THREE PERCENT PAY INCREASE EXPECTED FOR FACULTY, STAFF

Katie Johnson

Staff Writer
The University of Tennessee President John Petersen has made a pay increase for faculty and staff one of his highest priorities this year, and according to Tennessee lawmakers, it appears that objective will be met soon.

Tennessee’s 105th General Assembly is expected to finalize this year’s budget within the next week, and a 3 percent pay raise for UT employees is on the docket.

“Higher education employees are a top priority for the legislature this year, and there is a consensus that we should be committed to increasing faculty and staff pay,” Sen. Jamie Woodson, R-Knoxville, the Chair of the Senate Education Committee, said.

Although UT officials are supporting a 5 percent pay increase across the board, Woodson said she anticipates the legislature to approve a 3 percent increase or $900 flat increase, whichever amount is greater based on the individual’s salary. She said the remaining 2 percent increase could go toward merit-based pay.

Woodson said part of the pay raise will be financed by excess funds, and students will not have to make up the difference.

“The legislature has asked the higher education institutions to hold student tuition increases to 6 percent,” Woodson said.

“The budget allots that the majority of the pay raise will be funded by available surplus revenue and other funds that we have available to us.”

Denise Barlow, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, said the Chancellor’s office supports Petersen’s push for a pay raise.

“I think that there’s no question that we’ve not received enough pay raises in the past few years, and we’ve fallen behind other schools,” Barlow said. “In order to recruit and retain the best employees that we can, we need to catch up with other universities.”

According to the Faculty Senate’s 2005-2006 Faculty Salary Data Report, the average UT faculty member earned roughly $68,000. However, according to a salary study at the University of Mississippi for 2003-2004, the average higher education salary at southern institutions was roughly $74,000.

“We consider this a huge victory for UT faculty. About one-third of our membership is faculty. This is great for faculty.” Said Cameron Brooks, an organizer for the Union of Campus Workers-Communications Workers of America, a labor union comprised of some UT faculty and staff members.

Brooks noted that for UT staff, who have lower salaries than faculty, the proposed flat raise holds more significance than the percentage increase. The proposed flat raise increase is below the $1,200 increase advocated by UCW-CWA, Brooks said.

Some other changes included in the proposed budget are an increase in the cigarette tax of 42 cents and a half-cent reduction in the food tax. According to Woodson, the money generated by the cigarette tax increase, an estimated $230 million, will help fund proposed K-12 education improvements.

The General Assembly is expected to reach its final budget decisions by Wednesday. UT is expected to announce the new minimum pay increase for UT faculty and staff shortly thereafter.

UT faculty and staff received either a 1.5 percent increase or $750 flat raise in 2005, and in 2006 UT employees received a 1 percent increase or $700 flat raise.