In an article printed on May 3rd and May 4th, the Star-Phoenix reported that, based on the StatsCan final data for 2010–11, mean salaries at the U of S were $148,754 for Full professors, $121,339 for Associate professors, and $105,102 for Assistant professors. We wish these numbers were accurate, but they are not. The numbers cited include the salaries of all faculty, all senior administrators, as well as some clinical earnings which are in addition to academic salary. As a consequence, they overestimate your real U of S academic salaries.
The most accurate way to assess the academic salaries of our members is to calculate them from the payment of dues because members only pay dues on the academic portion of their salary. Based on the payment of dues in 2010–11, mean salaries at the U of S were $142,251 for Full professors, $112,050 for Associate professors and $92,403 for Assistant professors. These were the numbers we reported as U of S salaries in 2010–11 in Bargaining Update #1.
In order to compare U of S salaries to other institutions, we rely on the StatsCan data as revised by CAUT to include Department Heads, exclude senior administrators, and remove units for which academic salary cannot be separated from clinical salaries. Based on the 2010–11 CAUT preliminary data, reported U of S salaries were $141,259 for Full professors, $111,932 for Associate professors, and $93,417 for Assistant professors. The very small differences in the salaries reported by CAUT and calculated by USFA provide us with confidence that the data set provided by CAUT is accurate and appropriate for comparison purposes.
Jim Cheesman, Senior Professional Officer of the USFA, would be happy to provide a presentation regarding U of S faculty salary data upon request. Please contact him at jim.cheesman@usask.ca