Key Definitions
| Key Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Benchmark Job | A job whose major responsibilities and requirements are found in the market. These jobs are typically included in salary surveys and have reliable market data readily available year after year. |
| Career Path |
A career path is a series of jobs an employee may consider while pursuing short-term and long- term career goals. |
| Career Level |
A set of numbered work dimensions within career streams that define career progression toward more job complexity, knowledge and responsibility. |
| Career Stream | A progression that describes the nature of work being performed. The university's three career streams include:
|
| In-Scope Staff | In-scope positions include University of Arkansas, Fayetteville full-time, appointed staff and provisional positions employed by May 1, 2024, except athletic coaches and certain executive level positions (i.e., VCs, VPs, Chancellor). Extra help, contingent workers, and work-study positions including part-time positions are excluded. In addition, positions that include at least a 51% Division of Agriculture (UADA) split are out-of-scope. |
| Job Classification Architecture | A framework to organize and structure the various positions. It provides a systematic way of categorizing and classifying different work based on factors such as responsibilities, qualifications, skills, and other job-related characteristics. |
| Job Description | Job descriptions are sometimes referred to as position restrictions in Workday. Different than a job profile, a job description defines a specific job within a team, unit and organization. It contains a detailed description of responsibilities, reporting lines, and knowledge, skills and abilities. Multiple job descriptions can be mapped to one job profile. For example, there may be many Academic Advisors across campus that generally perform the same work, but there may be specific duties performed in Walton College vs. the College of Engineering. |
| Job Family | A group of jobs involving similar types of work and requiring similar training, skills, knowledge and expertise. The job family concept helps organize related jobs for purposes of pay, career progression and performance management. Examples include:
|
| Job Subfamily | A sub-set of a job family, usually more specialized in nature. Examples include:
|
| Job Profile |
Different than a job description, a job profile is a high-level, general definition of a job’s purpose, responsibilities, and qualifications, used to enhance consistency in the way jobs are defined across the university within the job classification architecture. A job profile may contain multiple job descriptions. Job profiles apply to positions throughout the university, in separate departments, that perform similar work. |
| Market |
To evaluate university classification and compensation in relation to the market for similar positions, the project utilized a benchmarking process that included a blend of higher education, regional and national industry data. Learn more on the Project Background page. |
| Market Adjustment |
The adjustment to the rate of pay eligible staff employees may receive, with time in position factored in. Learn more on the Market Adjustment Implementations page. |
| Market Range Target | The university aspires to provide relevant compensation and benefits in the market in which the university competes for talent, inclusive of complying with federal and state requirements. |
| Pay Grade | A pay range to which jobs are assigned based on the job role, impact and complexity requirements, and the market value of benchmark jobs. Pay ranges have been designed to accommodate a wide variety of skill and experience levels, from novice to expert, in a job. |
| Working Title |
A title that refers to a specific department where an employee is working, or a specific type of work, and is used in job postings, employees’ signature line, business cards, etc. Examples include:
These may differ from State Titles and Job Profiles. |
| Work Dimensions |
Factors used to differentiate between levels that are tied to a role. They provide detail on a job’s complexity, nature of work, scope, degree of responsibility, etc. Examples include: Communication & Collaboration, Scope of Influence, People Management, etc. |