A message from Werner Golling, vice president for finance and administration, regarding the status of pay increases A message from Werner Golling, vice president for finance and administration, regarding the status of pay increases

Under state legislation approved earlier this month, benefits-eligible employees with fewer than five years of state service, and with no previous state service prior to July 1, 2012, will receive a 2.5 percent pay increase. WSU will implement this policy effective with the pay period beginning June 18. The expected cost of this salary increase to the University is $947,000.

The legislation also designated increases for benefits-eligible employees with five or more years of continuous state service if they had not had a pay increase within five years. No full-time, benefits-eligible WSU employees are included as there have been other pay increases during the past five years.

We recognize the good work and dedication of employees across the university, so we are actively interested in rewarding benefits-eligible employees who will not receive an increase through this legislation. We are keeping that possibility alive for January and beyond, depending on fall enrollment.

Once all enrollment-related revenue has been accounted for this fall, we will evaluate the possibility of merit-based or across-the-board raises for the employees not included in the recent legislation. Enrollment is the single biggest factor in deciding the university's ability to offer campus-wide pay raises. For each 1 percent of salary increase to employees excluded in this round of salary increases, the university's cost would be approximately $956,000.

We greatly appreciate the work of all in the WSU community and please know we will continue to look for ways to make rewards consistent with results.

Werner Golling
Vice President for Finance and Administration
Wichita State University