For the second year in a row, the average salary for faculty members at colleges and universities nationwide increased at a rate less than inflation, according to a new study.
The report, gathered data from more than 1,300 institutions, found salaries increased by 0.9 percent for faculty members in all categories from public institutions, according to the American Association of University Professors’ annual faculty salary report.
“The results … are only marginally better than last year and represent the continuation of a historic low period for faculty salaries,” the release stated.
At Ohio University, all faculty and staff received a 1 percent pay raise in July 2010. In addition to the across-the-board raise, Group I tenure-track faculty were eligible for a $750,000 merit pool.
Merit pool distribution was determined by criteria set up by each individual college and given to top-performing faculty.
Public university presidents’ salaries averaged about $233,847 for the 2010-11 school year, according to the AAUP report.
The numbers from the report are disheartening, said Norma Pecora, president of OU’s AAUP chapter and professor in the school of media arts and studies. OU faculty have received less than a 2 percent salary increase during the past 3 years, she added.
“The outcome is a general dissatisfaction with the system,” Pecora said. “Especially when we see the over-bloated administrative salaries and the amount of money that goes into things like Intercollegiate Athletics, to us it is just one more way in which the values of faculty, who are the heart of all of the university, are disregarded.”
The AAUP report emphasized a gap between faculty salaries, an increasing use of part-time or non-tenure track faculty and presidential salaries, said John Curtis, AAUP’s director of research and public policy.
“I think there is a real concern as to where we’re going to be able to attract the best faculty members … whether we’re going to be able to maintain the same quality of education in those institutions,” Curtis said.
Curtis added he was surprised by how much presidential salaries have grown, given the lack of increase in other categories.
While OU President Roderick McDavis makes $383,800 a year, he is ranked seventh out of 10 for public institutions in Ohio, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
“It’s better to look at whole states compared to whole states when you look at that kind of data. … We know that when we look at national data, the state of Ohio differs from the rest of the country,” said Becky Watts, chief of staff to McDavis.
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