The recent release of about 3,300 University faculty members' salaries is a reminder of the steady recovery the University is making from the recession of the early 1990s, which forced the state to make massive budget cuts in higher education. But Gov. James S. Gilmore III's budget cuts last week may jeopardize progress.
Salaries for full-time instructional faculty increased 4.6 percent and 3 percent for administrative, professional and part-time faculty. Despite the increases, University salaries still are not ranked in the top 60th percentile among its peer institutions, a goal President John T. Casteen III and the Commonwealth hope to achieve. The University is now ranked in the 48th percentile.
In 1989, University faculty wages were more competitive with other research universities. The University ranked 18th in faculty salaries among the American Association of Universities, an organization of both public and private research universities. But the recession of the early '90s hit Virginia hard, and the state was forced to cut higher education salaries in 1991 by 2 percent. The University's AAU ranking fell to 32. Most faculty saw few wage raises in the next two years and the University struggled to compete with fellow schools for qualified professors. Last year, the University was ranked 21st.
In the last seven years, the University has experienced "a recovery period," University spokeswoman Louise Dudley said.
Administrators of the University and other Virginia schools have worked hard in Richmond to convince the state to make faculty salaries a priority. The General Assembly now has a goal to bring all state institution salaries up to the 60th percentile, Dudley said.
|
But Gilmore's order to cut state spending may disrupt the University's goal for more competitive faculty wages.
Faculty pay increases for the 2000-2001 fiscal year were part of the budget package disputed in the General Assembly, so the possibility exists for a salary freeze in the future. University officials submitted a plan to the state showing how they could reduce spending, but the proposal is confidential.
"The University is attempting to keep our salaries competitive," former Faculty Senate Chairman David T. Gies said. "I think we're in a 'wait-and-see' period."
The real concern among faculty members is the hiring freeze ordered by Gilmore. Spring semester is the height of the hiring season for colleges, and some University department chairs are worried that they will not be able to offer positions to the top recruits.
"Recruitment has been brought to a halt," Gies said. Academic departments may lose qualified candidates to other schools who also have offered them positions.
English Department Chairman Michael Levenson agreed that department heads have faced "grave difficulties" in hiring new faculty. The English department has offered grants that they may now be unable to fulfill.
"If the freeze is maintained and no proper exemptions are made, we would be seriously hurt," Levenson said.
Gilmore has promised to help minimize the impact of the freeze on colleges and universities.
But before the ordered spending cuts, the steady increase in salaries had been going fine, Gies said. "At least things were moving along," he said.
George Stovall, director of the office of institutional assessment, said the University may move up a place in its AAU ranking, from 21 to 20. But this is just a guess, Stovall said, "it depends on what Cornell [the college currently tied with the University] does," he joked.
This year's AAU rankings will be realeased within the next month.
What determines professors' salaries?
Some students may be baffled about why one professor who has been at the University since the 1970s, makes much less than a lower ranked professor who has been here less than 10 years.
But there is no strict correlation between faculty rank and faculty salary, said Paxton Marshall, Engineering School assistant dean for undergraduate programs.
Professor salaries ultimately have to be approved by the Provost, but department heads makes most of the year-to-year salary decisions. They consider many factors, but the two main factors that determine professors' salaries are experience and area of expertise.
For instance, people with degrees in computer science or medicine have many job options other than teaching. To attract professors in these fields, schools have to offer them higher salaries to make the positions attractive. Humanities professors, however, have fewer job opportunities outside of teaching, so they cannot demand as much money.
Who makes the most money?
Most of the top earners at the University work at the hospital and the Medical School because medical faculty demand high paychecks to match salaries the lucrative health care industry offers.
But standout paychecks exist in undergraduate schools as well.
The top earner in the College is Gene D. Block, vice president for research and public service and director of the Center for Biological Timing. He does administrative work, teaches biology classes and directs the center which is studying the "biological clock," and how organisms "know" when to initiate biological processes. He makes $201,000 a year.
The top earner in the Engineering School, other than the school's dean, Richard W. Miksad, is Edgar A. Starke, a material sciences and engineering professor. He is the director of the Light Metal Center and is known for his pioneering work in the development and design of alloys, which are used in spacecraft and aircraft. Starke's yearly salary is $215,000.
The top earner in the Curry School, other than its dean, David W. Breneman, is James Kauffman, curriculum, instruction and special education professor. According to Department Chairman Daniel P. Hallahan, Kauffman's success is based on his strong course evaluations, his extensive publications and his numerous research awards, among other achievements. He makes $145,000.
Read More
Virginia Attorney General Speaks On Free Speech And Criminal Justice Reform
By Vyshnavi Tatta | YesterdayMiyares said pursuing repeat criminal offenders is a more crucial step in reducing crime, saying that studies show a small percentage of criminals commit a majority of crimes.
Student Council passes summer budget, bill supporting allergy policy reform
By Arshiya Pant | YesterdayThe biggest expenditure categories outlined in the summer 2024 budget were CIO Consultant funds and Support and Access Services, respectively receiving $67,000 and $65,950.
New Vice President of Research Lori McMahon aims to work towards U.Va.’s 2030 plan
By Caroline Hagood | YesterdayMcMahon said she was drawn to the University after reading the University's 2030 plan and that she was inspired by the vision of President Jim Ryan and other University leaders.
