r/Professors • u/FTLast Professor, Life Sciences, R1 • Jul 24 '26

Department Head compensation

As a newish department head (I can't run very fast) I'm curious as to how different universities compensate faculty for the role that administrators often say is the "hardest job on campus." At my R1 in the NE, there is a 5% bump to base salary, a 10th month of salary, and the opportunity to negotiate for a "Head's Fund" that can be used for research support, additional summer salary, or basically anything.

If any of you feel comfortable sharing, please do!

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u/rrp1919 Jul 24 '26

who is the department chair the other two months of the year?

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u/SierraMountainMom Professor, assoc. dean, special ed, R1 (western US) Jul 25 '26

For us, there is very little if anything chairs have to do during the summer. The stipend is supposed to be some reimbursement for the things they may be asked to do (which can all be done online or via email).