UPDATE: McKnight Peer List

As you know, communication is highly valued at WesternU. As such, an update regarding the Compensation Philosophy project follows.

We want to clearly acknowledge that we share in the concerns and frustrations surrounding the initial draft peer listing in its current form.

Specifically, we have received valuable feedback from our various colleges that some of the peer institutions represented in the list are inaccurate, and do not mirror WesternU as closely as we require.

We share in these concerns, and we have charged McKnight and Associates and our university team, including the office of Finance and Budget, the office of HR, our Deans, and additional input from other university constituents, to correct the data set, and incorporate peer comparatives that are as accurate as possible.

In so doing, we wish to assure you that these data will be corrected as part of the planned and ongoing process to further curate and finalize this list.  This working draft is now under review by all college Deans and university leaders to ensure collaborative refinement, improvement, and augmentation of the listing.

In addition, please know that we will not authorize the implementation of our “rollout” phase until we are all convinced that the data is as accurate as possible.

We must also keep sight of the goal of the project, which is clearly defined to yield the development and implementation of salary ranges. These salary ranges would then enable the administration of salaries that are competitive, among other institutions and employers, while concurrently internally aligning with the resources of the university.

A historical context is also important. As you are aware, and for the first time in the history of the university, compensation equity for faculty, staff, and administrators was catapulted to the very top of the institution’s strategic priorities, after feedback was sought from all corners of the university. The Compensation Philosophy project was launched, and through the university’s newly formed Institutional Compensation Philosophy Committee (ICPC), the voices of all university constituents were empowered.

Request for Proposals (RFPs) were sought, and the consulting group McKnight and Associates selected by the ICPC. Highly valued input from our five branches of governance, and from the Board of Trustees, was gleaned via the ICPC for the specific purpose to study the university’s classification and compensation of its faculty, staff, and administrators.

As you may recall, in mid-December, we provided an update related to the classification and compensation study of faculty, staff, and administrators. The goals of the project, as outlined at that time, have not changed, and are intended to develop and implement salary ranges to enable the administration of competitive salaries.

We continue to strive toward arriving at the implementation phase for this project, as quickly as possible, ensuring the highest possible quality of data, and safeguarding the integrity of the process. To meet that goal, we requested the peer listing authored by our compensation consulting partners at McKnight Associates (McKnight), so that our constituents could review, and provide their highly valued input.

To provide additional context, on February 14th, the university’s Deans, senior leaders, and the Institutional Compensation Philosophy Committee (ICPC) received the first draft of a peer listing, titled “McKnight Peer List_Feb2025, authored by our compensation consulting partners at McKnight Associates, as part of the university-wide compensation project currently underway.  I want to acknowledge that we are aware that there have been some concerns and frustrations around this initial draft peer listing in its current form.  Specifically, we have received valuable feedback from various colleges that some of the peer institutions represented in the list may not accurately mirror WesternU quite as closely as intended.  I want to state clearly that I hear these concerns and want to assure you that they will be addressed as part of the planned and ongoing process to further curate and finalize this list.  This working draft is now under review by all college Deans and university leaders to ensure collaborative refinement, improvement, and augmentation of the listing.

The goal of the comprehensive review by our university constituents is to further ensure that the highest possible quality peer groups are ultimately finalized in this process, leading to the highest possible quality of data, and safeguarding the integrity of the process.

Moreover, the collaborative recommendations and submissions from ICPC representatives, and other university constituents, as well as Deans and senior leaders, are also underway in the interest of achieving a peer listing of the highest quality prior to any compensation project implementation.

We are grateful to McKnight for providing this first draft for review and refinement, and for the work in which they are engaging with each college Dean to ensure that college-level expertise is appropriately incorporated into the refinement, improvement, and finalization of the peer listing.

We sincerely thank you for your collective effort, ensuring fairness, and approaching this process with humanism, care, and thoughtfulness.

Thank you for your patience and support as we continue this important work together. We will provide additional updates, real-time, as we proceed forward.

Robin Farias-Eisner, MD, PhD, MBA
President

Paula M. Crone, DO
Provost & Chief Academic Officer

Joshua McFarlen, CPA, CA, MPAcc
Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer

Cheng Yu Hou
Chief Human Resources Officer

Dean’s Council