Incentive pay plan process is under way

By Amy Geiszler-Jones

A voluntary review program that would give full professors at WSU a $5,000 raise underwent some finishing touches last week.

By starting such a program, WSU becomes one of Kansas' first public universities to address what has become a concern statewide - faculty salaries.

Faculty pay at Kansas universities has continued to fall behind those nationwide. Aggravating the issue is the decades-old phenomenon called "salary compression."

As competition for faculty increases so does the market rate for starting salaries, but the salaries of those individuals already in place haven't kept up. That situation is known as salary compression.

In April, President Beggs proposed a plan that called for boosting the pay raises for faculty promoted to associate and full professor to $3,000 and $5,000, respectively. The pay raises were made retroactive to fiscal year 1995.

A second part of that enhanced pay plan is an incentive program that would allow professors to apply for raises that would be based on their continued activity in teaching, research, creative activity and public service.

The plan, which longtime faculty member A.J. Mandt called "the most serious effort in the whole (regents) system to deal with this," has been well received among faculty.

On a voluntary basis, professors who have held that rank for at least six years can apply for the pay raise. The plan would allow professors to re-apply every six years after receiving the raise.

"We're trying to reward loyal, long-term service by faculty," said Mandt, Faculty Senate president. "The standard will be 'Are you continuing to perform at the level that earned full professor for you.'"

Until now, professors received increases only through departmental raises or by being selected to hold one of WSU's dozen or so endowed positions.

Under the new program, professors may continue to also receive departmental raises, according to Peter Zoller, interim vice president for academic affairs.

"I think it's an excellent idea, and I don't think you'll find any other point of view from any other professor who is eligible," said Buma Fridman, professor and chair of the mathematics and statistics department.

Larry Davis, professor and chair of the English department echoed those comments. "It's a good idea, especially for the English department which has many of the lowest paid professors in the university."

Another indication of the plan's popularity is the fact that nearly 40 eligible professors have indicated they want to go through the review process.

The high number of applicants "reflects that we have a very good faculty who have kept up their teaching, research and service," Zoller said. "This plan reflects the (administration's) belief that the appropriate way to reward tenured faculty is through a voluntary review program."

The Faculty Senate and Zoller will recommend to Beggs that the tenure and promotion review process be followed for this new incentive program.

The review process would include a departmental review by peers and reviews by both the college-level and university-wide T&P committees. Elected faculty of all ranks sit on those committees.

The departmental review drew the most concerns during the senate's discussion of the plan in its Aug. 30 meeting. More than half the departments with eligible professors will be unable to put together a three-member review committee of full professors. That means peers outside their discipline would review some professors. A number of senators said they realized that this situation was unique to the program's first year and that as enough professors go through the program, that issue would be less prevalent.

The new pay raises will be the first supported when money for raises is given to the university from the state.