Anderson School of Management Theses & Dissertations

Publication Date

5-27-1965

Abstract

On February 28, 1889, the Territorial Legislature passed the act which established the University of New Mexico. At the time the university consisted of a handful of students and faculty in a single building on twenty acres of barren mesa. It was basically a series of one-man organizations, each a faculty member who reported directly to the president. Policies and procedures, when established, did not require elaboration or great formality. Proprietor-employee relationships existed, and all employees were in a faculty family where each knew the other and problems were handled with decorum and dispatch. In the salary area, for example, beginning rates were negotiated on an individual on an individual basis without much regard for the job to be done except in gross terms; raises were usually granted across the board on a percentage basis with minimum concern and differential for performance or job worth. Job analysis, job evaluation, and market survey techniques were in the embryonic stage of development and, consequently, little effort was made to determine if University jobs were properly paid relative to the market or to any other criteria. Since 1889 the University “has grown into a first rank university with 11,000 students taught by 350 regular faculty members in 60 permanent buildings on a campus of more than 500 acres.” During this same period the techniques of wage and salary administration (job analysis, job evaluation, wage surveys) have also developed until today they are accepted administrative tools in most organizations as large as the University. However, the University has by choice, habit, or some other reason, basically continued to use its original salary policies and practices. These policies and practices were adequate when the University was small and communications and mobility of the individual were rather limited. Whether they are adequate now that the University has achieved big business stature and communications and personal mobility have increased is another question. Significantly different rates of pay for seemingly identical jobs indicate that perhaps inequities in pay treatment have developed. For example, cashiers whose primary duty consists of operating cash registers to record sales are paid monthly rates of $157, $191, $215, and $244. Janitors who perform normal janitorial duties are paid monthly rates of $157, $165, $174, $200, $209, $218, $230, $242, $250, and $260. All rates are based on a standard 40-hour week.

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Anderson School of Management

First Committee Member

Howard V. Finston

Second Committee Member

Everett Dillman

Third Committee Member

Simon Herman

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