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Report of national faculty salary increase doesn't reflect current economy, group cautions
Eastern faculty salaries stable despite economic turbulence
Krystal Moya / Administration Editor
Issue date: 4/22/09 Section: News
The American Association of University Professors' report of a 2008-09 increase in faculty salaries across the country has been overshadowed by economic trouble, furloughs and layoffs not accounted for in the statistics.
Eastern has so far avoided the blows of what the AAUP calls a "tsunami" economy, which it says is waiting to crash on faculty salaries. University Professionals of Illinois, the faculty union, said that this is no reason to for the university to take its eye off of the salary issue.
"As far as we know, most of the budget savings for Eastern are coming through attrition, not the reduction of pay or failure to compensate for inflation when contracts will be renewed," said Charles Delman, president of the Eastern UPI chapter.
Blair Lord, vice president for academic affairs, said in a recent interview that Eastern is nowhere near drastic measures such as furloughs, layoffs and pay cuts.
But, his office still proposed a 2.5 percent cut in the headcount of faculty members in order to cut budget spending on personnel.
Pay cuts are not plausible for faculty at Eastern because their base salary pay is protected by a collective bargaining agreement, but the AAUP has cited a few institutions doing so.
Another controversy amidst the report is the fight to remain competitive. Statistics show some institutions have had to drop their starting salaries for professors to patch budget holes, and others must hold raises when contract revisions arise.
Delman said that Eastern should not follow these footsteps if the economy continues to decline in the future.
"Staying competitive in salaries is one of the main things we can do to attract and retain the best of the best," he said. "I mean, what do we have in Charleston, the beautiful scenery? The big city attractions?"
The average salary for an Eastern professor is $86,000 annually. This does not include associate professors, assistant professors, or instructors. This is below seven master's institutions in Illinois and above 10.
John Allison, Eastern chapter vice president, said it is important for Eastern to continue its process of becoming one of the best for faculty salaries, which it has begun over the last few years.
"With fewer faculty, quality in education suffers," he said. "One of Eastern's biggest sells is the student-to-teacher ratio, and when you cut that you lose appeal."
Both Delman and Allison said that as faculty numbers dissipate there are huge effects to the quality of education on the university. Class sizes enlarge, there is less attention for individual students, there are larger workloads for professors that lead to less time to plan for their discipline, they cited. The AAUP also recognizes these consequences of large faculty cuts.
Delman and Allison said that UPI is unsure how the call to cut 2.5 percent of faculty will affect Eastern educationally.
"Really, it is too early to tell," Delman said. "But, I do think cuts could be made in many other ways that might not affect faculty, one of the hearts of this institution, as much."
Delman and Allison did want to caution the disparity in the numbers released by the AAUP, which openly printed that it had some non-inclusions. Factors like how long a member has been present and what discipline they tend to teach all affect salary amounts.
"It really is a matter that everyone should work together on to resolve and study," Delman said. "We all need more information on this but we can't forget about the alarm it has set off. This is an issue that deserves plenty of attention."
Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7942 or at ksmoya@eiu.edu.
Eastern has so far avoided the blows of what the AAUP calls a "tsunami" economy, which it says is waiting to crash on faculty salaries. University Professionals of Illinois, the faculty union, said that this is no reason to for the university to take its eye off of the salary issue.
"As far as we know, most of the budget savings for Eastern are coming through attrition, not the reduction of pay or failure to compensate for inflation when contracts will be renewed," said Charles Delman, president of the Eastern UPI chapter.
Blair Lord, vice president for academic affairs, said in a recent interview that Eastern is nowhere near drastic measures such as furloughs, layoffs and pay cuts.
But, his office still proposed a 2.5 percent cut in the headcount of faculty members in order to cut budget spending on personnel.
Pay cuts are not plausible for faculty at Eastern because their base salary pay is protected by a collective bargaining agreement, but the AAUP has cited a few institutions doing so.
Another controversy amidst the report is the fight to remain competitive. Statistics show some institutions have had to drop their starting salaries for professors to patch budget holes, and others must hold raises when contract revisions arise.
Delman said that Eastern should not follow these footsteps if the economy continues to decline in the future.
"Staying competitive in salaries is one of the main things we can do to attract and retain the best of the best," he said. "I mean, what do we have in Charleston, the beautiful scenery? The big city attractions?"
The average salary for an Eastern professor is $86,000 annually. This does not include associate professors, assistant professors, or instructors. This is below seven master's institutions in Illinois and above 10.
John Allison, Eastern chapter vice president, said it is important for Eastern to continue its process of becoming one of the best for faculty salaries, which it has begun over the last few years.
"With fewer faculty, quality in education suffers," he said. "One of Eastern's biggest sells is the student-to-teacher ratio, and when you cut that you lose appeal."
Both Delman and Allison said that as faculty numbers dissipate there are huge effects to the quality of education on the university. Class sizes enlarge, there is less attention for individual students, there are larger workloads for professors that lead to less time to plan for their discipline, they cited. The AAUP also recognizes these consequences of large faculty cuts.
Delman and Allison said that UPI is unsure how the call to cut 2.5 percent of faculty will affect Eastern educationally.
"Really, it is too early to tell," Delman said. "But, I do think cuts could be made in many other ways that might not affect faculty, one of the hearts of this institution, as much."
Delman and Allison did want to caution the disparity in the numbers released by the AAUP, which openly printed that it had some non-inclusions. Factors like how long a member has been present and what discipline they tend to teach all affect salary amounts.
"It really is a matter that everyone should work together on to resolve and study," Delman said. "We all need more information on this but we can't forget about the alarm it has set off. This is an issue that deserves plenty of attention."
Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7942 or at ksmoya@eiu.edu.
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