The University of Colorado Boulder has launched a task force that will aim to improve faculty salaries and offer more competitive pay.

The Faculty Salary Task Force was launched by Chancellor Justin Schwartz in April after the Boulder Faculty Assembly identified compensation as the top priority for faculty in 2024.

“Chancellor Schwartz shares the (Boulder Faculty Assembly’s) commitment to exploring how CU Boulder can offer more competitive compensation and address salary compression issues,” the task force’s webpage said.

The goal of the task force is to evaluate various areas and then make recommendations regarding faculty pay, with a focus on teaching professors and tenure-track and tenured faculty.

The task force comes after some CU Boulder faculty shared stories about how they struggled to live off of university wages alone. University workers have also held walk-outs and rallies through the United Campus Workers Union, which is an unrecognized union, demanding better pay.

The task force will compare CU Boulder salaries to other faculty salaries at similar peer universities and make recommendations based on the market. It will also evaluate the impact of existing promotions and raises.

The task force will evaluate CU Boulder’s retention offer processes, budget model, compensation packages, teaching loads and planning tools.

The Faculty Salary Task Force is co-chaired by Ann Schmiesing, who said the task force will deliver its report to the chancellor in October, according to a news release.

Schmiesing said the task force has representation from different ranks of professors, as well as staff from Human Resources, Faculty Affairs and the Provost’s Office.The work of the task force will align with the work of the Faculty Salary Procedures Working Group, which was established in 2022 to address faculty pay inequity.

Additional work to advance the recommendations of the Faculty Salary Procedures Working Group will be done alongside the rollout of the task force, according to the release.

Fernando Rosario-Ortiz, interim vice chancellor for academic resource management, is overseeing additional faculty compensation initiatives.

Tasks include updating and aligning policies, conducting compensation analysis and promoting transparency with raises and salaries.