Tag: Living Wage

“Summer is Coming” (2023) Living Wage Study update

Ken Weidner

Although summer starts tomorrow (June 21), we are already a busy time for the Living Wage Policy Study. We are working to replicate my earlier study of living wage policies and practices in U.S. Jesuit institutions and explore the prevalence of living wage policies and practices in higher education more broadly in a period of higher inflation and the aftermath of the Covid pandemic.

I’m delighted that Daniel De Lude (’25) has joined the Living Wage Policy Study as a research associate. Working as an SJU Summer Scholar, Daniel is extending my earlier research on written living wage policies and unwritten living wage practices in U.S. Jesuit higher education institutions (Weidner, 2020). Daniel will be interviewing CHROs and researching institutional websites and using the Just Employment Policy Assessment I published earlier this year (Weidner, 2023). The survey of CHROs at Jesuit institutions in the U.S. will commence this week. Our hope is that all 27 U.S. Jesuit institutions will participate in the survey.

I am surveying institutions and interviewing CHROs from other segments of U.S. higher education beginning this summer and continuing into the fall.

As with all of our studies to date, participating institutions will:

  • receive a prepublication summary of preliminary results; and
  • not be identified in any subsequent publications.

Warmly, Ken

Published: A tool for assessing just employment in U.S. higher education

Ken Weidner

I’m delighted to report that the Just Employment Policy Assessment (JEPA) has been published as part of my article in Journal of Education Human Resources, “Development and Application of the Just Employment Policy Assessment in American Higher Education Institutions.” I developed JEPA for use in my own research; the article explains the most recently updated version of the assessment and demonstrates its utility in various institutions (e.g., public/private, 2 year/4-year, enrollment, location, and region). The complete JEPA is included in the article and it can be used to evaluate either a comprehensive just employment policy or a collection of standalone institutional policies. JEPA is accessible to practitioners and researchers with citation/attribution (no financial cost). If you use it, I’d appreciate hearing about your use of JEPA and any feedback you can provide.

2021 CUPA-HR Presentation

Ken Weidner

I’m delighted to share the news that my research has been accepted for presentation at the 2021 Annual Conference of the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), October 3-5 in National Harbor, MD (Washington, DC). It will be a pleasure to participate in an on-site conference after such a long time of virtual events, and I am grateful for the opportunity to present my work at CUPA-HR again. My presentation is titled “Assessing Fair Employment Initiatives: A Tool for Benchmarking Progress” (1:15 pm on October 4). The 2021 CUPA-HR Annual Conference website contains all of the information about the conference. I hope to see you there.