The UW faculty and staff will experience salary increases that are debatably not sufficient for the cost of living and could have rippling effects into the student body.
The University of Wyoming board of trustees approved a $6.2 million plan for increases in salary and employer-paid benefits on March 26. This will include a 1.55 percent market-based raise, as well as a 1.65 percent raise as based on merit.
The increases seen this fiscal year are higher than increases seen in last year’s allocations; however, some staff and faculty members said they feel as if these increases are not adequate and are more akin to “cost of living increases.”
“You have to stop thinking of this as a raise. Every other profession in the US receives what are called ‘cost of living increases’ (COLA) in their pay to keep up with inflation,” Ed Janak, UW associate professor and Faculty Senate chair, said. “UW employees went without that for four years. This is not a raise—it is beginning to move us back towards what we should be earning with a COLA.”
Janak, however, said he recognized and expressed gratefulness to the State Legislature’s actions toward the university this past session, where the State approved another small increase in pay.
In regards to the raises from the board of trustees, Janak said he is concerned the raise is not enough.
“We are below the national average in what we pay faculty across the boards. In particular, senior faculty—full professors who have been here 20 plus years – have been paying what we call a ‘loyalty tax’ for their continued employment,” he said. “This means that their salaries are not just considerably lower than their peers at other universities nationwide, but lower than junior faculty newly hired. This is extremely unequitable.”
While the perceived meagerness of the raise impacts staff and faculty directly, Janak said it will also have an indirect impact on students.
“As students, you should be upset because that means that even when we attract faculty that are the best and brightest in their field, it is a challenge to keep them here due to the relatively low pay,” he said.
Rachel Stevens, president of the UW Staff Senate told the Casper Star Tribune it is difficult to provide merit-based raises to some staff members.
“If you’re a custodian and you come to work everyday to clean your area and perform your job in a professional manner, what counts as top performing? How do you measure that?,” Stevens said.
Marlayna Brady, UW junior majoring in elementary education, said she feels that regardless of the dispute over the size of the raise there will be little to no impact on her education.
“I don’t feel that it would have a negative or positive impact on the way my professors teach in the College of Education and it would not increase or decrease the quality of the education I am receiving,” she said.
Salary raises for faculty should depend on their work ethic, Brady said, adding she supports pay increases based on merit.
“For college and at the university level, I feel as if pay based on merit would be a good thing. It would encourage competition to provide better education for students,” Brady said.
Regardless, Janak said he assures students will not see a negative effect in the quality of their education.
“As an educator of 20 plus years, it is my sincere belief that regardless of how faculty feel about their pay they are professional enough to keep this out of the classroom and not take out their frustrations regarding working conditions on the students,” he said.
Old Main is home to many faculty and staff offices. The board of trustees approved faculty raises last week.
