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The CUPA-HR Higher Education Employee Retention Survey (ERS) was created to better understand the factors underlying the retention crisis that continues in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic -- the reasons higher ed employees are looking for other employment, the characteristics of those at risk for leaving, and what higher ed leaders can do to retain their employees. Given the fact that voluntary turnover remains on an increasing trajectory, we administered the ERS for the second time in 2023 to assess the proportion of the workforce that remains at risk for leaving, understand how the retention picture has changed, and provide a model for higher ed employee retention that helps leadership target and prioritize their resources, policies, training, and initiatives to improve retention. Results of the survey showed that more than half of higher ed employees are at least somewhat likely to look for other employment within the next year. In addition, although employees say that a pay increase is the primary reason they're looking, our model shows that the strongest predictor of retention by far is basic job satisfaction. [For the 2022 survey results, see ED621580 and ED625512.]

The CUPA-HR Higher Education Employee Retention Survey was piloted in May 2022. The survey was created to better understand the segment of the higher ed workforce that is at risk for leaving their current jobs, why these employees are considering leaving, and what higher ed institutions can implement to increase retention and improve the higher ed workplace. The survey was targeted to all higher ed employees who are not faculty -- administrators, professionals, and non-exempt staff. There were 3,815 respondents from 949 institutions. Findings from the survey included: 1) more than half of higher ed employees are at least somewhat likely to look for other employment in the next year, mostly because they desire a pay increase; 2) higher ed institutions are not providing the remote work opportunities and flexibility that employees want; 3) employees are working longer hours and taking on more responsibilities since the COVID-19 pandemic started; 4) employees are dissatisfied with opportunities for career development and advancement, recognition for their work, and parental leave and dependent care policies. Recommendations for increasing retention include remedying these areas of dissatisfaction wherever possible.

Higher education institutions rely on support from donors to improve and sustain the institution. Employees within development, fundraising, and alumni relations (fundraising employees) play a pivotal role in securing vital funding through connections and support from alumni. In addition, they help fulfill the university's philanthropic mission by creating educational opportunities, building relationships, and providing academic opportunities for students. In this report, we define the roles of fundraising employees, examine the typical makeup of fundraising employees based on institutional classification, and present information on salaries of fundraising employees. We then explore retention aspects, examining median number of years in position and age of fundraising employees. Next, we examine the diversity and pay equity of women and minorities in fundraising employee positions. Lastly, we discuss conclusions that will guide higher ed in addressing fundraising employee retention issues.

This study sought to determine whether higher ed employees whose preferred work arrangements are not aligned with their actual work arrangements are more likely to look for other work. The results show that: a) nearly two-thirds of respondents report some degree of misalignment between their preferred and actual work arrangements, particularly in regard to having the ability to work remotely at least part of the time; b) nearly half of employees are at least somewhat likely to be looking for other employment opportunities in the near future; c) there is a clear relationship between the provision of remote work opportunities when employees prefer them and employee satisfaction in terms of whether they will be seeking other employment; and d) it would take only a small movement in the direction of providing more flexible work opportunities to result in improved employee satisfaction with their work arrangements and improved employee retention.

This survey collects data of more than 250,000 professionals in 401 mid-level professional positions from 987 higher education institutions. Information is collected at the incumbent (non-aggregate) level for all professionals reported, allowing for the collection of salary, sex, race/ethnicity, age, and years in position. This marks a special year for data collection and reporting for all College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) surveys. The severe budget cuts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic forced many institutions to freeze hiring, cut positions, and, in some cases, decrease salaries. This report highlights the overall changes to professional composition and salaries over the past year.

The Professionals in Higher Education Survey collects data on more than 250,000 professionals in 396 mid-level professional positions from 1,114 higher ed institutions. Data collected include: salary, exempt status (exempt or non-exempt), sex, race/ethnicity, age and years in position.

The Administrators in Higher Education Survey collects data on nearly 50,000 administrators in 202 senior-level administrative positions from 1,160 higher ed institutions. Data collected include, salary, gender, race/ethnicity, age and years in position.

