When a new president arrives at the University of Wyoming next year, the head of Wyoming’s sole university will find dozens of newly constructed and remodeled buildings, a robust young crop of top-credentialed professors, an enthusiastic and generous donor base, and a legislature-funded scholarship system that recruits the best students from around the state.
But after years of investment in the Laramie campus, the successor that moves into Old Main will also face budget cuts, calls for better salaries and the challenge of finding enough money to maintain the 10-year joyride that UW has enjoyed.
In January and February, University of Wyoming trustees in Laramie will select a replacement for President Tom Buchanan, who took the reins of campus in 2005 and guided it through an exceptional period of growth. The new president will be chosen by a confidential — and controversial — search process that will conclude by the end of February.
The construction boom is gratefully applauded by many. Yet there is a growing consensus that investments in buildings need to be matched with investments in people so the university will remain competitive among its peers.
“The facilities are only facilities unless you fill them with great students and faculty members. … Having these side by side creates a great university going forward,” said Ben Blalock, president of the UW Foundation.
And attached to great faculty is the issue of compensation. UW faculty and staff salaries are 12 percent below the average salary for comparable land grant institutions, according to a recent supplemental budget request. The last raise for UW employees was in 2010.
“I’m concerned if this goes on too long, it makes it difficult for us to recruit people we need to bring in, and harder to retain the really good people that can go somewhere else,” said Mark Northam, director of the School of Energy Resources.
“About 20 professors left in the last year because of pay. It’s not a crisis, but a concern,” said university spokesman Chad Baldwin. “Every year that goes by without a salary increase will make (the) problem worse.”
In its supplemental budget request, the university asked for $5 million to increase faculty salaries, but Gov. Mead recommended about $2.4 million in his supplemental budget letter released Nov. 30. The faculty raises are part of an $11 million package for salary increases across state government.
Legislators may balk at approving UW salary raises to the full amount requested, particularly in the face of Gov. Mead’s recommendation for 6 percent cuts to the university’s ongoing operational budget — about $14.7 million. At the same time, lawmakers will consider Gov. Mead’s proposal of a one-time $70 million expenditure toward a new College of Engineering building.
The outcome of these funding questions will wait until the end of the legislative session. In the meantime, students are crowded around study tables in Coe Library, poring over their books in preparation for the end of the semester.
