The University of Louisville is in the midst of a lengthy, ongoing campus compensation study that caused a freeze in wage increases for all employees and promotions for staff. The study, which has been in progress for two years, will not be complete until June 2023. Meanwhile, inflation and cost of living continue to skyrocket. Throughout this time, the University Libraries have struggled to recruit and retain employees with our current compensation levels, which are inadequate for both faculty and staff. In particular, staff wages are often below that of area retail and hospitality jobs. Our Libraries Climate Committee conducted a survey to gauge employees’ likeliness to leave the organization, and the priority that they place on compensation, as well as opportunities for growth and advancement. We also asked for ways to improve morale in the absence of compensation increases. Based on survey responses, the Climate Committee created a list of fourteen recommendations, which were then placed on a matrix to rank their ease of implementation and expected level of impact. A set of six recommendations, addressing a wide range of issues from communications and transparency, employee development, and updates to job descriptions to reflect actual duties and expectations, were submitted to the Libraries Senior Administrative Team in November of 2022. Accepted recommendations will be implemented in January 2023 and progress reported on by the time of conference.