America's workforce is aging, and popular press articles have warned of a "silver tsunami" of retirements, particularly among the baby boomer generation. Dramatic headlines aside, even gradual changes in workforce demographics will affect hiring, budgeting, training, and more. Higher education tenure-track faculty may be uniquely affected by these demographic trends. Faculty require long periods of training but often work beyond typical retirement ages; jobs are stable, and turnover is very low; the pipeline for new hires is fundamentally limited; and competition occurs nationally. As the workforce ages, this may create unique challenges for the management of a faculty workforce. This report examines the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) data to consider how faculty are distributed by age, how age and rank interact in terms of salary, the representation of women and racial/ethnic minorities by age and rank, and variations of age across faculty disciplines.

The population of the United States is getting older. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), older workers -- which the BLS defines as those who are 55 and older -- made up 22% of the U.S. workforce in 2016, nearly double the 12% recorded in 1995. This increase is largely "fueled by the aging baby-boom generation, a large group of people born between 1946 and 1964" (currently aged 55 to 73). As baby boomers approach retirement age and exit the workforce in the coming decade, they will be followed by Generation X -- a generation that's nearly 30% smaller. For HR professionals, these facts present challenges such as salary compression and a shrinking domestic talent pool for key positions in the future. This brief focuses on the implications of the aging staff workforce in higher education, specifically professionals and non-exempt staff. We analyze the age distribution of higher ed staff, identify the job areas with the largest aging workforce, examine pay equity for women and men with varying levels of experience, and highlight the higher ed staff positions where salary compression is the most common.

Many colleges and universities continue to face significant fiscal challenges since the 2008 recession. Two major revenue sources on which institutions rely -- federal research grants and state funding -- have declined over the past decade. Institutions are relying more than ever on tuition dollars. To assess the potential impact this financial pressure has had on higher ed institutions in the last decade, this report evaluates trends in student enrollment, faculty size relative to enrollment, faculty composition, and new faculty hires in the U.S. between 2003 and 2018 by analyzing 599 four-year higher education institutions that participated in CUPA-HR surveys every year during this period.

Past research in the private sector has demonstrated that corporations with female executives pay their female administrators more equitably. This report presents evidence from CUPA-HR survey data that similar patterns occur in higher education. Institutions with female presidents have a higher representation of women in administrator positions and pay women in administrator positions more equitably. In addition, institutions with female provosts have a higher representation of women among deans and tenure-track faculty. In sum, higher ed institutions with female executives have better representation of women throughout their institutions in positions that: (a) are paid higher salaries and (b) serve as key points in the executive leadership pipeline.

Data for the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources "CUPA-HR's" "Administrators in Higher Education Salary Survey" were collected November 1, 2016-February 5, 2017. The survey was conducted entirely online through Surveys Online, CUPA-HR's data collection and reporting system. For this year's survey, data for 49,619 incumbents were collected on 191 administrative positions. In addition to the salaries collected for each position, data were collected on gender, race/ethnicity, year the incumbent entered the position, and the incumbent's birth year. Except for salary information, provision of the other demographic information was voluntary. Participants could either enter this data manually or upload a file containing salary and demographic data. In addition, data about institutional characteristics (operating expenses; student, faculty, and staff size; collective bargaining availability for certain groups; and number of separations in the past year) were collected. This report presents key findings, trends, and comprehensive tables for the 2016-17 academic year "Administrators in Higher Education Salary Report."

The pay gap between minority men and White men has remained virtually unchanged since 1980, with Hispanic men currently earning 69 cents and Black men currently earning 73 cents on the dollar that White men earn. The pay gap is even greater for minority women. The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) has been collecting data on higher education and diversity since 1967. This brief provides a summary of how higher education has represented and paid racial/ethnic minorities in administrative positions from 2001 to 2016.

This is the eighth year that CUPA-HR has conducted the CUPA-HR Staff in Higher Education Survey, which collects data on primarily non-exempt staff. The survey collects the following data for all higher ed staff: salary, sex, race/ethnicity, age, and years in position. This marks a special year for data collection and reporting for all CUPA-HR surveys. The severe budget cuts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic forced many institutions to freeze hiring, cut positions, and, in some cases, decrease salaries. This report highlights the overall changes to staff composition and salaries over the past year.

