Faculty salary increases and health benefits were hot topics at last night's Faculty Senate meeting.
Concerns about salary increases came to the provost's attention after a report showed that last year's 2 percent salary increase yielded an average actual salary increase of only .08 percent for full professors, .06 percent for associate professors and about 1.5 percent for assistant professors.
We are currently in the process of finding out where these dollars are
Provost Stephen Kopp said.
Kopp said there are other factors to consider than the sheer numbers including professor's rank, time employed at the university, retirements, resignations and promotions.
Despite these discrepancies and the fact that faculty salaries at OU are below the state average, he said comparing average salaries by rank is fraught with error unless we consider a number of other factors.
The numbers don't add up to what we put in the raise pool Kopp said. But if you ask - 'Has the mid-year salary increase improved our competitiveness?' - absolutely.
Healthcare benefits were also a major item on the agenda.
According to a senate report, a proposed change to the plan, which would take effect on July 1 would give OU faculty members the worst benefits of all state institutions in terms of out-of-pocket costs.
Ray Stephens, chair of the finance and facilities committee, said faculty members currently pay 10.2 percent of their healthcare costs, an increase from 8.7 percent in 2002 and 9.9 percent in 2003. However, he said costs could be reduced if faculty made different health care choices, such as seeing a primary care physician instead of going to the emergency room.
The senate adopted a resolution for no changes to the current health plan until the issue could be examined in more depth.
I wish we could give better recommendations than a resolution that we not change anything but we can't until we know what is really going on
Stephens said.
In other business, President Robert Glidden said the basic state share of instruction and scholarships would not be affected by Ohio's $270 million projected budget shortfall for next year.
Frankly
this is much less of a burden than I thought we would have to carry
Glidden said. It will make the budget planning much easier next year.
However, he projected that in the next few years an increase of two to three thousand students would be necessary to offset budget shortfalls.
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Andrea Reeder
