level. Analysis of the data Hypothesis one. (There is no difference in the perceptions of administrators of those factors which are perceived as being of importance in awarding salary increases and those factors perceived by faculty members as actually being used in determining salary increases at Utah State University.) Hypothesis one was rejected on six of the factors. Sex, college within the university, race, fulfillment of role expectation, testing excellence, and student teaching yielded significant values of chi square. Hypothesis two. (There is no difference in the perceptions of faculty members of those factors which are perceived as being of importance in awarding salary increases and those factors perceived by faculty members as actually being used in determining salary increases at Utah State University.) Hypothesis two was rejected on 19 of the 21 factors. Research and the quality of graduate school attended were the only two factors which did not yield significant values of chi square at the .05 level. Hypothesis three. (There is no difference between the perceptions of faculty members and the perceptions of administrators of those factors which are of importance in awarding salary increases at Utah State University.) Hypothesis three was rejected for five of the 21 factors. Number of years at the institution, fulfillment of role expectations, extension services, writing and publication record, and grant proposals funded were the five factors with significant values of chi square. Hypothesis four. (There is no difference between the perceptions of faculty members and the perceptions of administrators of those factors which are actually used in awarding salary increases at Utah State University.) Hypothesis four was rejected for nine of the factors. Sex, years of service at the institution, tenure, rank, and quality of graduate school attended are perceived by faculty members as actually being used in determining salary increases. Administrators\u27 perceptions were found non-congruent with faculty members\u27 perceptions and in fact administrators indicated that they perceive fulfillment of role expectations, teaching excellence, extension services, student advisement as factors usually used in determining salary increases at Utah State University. The primary conclusion of this study is that there is a high degree of congruency between the perceptions of administrators and faculty members of those factors which are perceived to be of importance in determining salary increases. There is nevertheless, non-congruency between faculty members\u27 and administrators\u27 perceptions of those factors perceived to be actually used in determining salary increases at Utah State University. Although administrators as well as faculty members perceive certain factors (e.g., sex, race) as not being of importance in determining salary increases, administrators nevertheless, because of pressure, personal and institutional commitment, actually use such factors in determining salary increases