The purpose of this report is to investigate paid time off, tuition benefits, and retirement benefits offered to higher ed employees. We surveyed 419 higher education institutions on the paid time off, tuition benefits, and retirement benefits they offer their employees. Key findings include the following. Only about one-third of institutions surveyed offer paid parental leave beyond vacation and sick time. Since 2018, the number of institutions offering paid parental leave for all types of new parents increased by about 9 percentage points. More than half of institutions (57%) offer some form of short-term disability leave. Short-term disability leave is more common at private institutions than at public institutions. Paid-time-off (PTO) plans that separate sick and vacation leave offer more PTO and higher PTO accrual limits than PTO plans that combine sick and vacation leave. Nearly all institutions (98%) offer tuition benefits to full-time employees, and most institutions also offer tuition benefits to full-time employees' spouses (87%) and children (91%). A smaller percentage of institutions offer these benefits to domestic partners, and these benefits are more commonly provided to same-sex domestic partners than to opposite-sex domestic partners. The 403(b) plan is the most popular retirement plan for both private institutions (where 92% offer it) and public institutions (where 95% offer it). The median maximum employer contribution is 8% of the employee's salary. More than half of institutions (56%) do not charge record-keeping fees for retirement plans. Among institutions that charge record-keeping fees, the basis-points structure (80%) is far more common than the flat-fee structure (20%). Private institutions charge higher fees than do public institutions. In comparison to other classifications, associate's institutions have some of the most generous retirement benefits. As a result of severe budget cuts in the pandemic's wake, higher ed leaders will be faced with difficult decisions in planning for changes to the higher ed workforce, which may include reductions in benefits. This report contains important analyses of current benefits offerings as a record of the baseline from which future changes can be compared.

The Faculty in Higher Education Survey collects data from approximately 853 higher education institutions on over 270,000 full-time faculty (tenure track and non-tenure track), as well as academic department heads and adjunct (pay-per-course) faculty. Data collected for full-time faculty include: salary, supplemental salary, and course relief (for department heads), discipline (by IPEDS CIP code), rank, highest degree attained, gender, race/ethnicity, age, and years in rank. [Title of full report is "Faculty in Higher Education Annual Report: Key Findings, Trends, and Comprehensive Tables for Tenure Track, Non-Tenure Teaching, and Non-Tenure Research Faculty; Academic Department Heads; and Adjunct Faculty for the 2019-20 Academic Year. Research Report."]

Psychology remains one of the more popular undergraduate majors in higher education. A sizable number of psychology faculty complement this discipline's popularity as a major. Overall, psychology faculty make up about 5% of the total faculty population. In this brief, we provide a snapshot of psychology faculty data: how their salaries compare to other disciplines, the representation and pay of women and minorities, and the growth of non-tenure-track faculty. [This report was made possible with the support of PeopleAdmin.]

This year is a momentous one for College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) research. As they celebrate their 50th anniversary of collecting salary data, they are also celebrating transformations in the way data are collected for all salary surveys and in the ways these data are reported. Rather than contributing aggregated (average) data for each position, participants now report salary data for each incumbent. This new method of data collection allows for the reporting of key demographic variables, including gender, race/ethnicity, birth year (estimated age), and years in position for all the positions we survey: administrators, professionals, faculty, and staff. In addition to changes in data collection, they have also instituted changes in the design of their annual reports. Reports now feature "deep dive" analyses that explore aspects of their data that are of general interest to the higher education community. Reports also feature more data visualization--new graphs and charts help summarize data and aid in interpretation. Highlights of the report include: (1) Overall, higher ed staff have an annualized median pay of $35,000. Skilled craft workers have the highest pay, and service/maintenance workers have the lowest; (2) There are large regional differences in staff salaries, particularly in the areas of skilled craft and service/maintenance. The Northeast pays the highest salaries, and the South pays the lowest; (3) Racial/ethnic minorities are underrepresented in higher ed staff for all but service/ maintenance positions. In addition, there is a minority pay gap for all but office/ clerical positions; (4) Women are well-represented in all staff areas except skilled craft. However, they are paid less than men in all areas except office/clerical work; (5) The gender pay gap is greater at older ages. Experience (years in position) does not mitigate this relation, as the pay gap is also greater in those with more experience; (6) The age ranges for staff positions are wide, ranging from the early 20s to age 65 and beyond. The exception is in the area of skilled craft positions, where ages of incumbents are most likely to be in the late 40s and 50s; and (7) The overall median years in position for higher ed staff is 4. The lowest turnover is among skilled craft workers in the Northeast, who have a median of 11 years in their position

