Overview – Raising Salaries
For academic appointees, generally salaries are set upon hire; they change annually according to annual merit review, upon promotion, occasionally in "mid-year salary adjustment," and very occasionally according to unit-based market or equity analyses.
- Annual merit reviews are determined both by the IU Board of Trustees annual decisions (setting a "pool") and by school (RC) finances.
- Tenure-track, clinical, lecturer-track, and research-track faculty generally receive significant raises for each promotion they achieve (to associate and to full rank). The amount of these raises is set within each school and/or department; it may be a percentage or a flat amount.
- Mid-year salary adjustments may be made for purposes of retention or equity. There is a separate resource describing this process.
- Occasionally a program director or department chair will work with their school dean and fiscal officers to research and propose a broad-based salary adjustment to make salaries meet market conditions. This must be approved by the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor.
- Faculty do NOT receive a permanent base salary increase if they take on administrative duties.
This does not include one-time bonuses.
Individuals who feel they have experienced bias in salary setting due to a protected class should contact the Office of Civil Right Compliance at IU Indianapolis, which will investigate the report.
For questions about market comparison data, department chairs can contact the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at ude[dot]ui[at]rhdaca; individuals should direct initial inquiries to their chairs or OCRC.
Reviewed and revised: 7/2026.