The last deliverable of the Comprehensive Compensation Collaborative Initiative (Triple C), the CU Denver market salary study, is now complete. The goal of the Triple C, which launched in 2022, was to create a consistent and transparent compensation structure and progression path for employees, which would support the university efforts to meet strategic goal five (to become a people-centered, best place to work).
Several tangible outcomes resulted from the multi-year project that engaged more than 100 faculty and staff from across the campus. Employees worked on various parts of the project, and a steering committee made up of representatives from across campus, including members of shared governance bodies, kept the project moving forward.
“We embarked on this process because we knew we had compensation concerns and inconsistencies, and this was a way to get accurate data on the breadth of the challenge,” said teri engelke, assistant vice chancellor for Human Resources. “The work of the Triple C has been instrumental in creating many tools that give employees a more transparent understanding of compensation. With the market salary study in hand, we now have data to begin the hard work of figuring out how to address areas identified in the study that need attention, both in the short- and long-term within our financial reality.”
Faculty and staff working groups will be formed later in the spring semester to generate recommendations to leadership, engelke said.
Market Salary Study
Mercer consulting was hired to complete the independent analysis. What they provided is a snapshot of how salaries at CU Denver compare to similar positions at comparable institutions (the marketplace) based on CU Denver data from May 2023. CU Denver created a dashboard so the campus community can easily access the data and search for information by type of employee (tenured/non-tenured and staff) or discipline. To view the dashboard, you must be connected to our VPN and use your CU Denver credentials to log in.
A few things to know before exploring the dashboard.
- 1,166 faculty and staff positions were compared with similar jobs at 74 peer universities nationwide.
- All CU Denver information was de-identified before sharing it with Mercer Consulting, which conducted the analysis.
- The universities of comparison were selected based on Carnegie classification, ranking, and region.
- Classified staff are not part of the study because they follow system salary regulations.
- Tenured and non-tenured faculty positions were included in the survey.
- Some positions were omitted from the study because not enough similar positions were available for comparisons.
- For tenured faculty, 92% of positions were included in the survey because there was comparable data from the peer institutions.
- For non-tenured faculty, 81% of positions were included in the survey because there was comparable data from the peer institutions.
- Data for CU Denver faculty and staff is aged to July 1, 2025.
- CU Denver salary data in the survey reflects positions in May 2023.
- Data is adjusted for cost of living in the Denver area, which amounts to an 11% differential.
- To protect employee confidentiality, rows in the dashboard with fewer than two people are not included.
- Comparative university data was drawn from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) dataset.
Findings
The study identified several areas that need attention. For example, 233 tenured faculty positions were found to be below the midpoint. For non-tenured faculty, 133 positions were below midpoint. For staff, 209 employees were found to be below the minimum range. Addressing all of these positions will require at least $6.9 million.
Ann Sherman, executive vice chancellor for Finance and Administration, said CU Denver is committed to seeking funding that will bring these positions to the mid-point salary range. “Our current salary structure has evolved over time and addressing this is not something that can be done in a single fiscal year given the current state of enrollment and state funding,” Sherman said. “Nevertheless, we must start now to prioritize our actions and begin to implement meaningful changes, aligned with our strategic goals.”
New groups will be formed to make recommendations about the areas identified in the survey that need attention, which may take some time given the fiscal reality CU Denver and higher education face now.
Triple C Milestones
Some of the tangible outcomes of the project include consistent compensation philosophy, a job description library with pay grades that shows clear progression pathways for employees, and guidelines for pay adjustments. “We couldn’t have achieved all that we did through this project without the collaborative efforts of everyone involved, and only within two years,” engelke said. “These types of projects often times may take many more years given the scope of the work completed. I am thankful to all those that participated.”