Without Merit: One Library’s Attempt to Put “Merit” Back in “Merit Pay”

Abstract

This article outlines a proposal developed at the University of North Carolina of a method for awarding merit pay to librarians. The library has a two-tiered structure that includes faculty who are tenured and others who work on contract. Because of this, the Acting University Librarian created two task forces to investigate ways to make merit pay equitable. Each task force developed a proposal that eventually was merged into one document. This article examines the process of developing a plan for merit pay and library faculty reactions to the plan.