Cardinal Points

Issue date: 4/20/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Shumpei Kishi Plattsburgh State Director of Human Resources Larry Mills said he was not surprised by the results of the AAUP report but he said faculty salaries at PSUC have been increasing.

It was a tough year to be a professor.

Faculty salaries decreased an additional 1 percent at American universities in 2005-06, the third straight year salary increases did not keep pace with inflation. The average college faculty member's purchasing power dropped $518, reported the winter 2007 issue of NEA Higher Education Advocate, and everybody from award-winning professors to guest instructors/lecturers was feeling the pinch.

Now, times appear to be changing.

In the April 17 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, published just weeks after the Advocate released their winter 2005-06 report, a study by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) showed average faculty salaries on the rise once again.

"Inflation is down, and full-time faculty salaries are finally up," said Saranna Thornton, author of the AAUP report. "There's plenty of room for improvement, but these seem to be encouraging signs for higher education."

The report shows overall faculty salaries climbing 3.8 percent in 2006-07, making it the best financial year since 2001-02 for higher education faculty. Subtracting 2.5 percent inflation rate, average salaries rose 1.3 percent, the first time faculty salaries have outpaced inflation since 2003-04.

"We live in a knowledge-based economy, so providing salaries that make professorial jobs attractive is important," Thornton said. "We need to attract the brightest individuals to teach our future generations."

Plattsburgh State Director of Human Resources Larry Mills said he was not surprised by the results of the AAUP report, stating that faculty salaries at PSUC have steadily increased over the last couple of years. The findings of the Higher Education Advocate, however, left Mills scratching his head.

"It's my belief that average faculty salaries did not decline at all," Mills said. "I don't believe this claim is a true reflection of what is actually happening to faculty salaries."

While Mills gives credit to the theory that purchasing power may have decreased among faculty members, he said claims of a nationwide salary decrease could not accurately represent the situation at American colleges.

Mills said he was especially suspicious of the Advocate's claim that PSUC salaries increased 2.1 percent in 2005-06. PSUC faculty salaries actually increased 2.75 percent on Sept. 1, 2005, Mills explained, and went up an additional 3 percent on Sept. 1, 2006.

"These are exact numbers," Mills said. "Since they differ from the numbers reported by the article, it makes me suspicious of other numbers quoted by this publication."

PSUC Provost and Vice President of Student Affairs Robert Golden agreed. Even if the Advocate's data was gathered in comparison with inflation rates, Golden said, the claim that faculty salaries were lagging behind inflation rates might not necessarily be true either.

The AAUP report cited in the Chronicle, Golden said, corresponded better with the information he had heard about trends in faculty salaries.

Yet Golden cautioned that increases in salary did not mean PSUC professors were wallowing in riches. Overall faculty salaries at PSUC are still lower than the average for the other State University of New York (SUNY) comprehensive colleges, a trend Golden said he believes needs to change.

"Our faculty salaries aren't high, but they aren't significantly lower than the SUNY average," Golden said. "Still, I would like to see our salaries someday beating the average pay among SUNY institutions."

PSUC Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Science Ken Adams believes significant increases in the college's salaries are long overdue.

"A few years ago, I remember seeing a listing of salaries of Plattsburgh high school teachers," Adams said. "High school teachers were making more than I was as a full-time professor at a college. That's just not right."

A single year's salary increase means very little, Adams said. Long-term economic trends will ultimately show the direction faculty salaries are headed.

"I do not believe I am adequately paid, and I certainly don't believe my hard-working colleagues are adequately paid," Adams said. "Something needs to be done to make Plattsburgh's salaries more equitable and more competitive with the national trends."

According to PSUC President John Ettling, that decision is not in the college's hands.

"The pay scale is what the pay scale is," Ettling said. "Determining salaries is more complex than many people realize."

Most of PSUC's salary increases are determined by contracts negotiated between New York state and United University Professions, the union to which PSUC faculty belongs, Ettling said. When the two parties reach an agreement, Ettling said, a bill increasing the campus' budget by the amount needed to cover the salary increases is passed by the New York State Legislature and signed by the governor.

Only a 1 percent discretionary salary increase pool is left for the local administration to allot as they see fit, Ettling said.

"Few salary decisions reach our desks," Ettling said. "Most decisions are made by people above our heads. We just follow their orders."

Distribution of the funds in the discretionary salary increase pool is determined by equity, merit, and market, Ettling said.

"Equity" ensures two people of the same rank and experience level in the same department are paid comparable salaries.

"Merit" allows faculty members to be financially recognized for noteworthy accomplishments.

"Market" means some departments of any college command higher salaries than others - an inequality frequently noted in Thornton's report.

"This is probably the most controversial part of salary budgeting, but it's a fact of life," Ettling said. "A professor in our business school is going to make a higher salary than a professor in one of our humanities programs. That's just the way the market works. Certain departments are paying their faculty higher prices, and if we are to remain competitive with other schools, we have to respect those market trends."

Thornton worries the future market for college faculty will not be a good one.

"I'm pessimistic about the sustainability of this success," Thornton said. "Past data trends indicate it will be a while before policy makers understand that you need good salaries to attract good quality professors."

Yet Golden and Mills believe higher salaries may be on the horizon for members of any college department.

"I feel faculty salaries will continue to increase, and market pressures will force salaries in some departments to increase rather rapidly," Golden said. "I really believe the salary trends we are seeing in the (AAUP) report are representative of our future."





Salary Averages

(Annual)



Average PSUC salary:

Professor:

$75,586

Associate Professor:

$59,223

Assistant Professor:

$52,810

Instructor:

$41,144



Average SUNY salary:

Professor:

$75,941

Associate Professor:

$61,458

Assistant Professor:

$51,787

Instructor:

$41,117



Average National Salary of Public Baccalaureate Institutions

Professor:

$76,745

Associate Professor:

$62,716

Assistant Professor:

$51,854

Instructor:

$41,041


Data as of Oct. 4, 2006. Compiled by PSUC Director of Human Resources Larry Mills, VP for Business Affairs John Homburger and PSUC Budget Officer Clark Foster.

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