University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) has hiked employee salaries by 62 percent over the past decade, during a period when enrollment at the school grew 24 percent.
That’s according to an analysis of Illinois State Board of Higher Education data by Chicago City Wire.
Total compensation at UIC rose to $416 million per year in 2021, up from $257 million in 2011.
A surge in high-earner salaries and the hiring of more administrators drove the increase.
In 2011, UIC reported 816 staff earning more than $100,000 per year. They earned a total of $116.8 million, or 45 percent of total annual school faculty compensation.
By 2021, that number had more than doubled to 1,790 such staff, who earned a collective $276.8 million, or 67 percent of total annual UIC faculty compensation.
UIC has 288 staff members earning more than $200,000, and 43 earning more than $300,000. In 2011, it had 83 and 13.
The school has also hired 179 new administrators over the past decade, and is paying them considerably more, according to a review of job titles.
In 2011, UIC listed 439 administrative staff, who earned $46.8 million per year.
In 2021, it listed 618, earning $85.8 million.
They include Amalia Pallares, 57, of Oak Park, who serves as UIC “Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Engagement” where she “advises the provost and chancellor on DEI-related issues.” She earned $205,999 in 2021.
In 2011, Pallares was an assistant professor at UIC, earning $70,000.
Caryn A. Windt, 59, of Orland Park, is UIC’s “Associate Chancellor in the Office for Access and Equity and Dispute Resolution Services.” She earned $201,960 in 2021, “ensuring compliance obligations are met” with regard to “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX/Clery, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Section 504.”
In 2011, Windt was a post-doctoral research associate earning $50,000. She was named associate chancellor in 2012.
UIC faculty went on strike Tuesday, demanding higher salaries.
In 2018, 4,500 graduate assistants across the University of Illinois System, including UIC, went on strike, demanding higher salaries to go with their free tuition, and that taxpayers pay 87 percent of their health insurance benefits. They received their demands.
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UIC Employee Compensation: +62 percent over ten years
Source: Illinois State Board of Higher Education
