As the University of Illinois’ independent student newspaper for the past 150 years,  The Daily Illini is proud to be able to serve the public. Part of being a journalist is to provide the public with as much transparency as we can provide them.  At The Daily Illini, providing the public with the Salary Guide is just another way to provide insightful information. 

What is the Salary Guide?

The Salary Guide itself is put together by The Daily Illini, and it contains employee salaries from the three campuses in the University of Illinois system. Employees include anyone from civil service staff, academic professional staff and any additional faculty. We receive raw data to sift through to create the Salary Guide online and compile what we believe is interesting for the print version. If you are interested in the raw data we work with for the Salary Guide, it is also linked to the University of Illinois website, or if you’d like to review The Daily Illini’s digital archive, you can visit the Salary Guide tab on our website.

What is not included in the Salary Guide?

It is important to note this guide does not include any changes in salaries made throughout the year. Changes in salaries could include but are not limited to unpaid leave, overtime and mid-year promotions. It also does not include graduate assistant, pre-doctoral fellow, academic or grad hourly, summer appointment, medical resident, student retiree or unpaid. 

What is the Freedom of Information Act?

The Freedom of Information Act allows the public to request access to any federal agency records. Anyone can make a FOIA request. Federal agencies are required to disclose any information requested under the FOIA unless it falls under one of nine exemptions that protect interests such as personal privacy, national security, and law enforcement. Federal agencies are in charge of responding to their own FOIA requests.

Public demand

The Salary Guide is consistently a top-viewed page on The Daily Illini website. While many views come from the Champaign-Urbana area, it is also viewed in other places around the state, country and world. It is clear the Salary Guide is demanded by the public, and The Daily Illini will continue to serve this demand. 

Why we do this

While it is not only fun to look up how much your professor makes, it is much more than the salaries themselves. The Salary Guide is able to keep the University of Illinois transparent. Because the UI system is public, salaries are paid by taxpayers’ dollars, so it’s imperative to ensure that the hard-earned money of the taxpayer is being used responsibly.

The Salary Guide can be found on The Daily Illini’s website. The entire database can be found online at salaryguide.dailyillini.com.

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