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UW faculty, staff likely to face decreases in net pay

Lack of layoffs keeps workers happy amid tight budget struggle

The absence of a pay plan in Gov. Jim Doyle’s budget proposal may cause the University of Wisconsin System faculty and staff to experience a net pay decrease in the 2009-10 fiscal year.

According to UW System spokesperson David Giroux, the budget not only excludes state resources for faculty and staff, but there will not be pay increases for any state employee in the next two years.

Since UW provides relatively low salaries to faculty and staff in comparison to other universities, Giroux said he hopes the exclusion of increased faculty pay doesn’t initiate a problem when the university looks to hire commendable employees in the future.

“Hopefully, we’ll maintain the status quo,” Giroux said. “The challenge is that our status quo is never very good. We began this economic crisis lagging most our competitors for faculty and economic staff [salaries], so we’ll come out the other end in that same trailing position, hopefully no further behind.”

According to Steve Schroeder, assistant dean of the UW School of Business, teachers are not surprised by the lack of pay raises, especially because of the current economic climate.

However, the lack of teacher layoffs has alleviated the stress of many faculty and staff members, Schroeder added.

“When we’re trying to fill basic needs, of course there are going to be no raises to people,” Schroeder said. “The staff seems more relieved that there aren’t any layoffs, so I’ve certainly not seen any type of uproar.”

In comparison to the rest of the country, the UW System has been very fortunate in regards to Doyle’s budget recommendations, Schroeder added.

Though economic pressures are high, Giroux said the $15 million set aside for faculty recruitment and retention can help outweigh a small portion of the net pay decrease for faculty and staff.

“It possesses the ability to make a small increase in specific funds,” Giroux said. “But $15 million may sound like a lot of money, but it’s not a very big pot of resources once it gets divided among all the other campuses.”

Of the budget, $9.8 million comes from state tax dollars and the remainder is derived from fees and programs revenue, Giroux added.

Giroux said the system appreciates any type of revenue and hopes the budget proposal survives the coming legislative decisions.

“We’re a long way from the finish line,” he said, “and a long way from discovering exactly what the situation will be for the next two years.”