Date: 10/01/2016

Do you understand how your salary is computed? Some faculty members do not, but that is set to change, thanks to Paul Rothman, dean of the medical faculty and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine. In 2015, he convened a committee to overhaul every department’s plan in fiscal year 2016.

The committee’s yearlong work was intensive, but now the clinical and basic sciences departments have clearly defined compensation plans.

Transparency and equity were two goals of the committee’s work.

“As part of our Strategic Plan, we want to attract and retain the world’s best people. For us to do that, our faculty members need to know how salaries are determined, and they need to know that salaries are fair,” says Rothman.

Theodore DeWeese, director of the Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, led the committee, which numbered nearly 40 individuals representing a cross-section of departments and Johns Hopkins Medicine senior leadership. It built on earlier work by Janice Clements, vice dean of faculty for the school of medicine.

Kathy Marsalek provided stellar administrative support that facilitated the committee’s work, says Joe Bezek, senior director of finance for the Clinical Practice Association.

“Everyone has recognized for a long time that it’s difficult to remunerate faculty members appropriately given the level of their work. Dean Rothman, as part of a longer-term goal of raising faculty salaries, wanted each department to have a well-defined compensation plan that rewards all parts of the tripartite mission. That’s the first step toward making salaries more competitive,” says DeWeese.

The new compensation plans will be posted on the intranet for all to review once they have received final approval by Dean Rothman and Ron Werthman, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine and the school of medicine.

DeWeese and Bill Baumgartner, senior vice president of the Office of Johns Hopkins Physicians and assistant chair of the committee, chose two reviewers for each department’s plan who weren’t from the department being evaluated. The reviewers worked with the department director on revising the existing plan or crafting a new one.

Following that review was a financial one, to ensure that the plans were financially sound, says Jim Erickson, senior associate dean of finance in the School of Medicine.

Having reviewers from other departments allowed a more objective assessment, says Sherita Golden, executive vice chair of the Department of Medicine.  “Plus, we learned from each other and received suggestions that made all the plans better.”

David Eisele, director of the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, agrees. “The cross-department collaboration gave me a better perspective on our department’s plan and helped us improve it.”

Says Erickson, “The committee’s work is a huge step forward in how we compensate faculty.”