Compensation Philosophy

It is critical for the compensation study to align with the University’s strategic plan, including its mission to be able to attract, retain, and engage the necessary faculty, administrators, and staff that the University needs to thrive. It will be important for Jax State to have a competitive compensation program that reflects the values and perspectives of its employees.

What is a Total Compensation Philosophy?

A total compensation philosophy is a formal statement documenting the University’s position about employee compensation and benefits. It documents pay strategy and explains the “why” behind employee pay and benefits. It also creates a framework for consistency. A well-designed compensation philosophy supports the University’s strategic plan and initiatives, goals, competitive outlook, operating objectives, compensation, and total reward strategies.

Jax State's Compensation Philosophy

Jacksonville State University utilizes a total compensation philosophy that includes both direct salary and indirect benefits as compensation. The compensation provides a basis for sustaining pay and benefits programs that will attract, retain, and engage talented faculty, administrators, and staff to support the University’s mission and strategic plan.

Guiding Principles 

• The collective work and contributions of all individual staff members are valued.
• The institution supports a fair, equitable, and consistently achievable approach to compensate all employees.
• Compensation is clear, easy to administer, and communicated to employees.
• Salaries and pay scales are reviewed on a regular basis by campus stakeholder groups, considering such factors as cost of labor, federal and state minimum wage guidelines, market data for relevant labor market data, and demand fluctuations.
• The salary and benefit programs are designed to be flexible and to reflect the ever-changing circumstances and issues important to multi-generational employees.

Meeting Employee Needs

This compensation philosophy meets the needs of our employees in the following ways:

• The design and administration of the Total Rewards program are university-wide and support the needs of Jax State as a whole. The competitive and attractive suite of health, wellness, education, and financial security benefits aims to care for our employees and their families today and in the future. Benefits are provided broadly across the institution.
• Competitive total compensation, targeted at a percent of defined labor markets, is designed to motivate and recognize excellent performance and align with the needs of a diverse, multi-generational workforce.
• The non-exempt and entry-level professional talent markets are generally local or regional. Talent markets are local, regional, national, and international for faculty. Specialized professionals and leadership talent markets are local, regional, and national.