2008 Woodie Awards
Faculty vote down raise delay for adjuncts
Administrators asked faculty to postpone $500,000 in raises until June; raise endorsed by 3-to-1 margin
By: Jonathan Kleinow
Issue date: 12/8/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
At a faculty meeting Dec. 6, faculty members decisively approved a resolution affirming salary increases for adjunct faculty originally intended for the fall 2005 semester should be implemented in January. At the meeting, which was closed to students and media, administrators asked the faculty to postpone the raise further, until June 1, so the raise would fall in the 2006-2007 budget cycle.
According to Faculty Senate President Jim Brasfield, the faculty voted about 3-to-1 to recommend the administration implement the raises in the spring semester. About 100 faculty members attended the meeting, Brasfield said.
Salary and benefits for employees, including faculty, make up about 60 percent of the budget, Brasfield said.
"Historically, every other year, the administration has increased the base salary of adjuncts," Brasfield said.
Postponing the raise would have saved about $500,000 of $2.5 million administrators hope to cut from the university's budget for the spring semester.
The raises amount to $50 to $100 per class each semester, Brasfield said.
During the meeting, Vice President of Academic Affairs Neil George and Vice President of Finance David Garafola gave a presentation detailing the budget shortfall. Enrollment shortfalls at military campuses and the Geneva campuses were cited as the reason for the cuts.
Chair of International Languages and Cultures Brian Kennelly said the faculty vote was a strong statement from the faculty that salaries and benefits that have been decided on should not be renegotiated later.
"When we are bargaining with the administration and we come up with an agreement, we don't take that to mean the agreement can be modified later," Kennelly said.
While he does not envy the administration's difficulties in trying to make budget cuts carefully, he said he hoped the vote would not force the administration to make more serious cuts that would affect academics.
"I'm certainly hoping that because we voted this way, they're not going to take it out on us, and I'm cautiously optimistic that the cuts will be spread around equitably," Kennelly said.
According to Faculty Senate President Jim Brasfield, the faculty voted about 3-to-1 to recommend the administration implement the raises in the spring semester. About 100 faculty members attended the meeting, Brasfield said.
Salary and benefits for employees, including faculty, make up about 60 percent of the budget, Brasfield said.
"Historically, every other year, the administration has increased the base salary of adjuncts," Brasfield said.
Postponing the raise would have saved about $500,000 of $2.5 million administrators hope to cut from the university's budget for the spring semester.
The raises amount to $50 to $100 per class each semester, Brasfield said.
During the meeting, Vice President of Academic Affairs Neil George and Vice President of Finance David Garafola gave a presentation detailing the budget shortfall. Enrollment shortfalls at military campuses and the Geneva campuses were cited as the reason for the cuts.
Chair of International Languages and Cultures Brian Kennelly said the faculty vote was a strong statement from the faculty that salaries and benefits that have been decided on should not be renegotiated later.
"When we are bargaining with the administration and we come up with an agreement, we don't take that to mean the agreement can be modified later," Kennelly said.
While he does not envy the administration's difficulties in trying to make budget cuts carefully, he said he hoped the vote would not force the administration to make more serious cuts that would affect academics.
"I'm certainly hoping that because we voted this way, they're not going to take it out on us, and I'm cautiously optimistic that the cuts will be spread around equitably," Kennelly said.