The Budget Planning Council is considering a recommendation for a university-wide raise freeze for next year to help ease budget woes.
The council will vote on the recommendation to President Roderick McDavis Friday, which, as it currently stands would keep all employees - including administrators - from receiving a raise next year. A pay freeze would require approval from the Board of Trustees, which meets next week.
This is a big deal
said Pete Wickman, president of Graduate Student Senate.
The senate held an emergency meeting last night to address the proposed recommendation and passed a resolution asking that employees and graduate students earning less than $30,000 a year be exempt from the pay freeze.
The freeze would fall on them especially hard said Paul Isherwood, the senate's vice president for finance and outreach and a cosponsor of the resolution.
Kent Smith, vice president for Student Affairs, recommended exempting people who make less than $30,000 a year at the council's meeting last week and the senate wanted to take a stance, said Stephan Oechsle, vice president for committees and legislative affairs on the senate.
The senate is not doing this out of self-interest and wants to help find solutions, but placing a salary freeze on people who earn less than $30,000 a year is really aggressive Isherwood said.
It's not the kind of message we want to be sending
he said.
The senate wants to be able to protect the most vulnerable employees, Wickman said.
It is too early to speculate exactly how much money this could save or exactly who would be included in the pay freeze, said Katie Quaranta, a university spokeswoman.
Oechsle said that in order to achieve goals outlined in Vision Ohio, it is important that graduate students are able to receive pay raises to stay competitive with peer universities.
If this freeze continues
we aren't going to grow in research of all of the areas
said Alyssa Thomas, senator from the College of Arts and Sciences and a cosponsor of the resolution.
She added that most, if not all, graduate students would fall under the $30,000 exemption.
The recommendation from the Budget Planning Council is still in the planning stages, and many details still need to be worked out, Wickman said, adding that the council is considering other cost-cutting measures.
There are different strategies to hit a moving target
Wickman said. This is one possible strategy
but there are others.
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