The "Faculty in Higher Education Survey" collects data from approximately 700 higher education institutions on nearly 250,000 full-time faculty (tenure track and non-tenure track), as well as academic department heads and adjunct (pay-per-course) faculty. Data collected for full-time faculty include: salary, supplemental salary and course relief (for department heads), discipline (by IPEDS CIP code), rank, gender, race/ethnicity, age and years in rank. In this year's report, rather than contributing aggregated (average) data for each position, participants now report salary data for each incumbent. This new method of data collection allows for the reporting of key demographic variables, including gender, race/ethnicity, birth year (estimated age), and years in position for all the positions we survey: administrators, professionals, faculty, and staff. For the "2016-17 Professionals in Higher Education Salary Survey" information on exempt status for each position was also collected allowing for assessment of current and future responses to federal regulatory changes. This year's changes are summarized in the full research report. [This document provides a brief overview of CUPA-HR's "Professionals in Higher Education Salary Report: Key Findings, Trends, and Comprehensive Tables for the 2016-17 Academic Year."]

This brief provides a nuanced interpretation of how higher education has paid women in administrative positions from 2001-2016, as well as the number of women holding top leadership positions in colleges and universities nationwide. Findings in this brief include the following: (1) In 2001, women administrators in higher education earned approximately 77 cents on the dollar as compared to their male counterparts. That has risen only slightly to approximately 80 cents in 2016. The higher education pay gap for administrators roughly mirrors the overall U.S. pay gap for men and women; (2) Across the U.S., roughly half of higher education administrators are women. However, when different types of administrative positions are assessed, the representation of women decreases drastically in more prestigious, higher-paying jobs. Although there has been a trend toward hiring more women into each type of position since 2001, the percentage of women in top executive positions remains less than 30 percent; (3) Men occupy the overwhelming majority of executive positions in higher education. They outnumber women more than 2:1 among presidents and chief business officers. They outnumber women 4:1 among chief information officers and chief athletics administrators, and more than 9:1 among chief facilities officers. The only position in which women occupy the overwhelming majority of positions is that of chief HR officer, where they outnumber men nearly 3:1; and (4) Although the representation of women is lower in positions with higher salaries, the pay gap is narrower. The pay gap decreases slightly as one moves from less senior to more senior positions (with the exception of deans). Therefore, in positions where women are less represented, they tend to be paid more. For example, although female chief facilities officers are outnumbered more than 9:1 by men, they earn 17 percent more than their male counterparts.

Since 2004, EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR) has partnered with higher education institutions to investigate the technologies that matter most to undergraduate students. They do this by exploring students' technology experiences and expectations. In 2014, the ECAR technology survey was sent to approximately 1.5 million students at 213 institutions, yielding 75,306 responses across 15 countries. This year's findings are based on a stratified random sample of 10,000 U.S. respondents and shed light on a number of topics that include: (1) General student technology experiences and expectations; (2) Anytime, anywhere access to learning that is enabled by device proliferation; and (3) Learning environments. Although technology is omnipresent in the lives of students, leveraging technology as a tool to engage students is still evolving. Looking at longitudinal data from past student studies, it is seen that students still have a complex relationship with technology; they recognize its value, but they still need guidance when it comes to using technology in meaningful and engaging ways for academics. Students are still ready to use their mobile devices more for academics, but there has not been widespread application of this. Students also still prefer blended learning environments, and their expectations are increasing for these hybrid online/face-to-face experiences. These are all issues that ECAR will continue to address by surveying students (and other populations of the academic community) to contribute to the body of knowledge around end users' technology experiences and expectations. The following are appended: (1) Participating Institutions; and (2) Validity and Reliability of Semantic Differential Constructs.

