Dear Colleagues,
Over the past year, we’ve worked closely with Guidehouse to look at how we compensate and classify the important work our employees do. There are two big things we learned:
- The market study validates that ACC is a national leader in pay, and
- There are approximately 400 employees who will be getting a pay increase, because this study showed us that their work needed to be reclassified.
Our HR team has done incredibly detailed work in coordination with the Cabinet leadership to understand these findings and map out our next steps. We want you to know what we’ve learned, where we are headed, and what you can expect before we leave for winter break and after we return.
Market Study Results
As part of the comprehensive market analysis, Guidehouse benchmarked ACC against peer institutions as well as those in some of the most competitive and expensive cities in the country. The results were clear:
- Guidehouse concluded that ACC pays its staff very well, even when considering Austin’s cost of living. As such, Guidehouse did not find the need for salary adjustments directly resulting from their market analysis.
- With that said, Guidehouse has made other structural and policy recommendations that will result in salary adjustments for some employees, but again, these adjustments are not “market adjustments.”
- This means there is no need for broad, institution-wide compensation adjustments.
Classification Study Results
Guidehouse’s work highlighted opportunities to improve how we organize job categories and descriptions to increase clarity, consistency, and equity across the College.
In collaboration with Cabinet, HR finalized the new competency-based job category model and worked with each Cabinet member to map staff positions into this new framework. Student Affairs and Basic Needs are excluded at this time due to ongoing realignments.
To preserve the integrity of the classification redesign, HR implemented a temporary hold on position reclassification requests. Here’s what’s happening now:
- All submitted reclassification requests have now been evaluated and compared with the new framework.
- Employees impacted by these changes will be notified of the results.
- Where individual adjustments are supported by the data, we will make them.
What to Expect Before Winter Break
With the exception of Student Affairs and Basic Needs, before we leave for winter break:
- Staff pending a salary adjustment will receive an individual communication from HR with their new salary.
- Staff who submitted a reclassification request will receive the outcome of that request.
- No individual communication will be sent to staff in positions that will not experience an adjustment in compensation.
For those receiving an adjustment, new salaries will be reflected in the January 2026 paycheck and will be retroactively applied to September 1, 2025.
What to Expect After Winter Break
Student Affairs and Basic Needs staff will be reviewed after winter break to ensure their units are aligned with the new framework. Any adjustments resulting from that review will also be retroactively applied to September 1, 2025.
Thank you for your patience, professionalism, and engagement throughout this work. I know you may have questions. I invite you to join me for a special campus conversation at 10 a.m. in the Board Room at ACC Highland on Friday, January 9. I’ll be there to share more and answer questions. The details are posted on our campus conversations web page.
I’m really grateful to everyone who put time, energy, and care into this work. Our goals throughout have been accuracy, fairness, transparency, and building a long-term framework that supports equity and clarity across the College. I am confident this work positions ACC well—not just for today, but for the future.
Much love,
russell
Russell Lowery-Hart, Ph.D.
Chancellor, Austin Community College District