A recent study ranks Ohio University in the bottom fifth of average faculty salaries among 1,251 universities in the United States. Though this comes as a surprise to few faculty members, university officials say the scope of the study from which the statistics came is too narrow.
For average faculty salaries, OU’s Athens campus placed in the 21st percentile, 22nd percentile and 20th percentile in full, associate and assistant professors, respectively. All were categorized as “far” below the medians of each category, according to a report released by the American Association of University Professors.
The university has made an effort to prioritize faculty salaries, said Faculty Senate Chair Joe McLaughlin, adding that the data signifies that OU has work to do to prevent salaries from slipping any further behind.
Group I faculty members at OU, or full-time faculty, received an average salary of $100,922 during the 2010-11 academic year.
This year, the average jumped to $103,100.
“The university has identified faculty and staff compensations a priority and that’s a good thing,” he said. “But, at the end of the day, it’s less important to identify compensation as a priority in strategic plans than to make budgetary decisions to fund the priority.”
More than one factor goes into improving total faculty and staff compensation, said Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit, adding that the study only takes salary into consideration.
“It does not take into account other important aspects of compensation provided by the university, such as health care and educational benefits,” she said.
Since 2000, OU has had an average increase in full-time professor salaries of $26,500, according to the report. The national average is $36,400.
Ohio State is the only four-year public university in Ohio to land above the median pay averages. OSU placed in the 71st percentile, 65th percentile, and 77th percentile in full, associate, and assistant professors, respectively.
McLaughlin said improving faculty compensation is a priority for Faculty Senate; “however, what matters is how this priority rates in the trade-off with other priorities.”
OU’s Office of Institutional Research and Assessment is waiting for a more complete set of data from AAUP before doing their annual comparisons, said Mike Williford, associate provost for institutional research and assessment.
af234909@ohiou.edu
