UAF to release employee salary information

June 30, 2011

Marmian Grimes

The university has received a request from the Sun Star student newspaper to release salary and other public information about all UAF employees.  That university plans to release that information in July. Under state law and university policies, certain employee information is public. This information release will include all employees, except student employees.

The information we will be releasing is limited to:

• Employee name

• Position

• Salary

• Department and/or campus

• Longevity

• Contract duration (9-month, 10-month, etc.)

• Part-time or full-time status

The Sun Star plans to create a searchable online database for the public to access information about employee compensation at the university. Here is an example of a similar database at another university: http://data.illinimedia.com/salaries/index/201/chi/

While there is no option to opt-out of this release of information, aside from the public information detailed above, employees’ confidential personnel files will remain so.

Following is some additional information about the salary release. If you do not find the answer to your questions here, please feel free to speak with your supervisor or HR consultant.

Q - Why is the university releasing this information?
A – Under state law and Regents’ policy, certain information about public employees is considered public information. That information includes: “Dates of present and past employment with the university, position title, type of employment, campus and salary …”

Q – Will my name be included in the information release?
A – Yes, that information is public.

Q – Why do some people in the same positions make more or less money than others?
A – Each employee’s compensation includes a variety of factors, including their longevity at the university, their level of experience when they were hired and their on-the-job performance. In addition, employees in some rural areas receive a cost differential to account for higher living expenses in the area where they work.

Q – Will my address or phone number be released to the public as well?
A – No. Employee contact information is not considered public information and is not part of this information release.

Q – Will performance evaluations be released to the public?
A – No. Performance evaluations are not considered public information and are not part of this information release.

Q - What prompted this request for information to be posted?
A – The Sun Star editor contacted the UAF public information office and requested the release of the information.

Q - Where can I locate the policy and/applicable law that supports this request?
A – Regents’ policy 4.01.062 deals with confidentiality of personnel records and what information is and is not public. Regents’ policies are available for viewing online at http://www.alaska.edu/bor/policy-regulations/. Applicable state law, which is referenced in Regents’ policy, is available online at http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/folio.asp. Alaska Statute 39.25.080 governs personnel records.

Q - When I was hired with the university my contract letter didn't state that this information is public. Why didn’t the university tell me before that the information was public?
A – Every employee’s terms of employment are governed by state law and Regents’ policy, both of which state that this information is public. As a public institution, much of the university’s information is public and subject to open records requests. It wouldn’t be possible to anticipate and inform employees about every piece of information that could be made public. As such information requests are received, we do our best to notify affected employees, as we are doing in this case.

Q - Is this request for information union initiated?
A – No, the request came from a member of the media.

Q - Will this information be updated periodically?
A – While the request was just for this year’s data, we anticipate that the Sun Star, and perhaps other media organizations, will request regular updates of the information.

Q - Does this apply to statewide or just the UAF campus?
A – The request is currently just for UAF campus employees, but the regulation applies to all university employees.

Q – Do other State of Alaska employees or public employees post their salaries?
A – Under state law, AS 39.25.080, state employees’ salaries are public information and thus would be required to be released, if requested. Access to relevant Alaska statutes is available online.

Q - When will the information be published?
A – The Sun Star has indicated that they hope to have the database online by the end of August.

Q - What salary number will be released? How can I check to see whether it will be accurate?
A – All employees can check their salary by logging into UAOnline. The salary release will include only gross budgeted salary, not the cost of benefits or any individual deductions.

Q - Why is the Sun Star asking for this information?
A – The Sun Star editor has written an editorial explaining what they plan to do with the information and why they made the request. They have also created a Facebook discussion on the request. The editorial, and a link the the Facebook group, is online at http://bit.ly/salaryeditorial.