University begins investigation into pay equity

Several cabinet members asked the university on Feb. 10 to look into the claim that there is gender-based inequality with regards to pay at Norwich, according to a Norwich official.

The director of human resources, Jay Wisner, and Lauren Wobby, the university controller, have been tasked with analyzing the current situation at Norwich.

"There doesn't appear to be an overall inequality based on gender," said Wisner. "The median salaries for males and females tend to be comparable."

A question about pay equity was raised by a member of the faculty on Wednesday, Feb. 10, during a regular presidential cabinet meeting.

The question was posed by one of the school's deans, said Wisner. "The issue has come up before, but no trend has ever shown up."

Wisner said that periodically there has been analysis done and there has been no evidence of a pattern of discrimination.

A study done by the American Association of University Professors says the average salary for full-time male professors, regardless of subject, is  $84,600, and the average salary for full-time female professors, regardless of subject, is $76,500.

Male full-time professors make an average of $675 more a month than their female counterparts.

A couple factors that are taken into account when a salary is being decided is theprofessor's rank, and the discipline that he or she teaches, said Wisner.

"There is a specific promotional increment from one rank to another," said Wisner.

"Faculty members with a higher rank, have higher pay."
Different disciplines have different monetary values placed on them by the marketplace.

"Disciplines like engineering and business are among the higher paid disciplines here at Norwich and across higher education," said Wisner. "Both of those disciplines historically predominately employ men."

Other factors that are taken into account are time in rank, competence and professional accomplishment, according to the Norwich Faculty Manual.

Wobby is checking past calculations and dates for accuracy and completeness.

"We don't want to draw a conclusion that [one professor is making more than another] if the calculations behind it all was an error." said Wobby. "The goal is to try to bring everyone up to a certain standard within the market."

Currently, only data is being collected so that it can be analyzed and a decision made whether or not there is a gender inequality with regards to pay, according to Wisner.