As part of achieving NMSU's LEADS 2025 strategic plan, two studies of base salary compensation rates of full-time, Las Cruces campus faculty began in Fall 2019, co-led by the Office of the Provost and NMSU Human Resource Services. Faculty input and expertise were contributed by a Faculty Compensation Advisory Committee, a group of 15 Las Cruces campus faculty assembled specifically for this task.
In addition to identifying potential inequities, the studies were intended to help establish a rigorous, regular, and transparent process for continual review of compensation packages for NMSU's faculty. Both studies examined base salaries of Las Cruces campus faculty with continuing appointments (i.e., tenured, tenrure-track, and college-track appointments).
Study One
Study One was an external market study comparing NMSU's Fiscal Year 20/21 compensation rates with those of other public research universities. Results of Study One indicated that some faculty members salary was below the 10th percentile for comparable research universities. Funds were provided by the Provost's Office to address this situation in 2021.
Study Two
Study Two was an internal analysis of NMSU's Fiscal Year 21/22 compensation rates to ascertain whether NMSU faculty salaries showed evidence of inequitable pay gaps based on gender or race-ethnicity. Study Two showed:
- Robust evidence of gender pay gap of at least 1%, favoring men faculty (controlling for relevant variables such as discipline, rank, degree, years at NMSU). This is consistent with the U.S. controlled gender pay gap in 2022 (https://www.payscale.com/research-and-insights/gender-pay-gap/).
- Some evidence of pay gap for American Indian/Native American and Black/African American faculty members. Although, the small number faculty in these groups makes a direct interpretation of these results difficult, a large majority of faculty in these groups are paid less than would be predicted if they were White men.
2023 Update
As of March 1, 2023, NMSU addressed the gender pay gap by giving all female-identified, full-time Las Cruces faculty members a 1% equity adjustment in their base salaries. Because studies of market competitiveness and internal equity are never "done," a subsequent external market analysis study is being conducted in late spring 2023. A subsequent internal equity study is planned for 2024.
