Dear Colleagues,

The University is at a critical juncture in its approach to compensation and benefits (“total rewards”) for its employees.  As an employer, we are navigating a rapidly changing world of work, the reduction of traditional student pipelines and the resulting economic pressures on Puget Sound, and a hypercompetitive local and regional economy.  In order to ensure Puget Sound’s total rewards offerings, support our ability to attract, hire, retain, and motivate capable and committed employees, we are launching a project to evaluate our current compensation and benefits programs, and to establish a comprehensive total rewards philosophy that will support the University’s mission now and in the future, and position us as an employer of choice in higher education and the region.

I have asked Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Kim Kvaal and Interim Provost Nick Kontogeorgopoulos to lead this work.  They will oversee an Internal Advisory Committee and a working group comprised of faculty and staff from across the institution, reflecting a diversity of roles and employment experiences.  I will ask the leadership of the Faculty Senate and the Staff Senate to provide nominations for faculty and staff to serve on this project, and the work will begin before the end of fall term.

The Committee and working group, working in conjunction with an external thought partner with expertise in this area, will evaluate the University’s comprehensive compensation and benefits offerings to maximize the value of these investments in our workforce, while also determining if we are meeting the needs of current and prospective employees.  This project will include the voice of faculty and staff to identify total rewards components that are most meaningful to our community and effective in achieving our objectives of employee excellence.  In addition, the project must be grounded in the University’s commitment to equity and inclusion and demonstrate foresight of evolving workforce demographics, along with new ways of working in the post-COVID economy.

This work is vitally important to the University’s ability to attract, recruit and retain the exceptional faculty and staff our mission requires, and our shared community deserves.  I thank you in advance for your willingness to support the work of this committee and appreciate, as ever, all you do to strengthen our University community.

Sincerely,

Isiaah
Isiaah Crawford, Ph.D. | President