Chancellor Harvey Perlman made the following statement on guidelines for implementing faculty/staff salary and wage increases for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. UNL has been authorized to base increases on an assumed salary increase pool of 2.5 percent for faculty and staff.
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Colleagues;
Today we are distributing to deans and directors the guidelines for implementing salary and wage increases for the coming fiscal year for UNL faculty and staff. We have been authorized by the President’s office to base increases on an assumed salary increase pool of 2.5 percent for faculty and staff, but this will require formal approval by the Board of Regents in June.
Raises associated with faculty promotions need to be accommodated with in the total salary pool. This leaves 2.18 percent available for general increases for faculty. The staff increase pool remains at 2.5 percent.
A recent memo from President Milliken indicates that the funds are not to be used for across-the-board increases but rather on the basis of performance and of competitiveness. The funds allocated for salary increases must be used for salaries and may not be used to reduce budget deficiencies. I realize that the competitiveness of our salary structure to recruit and retain top talent for both faculty and staff positions differs from unit to unit. Because the average increase is small, the campus administration has determined to give the entire increase pool to the Deans and Directors to distribute through the departments. We will not retain a pool at the campus level.
The deadline for deans and directors to return information about faculty and staff pay increases is May 27, which will allow time for our budget office to process the information for July 1 implementation.
As was the case two years ago, the last time we had any salary increases, many of you, both faculty and staff, have suggested that we forgo salary increases this year in order to minimize the amount of our budget cuts. I have given this a great deal of thought, and believe that keeping the university’s salary structure competitive is in the best interest of the university’s potential to recruit top talent. I know President Milliken feels the same.
While I know we will continue to face budget challenges in the coming year, and the cuts we face now are painful, we can be thankful in a comparative sense — that we are not facing the draconian reductions that some of our colleagues are facing. The Legislature’s passage this week of the $25 million appropriation for the development of Nebraska Innovation Campus is an added benefit that will allow us to jump start that project and in the long run will serve our interests.
As always, thank you for all of your helpful comments and suggestions and for your support.
Harvey Perlman,
Chancellor