Economic Status of the Faculty Subcommittee

Last edit: 17 Feb '18

Subcommittee Charge

This page collects reports and data germane to the economic status of the faculty, principally, but not exclusively, faculty salary data. It does not contain information on faculty benefits since that is the purview of a separate subcommittee. The page is updated intermittently so some links are likely to be somewhat dated. The standing charge of this subcommittee is here.

Subcommittee Report

Last edit: 2 Mar '12

Report for AY 11-12, presented to the Senate on 15 Feb '12..
Report for AY 10-11, presented to the Senate on 6 Apr '11.

Finance Committee Report

Last edit: 21 Nov '10

Various documents from the All University Finance Committee useful for our work:
J. Magliolo's update to the senate on 3 November 2010
SMU's budget for 2010-2011
Budgets for years prior to 2010

Faculty Salary Raise Distributions

Last edit: 15 Feb '12

The distribution of (instructional) faculty salary raises from Fall 2010 to Fall 2011, with and without the effect of promotion, and summed over the university, is listed here. Corresponding distributions from Fall 2008 to Fall 2009 are found here.

IRS Form 990

Last edit: 17 Feb '18

Non-profit organizations described under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code are required to file "form 990" with the IRS to maintain their tax exempt status. SMU does so. The form lists a variety of financial information, including "base" total compensation paid to "officers, key employees," vice-presidents of various flavors, coaches, etc. (See pp 50-52, or so.) It also lists things the amount of tuition received, board of trustees members, lobbying expenditures, endowment, amount spent on fund raising, etc. The form is signed by Christine Casey, VP of finance and business and is by law publicly accessible. You may secure a copy by contacting SMU's controller's office, visiting www.guidestar.org, or visiting the local IRS office downtown at 1100 Commerce St. The contents of the form are presumably the most accurate information we are likely to secure if we want to track trends in compensation paid to upper level administrators (and athletic coaches).

A time ordered list of SMU IRS form 990s is listed below. The titles reflect the appropriate SMU fiscal year, which concludes on 31 May. Normally, the organization must file by the 15th day of the 5th month following the close of its fiscal year but a four month extension can be filed. SMU seems to do that so there is usually a lag between the current date and the most recent available form.

form990_2016
form990_2015
form990_2014
form990_2013

form990_2012
form990_2011
form990_2010
form990_2009
form990_2008

form990_2007
form990_2006
form990_2005
form990_2004
form990_2002

The Chronicle of Higher Education published on 14 November 2010 a useful article explaining IRS form 990, as a sister article to one about the most highly paid private university presidents for 2008. A table listing private university president's with the highest total compensation, as well as a table of those presidents still on the job as of 2008, were also included as companion documents.

Tuition Over Time

Last edit: 27 Nov '10

Ensuring quality higher education is practically available to a very wide portion of society requires its cost be affordable. A useful interactive tool for monitoring tuition increases from 1999-2010 for both private and public institutions is available from the Chronicle of Higher Education. You will note that SMU has the most expensive tuition and fees in Texas, followed, in order, by Rice, Southwestern and Trinity. Its tuition and fees increased by 5.9% for 2010 compared to 2009. Note that these figures do not include the ameliorative effects of grants and student aid.

Consumer Price Index

Last edit: 15 Feb '12

To provide context for various tuition costs and faculty salaries, a useful monitor is the consumer price index (CPI) for the "South Urban" portion of the US, calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The most recent numbers for the CPI-U for the past month and year are located on the CPI home page. For tracking long term purchasing power of a salary, the CPI inflation calculator is useful, although this is an average over all urban areas in the country.