Professors’ wallets at the University may be a little lighter than those of their colleagues at similar universities. According to a University Senate Budget Committee report, professors at the University continue to make less money than their peers at comparable institutions.
Despite a detailed long-term plan and a goal of achieving 95 percent salary parity with other institutions, the University lost ground last year in its efforts to provide faculty members with competitive pay.
The failure raised questions about the University’s ability to recruit and retain good professors.
“I think everyone’s aware that low salaries hurt the ability to recruit faculty as well as retain faculty,” Greg McLauchlan, former president of the University Senate, said.
In 2002-03, the University raised salaries and benefits by an average of 5 percent, from $61,600 to $64,800. The increase reflects raises related to faculty retention, promotion and post-tenure review, as well as cost-of-living raises and the increasing cost of providing benefits.
Institutions comparable to the University, however, provided even greater raises over the last three years. As a result, the University’s salaries slipped by 1.1 percent compared to similar universities.
This contradicts the University’s goal, stated in the May 14 report, “to increase average faculty compensation a minimum of 2.5 percent per year over and above the performance of our comparators until we achieve the 95 percent goal” of salary parity with other universities.
The “White Paper,” as the ongoing project is known, estimated in March 2000 that it would take five to seven years to accomplish this goal.
At the end of 2002-03, the University paid assistant, associate and full professors an average of 87.8 percent of what comparable institutions paid.
The other universities, chosen by the Oregon University System, include the University of California-Santa Barbara, the University of Colorado-Boulder, the University of Indiana-Bloomington, the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the University of Virginia and the University of Washington.
Despite the University’s lower salaries, newly hired professors said that they weren’t scared away.
“There are many factors that influence the decision (to accept a job),” Marcin Bownik, a newly hired assistant professor of mathematics, said. “Oregon’s medical benefits are quite good.”
Bownik also entertained offers from Kansas State University, Oklahoma State University and Iowa State University.
“One (salary offer) was much lower, one was about the same and one was a little bit higher,” Bownik said.
An avid hiker and camper, Bownik said he was also swayed by the Eugene area’s outdoor recreation opportunities.
Another recently hired professor echoed sentiments that there was more to his decision than monetary considerations.
“The dollar amount is different, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a better or worse offer,” geological sciences assistant professor David Schmidt said.
One University administrator said he’s been able to offer competitive salaries.
“We’ve gotten our first choices,” School of Journalism and Communication Dean Tim Gleason said. “Salary is only one factor in any recruiting scenario.”
Average University faculty salaries for this school year should be available the first week of November, according to Andrea Larson, senior research analyst and database manager for University Resource Management.