Remuneration Committee
The Remuneration Committee is normally chaired by the Chair of the Council and comprises external members of the Council. The Provost and President are invited to participate in discussions of specified agenda items, but never participate in discussion of their own salary.
The parts of Remuneration Committee proceedings that address the President’s remuneration are chaired by the Deputy Chair of the Council, rather than by the Chair of the Council. The Committee meets at least twice a year, to review and approve the remuneration of the President and the Provost, their senior staff direct reports and members of the Provost’s and President’s Boards. It also reviews the College’s overall reward strategy to ensure that its remuneration practices are being managed in a fair and equitable way.
The Committee met in November 2017 to receive information on the College’s remuneration strategy, pay and pension benefits, and also to review and approve the salary and emoluments for the President and the staff members of Council.
The Committee reviewed the salary information for the members of Council reporting to the Provost and President. Staff members of Council had received the 2017 pay award applied to all staff so the review was to consider whether any adjustments to pay were appropriate.
There was one recommendation for a further adjustment to pay for a staff member of Council based on the exceptional contribution of the individual and the external market benchmark.
The 2017 pay award also applied to the President whose salary was also reviewed by the Remuneration Committee. The review considered comparable data on pay and benefits from UK higher education institutions, including information on income for comparable size of the institution, expenditure and THE World University rankings; the President’s progress in meeting her performance objectives; and benchmarks including the University Council for Education Administration (UCEA) Senior Staff Remuneration Survey and the Committee of University Chairs Survey.
After reviewing this information and the President's contribution to the College, examples of which are given in the Dual Leadership Model section of this report, the Committee expressed confidence that the President's salary was appropriate given the size, profile and impact of the work of the College. The President took no part in this review. Further details of the President’s remuneration are included in Note 7 to the Financial Statements.
The College recognises that staff engaging in external activities such as directorships is integral to the delivery of its mission, enhances collaboration with partners and creates opportunities to influence and inform policy.
In keeping with the College policy on external activities, the President was granted permission to serve on the Board of Trustees for KAUST University, the Singapore Academic Research Council and the Board of Directors of Chevron Corporation, as agreed upon in her acceptance of the offer to serve as Imperial College London President. In 2017 the President was selected to join the newly created UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Board. These memberships benefit the College by fostering international collaboration, enhancing its global reputation and strengthening ties with industry.
The President’s annual compensation from Chevron, which is deferred until retirement from the board, was $375,000 in the year ended 31 December 2017, comprising $225,000 in shares of Chevron stock and $150,000 cash. She donates the entirety of her remuneration from UKRI (£9,180 per year plus £459 per day for additional service) to the university. She receives $10,000 a year for her work with the Singapore Academic Research to cover incidental expenses. Her position with KAUST is not remunerated.
Given the changing landscape and guidance for the governance of remuneration committees, the committee’s terms of reference were reviewed and Council approved changes to these terms of reference to reflect this revised guidance in February 2018.
The updated terms of reference are:
- To review and approve the application of
- the College’s pay relativity criteria for the President and the Provost, their senior staff direct reports and members of the Provost’s and President’s Boards;
- To agree, in advance, remuneration packages outside the norm and to consider and decide any severance payments proposed for the staff specified above;
- To review the application of the College’s reward strategy on an annual basis to ensure that remuneration practices are being managed in a fair and equitable way. This review to be informed by the following supporting data:
- Details of the across the board local pay award and any variation to benefits for
- all staff;
- Summary information on the application of discretionary pay adjustments for all staff;
- The annual equal pay audit;
- The annual gender pay audit (and other specific protected pay audits as published);
- Pay ratios and relevant comparator information;
- Information on numbers of staff earning a total salary of more than £100,000, with trend data on average increases for the previous five years compared to average increases for all staff over five years; and
- Detail of the individuals earning over £150,000 and the justification for any variation to pay (above the College across the board increase) reported on an individual basis and with reference to the College’s pay relativity criteria applied to all staff.
The Committee produces an annual report to Council covering the areas it reviews. The list of post holders within the remit of the Remuneration Committee as at 31 July 2018 was:
- Professor Neil Alford, Associate Provost (Academic Planning)
- Mr Luke Blair, Vice-President (Communications and Public Affairs)
- Professor Nigel Brandon, Dean, Faculty of Engineering (from 1 Oct 2017)
- Professor Simone Buitendijk, Vice-Provost (Education)
- Professor Maggie Dallman, Associate Provost (Academic Partnerships) and Vice-President (International)
- Professor David Gann, Vice-President (Development and Innovation)
- Professor Alice P. Gast, President
- Dr Simon Hepworth, Director of Enterprise
- Professor Nick Jennings, Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise)
- Mrs Louise Lindsay, Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change
- Mr John Neilson, College Secretary
- Mr Muir Sanderson, Chief Financial Officer
- Professor James Stirling, Provost (to 31 July 2018)
- Professor Francisco Veloso, Dean, Imperial College Business School
- Mrs Sarah P Waterbury, Vice-President (Advancement)
- Professor Ian Walmsley, Provost (from 1 Sept 2018)
- Professor Jonathan Weber, Dean, Faculty of Medicine (from 1 Oct 2017)
- Professor Tom Welton, Dean, Faculty of Natural Sciences