Wisconsin Gov. Scott McCallum announced his proposed pay increase for the UW System faculty and staff Monday. The pay raise would come at the rate of 3.2 percent for this year and 4.2 percent for the following year.
The recommendation goes before legislative leaders Wednesday.
'The primary reason for the increase in pay is to make sure you can retain those people whom you need to retain, while providing them with competitive salaries and benefits,' said Kevin Boatright, assistant vice president for UW System Relations.
The UW Board of Regents had previously recommended a 4.2 percent pay increase each year for the next two years. Boatright said that figure was determined by analyzing fellow peer institutions, as well as several other economic indicators.
The decision to provide a lower pay rate met with mixed emotions from UW System President Katharine Lyall.
'I appreciate [that] this recommendation of 3.2 percent and 4.2 percent for our faculty and academic staff is intended to help us strengthen the state's 'brain gain' efforts by keeping our talent in Wisconsin,' she said in a statement. 'Naturally I'm disappointed that the economy doesn't let us achieve the regents' full pay plan request, but we will aggressively work to retain our best faculty and staff and repel efforts to recruit these employees to other states,' Lyall said.
State Employment Relations Secretary Peter Fox stated the purpose for the governor's disagreement with the earlier endorsed rate.
'Frankly, that money just does not exist, and had we authorized this increase, other institutions would have been forced to make further cuts than they already have,' he said.
Although students might be concerned about the increases in tuition that would be necessary to cover the pay hikes, Boatright said that while some of this year's tuition increases could be attributed to the pay raises, most of the money was already budgeted.
The total cost of the pay increase would amount to as much as $116.4 million, with only $12.3 million of that figure coming from state tax dollars. The remainder would be mainly covered by tuition increases.
'Students make an investment in their faculty and staff, and one of the rewards of this increase is that those who attend the UW will see the returns on their investment,' Fox said.
The pay hike could be allocated among the various departments and schools as the state universities see fit. This would allow the university to retain key staff members in competitive areas such as the medical disciplines, the business school and 'in demand' computer fields, according to Boatright.
'The additional money will reward merit and achievement for people in the competitive fields and might play a bigger role in keeping the people we might really want to keep,' he said.
