Compensation & Classification
Berea College is committed to a compensation philosophy that is competitive, equitable, and transparent. We believe that every employee should understand how their position is valued and what opportunities exist for growth within our unique campus ecosystem.
Understanding Your Salary Grade
Every staff position at Berea is assigned a Salary Grade, which you can view in your MyBerea Portal. It is important to view these grades as a guiding framework rather than a static “one-size-fits-all” number.
The Lockton Classification Project
We are currently in the process of a campus-wide initiative - the Lockton Classification Project. This project is designed to provide even greater clarity regarding career paths and professional development.
The 17 Job Families
A “Job Family” is a group of roles that perform similar types of work or require similar professional skills, regardless of which department they are in.
The Career Tracks
Within those families, roles are divided into “Tracks” based on the fundamental nature of the work stated within the job description. As defined by our classification project:
The Levels
Finally, within each Track, there are 3-4 Levels. This is where we distinguish between different degrees of experience, complexity, and impact.
How to use this for your Career Development
This framework is designed to help you and your supervisor have more productive conversations about your future at Berea.
| If you want to... | Use the framework to... |
| Grow in your current role | Identify the requirements for the next level within your current Track (e.g., moving from Professional Level 1 to Level 2). |
| Move into leadership | Look at the Management Track definitions to see what leadership skills or budget responsibilities you need to gain. |
| Change your focus | Explore other Job Families that utilize your transferable skills and see how your current level might translate here. |
Transparency is the Goal
By mapping our positions this way, we remove the “guesswork” from career progression. You can look at the requirements for the next level and identify exactly what gaps you might have in education, experience, or responsibility. These gaps then become the basis for your Professional Development goals each year.