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University presents WRGC compensation priorities; recommends raising postdoc floor and a 1% market pool for FY26
Summary
University staff told Regents the Workforce Reinvestment Governance Committee recommends raising the postdoctoral salary floor to $61,008 to meet NRSA/NIH requirements, setting minimum per‑credit pay for teaching specialists, and budgeting a 1% market‑adjustment pool in FY26; final decisions will go to President Cunningham.
University administration told the Regents’ special committee that the Workforce Reinvestment Governance Committee (WRGC) has prioritized a set of systemwide workforce investments to be considered in the FY26 budget process.
A Compensation Work Group, the administration said, identified three top priorities: raise the postdoctoral associate salary floor from $56,000 to $61,008 (to align with National Research Service Award and NIH rules), increase salary floors for teaching specialists and lecturers including a minimum per‑credit payment, and continue raising civil service and P&A salaries above a $22.25/hour baseline where needed.
WRGC staff said the FY26 budget currently includes a market‑adjustment pool equal to 1% of salaries, the largest such pool to date; the work group recommended using that pool to address the highest‑priority items and directed campuses and colleges to allocate incremental pools to address local priorities if needed. Staff cautioned that other pay priorities would require additional recurring funds beyond the 1% pool.
In benefits work‑group recommendations, staff said the university should benchmark dependent tuition discount programs at peer institutions, analyze funding options for Minnesota’s mandatory paid leave beginning January 2026, and research low‑ or no‑cost adjustments to civil service vacation accruals for early‑tenure employees. The group recommended conducting an employee benefits survey before making major benefit changes.
University presenters said the WRGC’s four work groups have reprioritized roughly 30 recommended actions from the earlier Workforce Reinvestment task force; the work groups will continue through June and submit a final set of recommendations to President Cunningham, who will make final decisions for incorporation into the annual budget process.
President Cunningham said the proposed 1% market pool and the planning in the WRGC informed how the administration presented the budget this year and emphasized that workforce reinvestment is a multiyear project that will not be solved in a single cycle.
Next steps: WRGC recommendations will be finalized in June and sent to the president for budget inclusion and further implementation planning.