This study explores faculty and student perspectives on learning management systems (LMSs) in the context of current institutional investments. In 2013, nearly 800 institutions participated in the EDUCAUSE Core Data Service (CDS) survey, sharing their current information technology practices and metrics across all IT service domains. In 2014, more than 17,000 faculty from 151 institutions and more than 75,000 students from 213 institutions responded to ECAR surveys on higher education technology experiences and expectations. Combining the findings from these sources provides a multidimensional perspective about the status and future of the LMS in higher education. Key findings include: (1) The average age of an LMS is eight years, and 15% of U.S. institutions are planning to replace their LMS within the next three years; (2) Faculty and students value the LMS as an enhancement to their teaching and learning experiences, but relatively few use the advanced features and even fewer use these systems to their fullest capacity; (3) User satisfaction is highest for basic LMS features and lowest for features designed to foster collaboration and engagement; (4) Faculty say they could be more effective instructors--and students say they could be better students--if they were more skilled at using the LMS; and (5) Students and faculty want the LMS to have enhanced features and operational functions; be personalized; and use analytics to enhance learning outcomes. To meet users' needs and expectations, the next-generation LMS should be mobile friendly, personalized, customizable, adaptive, intuitive, integrated, and designed to enhance student learning. These systems will function as digital learning environments for students, administrative systems for faculty to manage their courses, and interoperable systems that institutions can integrate into their administrative IT portfolio to leverage analytic applications.

Today's higher education IT organization needs a "lean and mean" cadre of staff who possess skills that are both deep and broad. Recruiting and developing the right team is an endeavor requiring much time, effort, and resources. How then do you make the most of this investment and retain the individuals who provide so much value to the IT organization? This research bulletin uses data from the EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR's) study on the higher education IT workforce to provide CIOs and managers with an understanding of the demographic makeup of today's higher education IT staff; the professional activities and skills staff consider important to their success; factors that underlie staff retention; and recommendations for creating a better work environment, increasing staff motivation, and facilitating staff retention.

Higher education IT governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) programs are in the development stage. Few institutions have all three programs in place, and many institutions are unclear where they should start when instituting or maturing their IT GRC programs. In addition, they are often uncertain as to whether GRC programs should be developed in parallel or separately. Institutions take various approaches in deciding which programs--IT governance, risk, and/or compliance--should be instituted. Ideally, all three would be in place, but resources and culture may dictate the priority and progress of IT GRC initiatives. There is consensus in who leads IT GRC programs--most often it is the CIO or the chief information security officer (CISO)--and these leads are generally given a relatively broad scope of authority. This 2014 study of IT GRC describes the current landscape of IT GRC programs in higher education; identifies aspects of the IT GRC environment that will aid CIOs, CISOs, and other leads to make decisions about IT GRC initiatives; and outlines steps institutions can take to become more mature in their IT GRC programs. Key findings include: (1) Formal enterprise or IT risk management and compliance programs are the exception rather than the rule; (2) Most institutions have a formal institutional governance body in place; (3) There are significant gaps between the perceived importance of specific risks and the effectiveness with which they are being addressed; (4) Maturity in IT risk management can be assessed along four dimensions: Communication/End-User Management, Acceptance, Risk Assessment/Management, and Investment; (5) Maturity in risk management is associated with stronger governance and compliance efforts and processes; (6) Fewer than half of institutions report that they effectively communicate about IT risks to all relevant parties; (7) Those with an IT governance body in place are more likely to involve others--particularly faculty, students, and alumni--in both IT budgeting and other IT governance decisions; and (8) Investment in risk management is associated with more progressive GRC efforts.

The professionals making up the current higher education IT workforce have been asked to adjust to a culture of increased IT consumerization, more sourcing options, broader interest in IT's transformative potential, and decreased resources. Disruptions that include the bring-your-own-everything era, cloud computing, new management practices, e-learning, and sustained budget cuts have potentially long-term impacts on the IT workforce. This EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR) incorporates results from a comprehensive survey on more than 2,000 IT professionals as well as focus groups to provide a description of the current state of today's IT workforce, how it has changed in the past three years, and what changes may need to be implemented to retain and strengthen IT staff. In this report are the demographic characteristics of the IT workforce; the factors that underlie salary differences for CIOs, managers, and staff; the state of hiring; the skills needed in today's IT workforce; the factors that affect retention of IT professionals in higher education; the factors that lead professionals to leave higher education; and the role of human resources in IT hiring and retention.