Budget Cuts Could Affect Salaries

The report states that faculty salaries rose 3.8 percent last year, an increase of 2.2 percent after inflation. The report compared salaries based on academic rank, gender, race and institution.

Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tenn., had the lowest average salary, with professors being paid about $34,800 annually. Harvard University boasts the highest pay for professors, with an average salary of $144,700.

The AAUP surveyed more than 1,400 private and public two- and four-year colleges and universities.

Ruth Flower, director of the AAUP Office of Public Policy and Communications, said faculty salaries have suffered previous cuts to fund up-to-date technology.

"There have been new expenses for universities within the last decade with technological development, and at the same time there was a cutback in state support," she said.

She added that UNC-Chapel Hill has a fairly high average salary, with full-time professors being paid about $103,400 plus benefits, which is about $8,000 higher than the national average for public universities.

But UNC-CH Faculty Council Chairwoman Sue Estroff said faculty salaries will take a hit this summer when the N.C. General Assembly evaluates its budget. "I don't even want to guess what it will be, but it won't be pretty," she said.

State legislators are faced this summer with the task of filling a budget deficit that could climb to more than $1 billion.

Flower said N.C. universities are suffering because of the lack of support from the state government.

"(N.C.) legislators are looking at a major budget deficit right now, and university faculty salaries are one of the first things they cut," she said. "We're expecting there to be a decrease in salaries next year."

Estroff said she thinks the AAUP poll will demonstrate to state officials how important the issue of faculty salaries is to universities.

"These polls are very important because ... the legislators and (UNC-system) Board of Governors need to understand that we aren't carping and whining for nothing," she said.

But Estroff added that salary trends do not change quickly. "I expect change but not progress," she said.

Flower said faculty salaries are based on competition between universities for the most qualified professors. She added that schools also offer competitive salaries to try to keep professors at the university.

"They will compare themselves to peer institutions," she said. "They will look at universities they think they can compare themselves with, and they will raise their faculty salaries."

Estroff emphasized that faculty salaries are an issue that deserve urgent attention because they affect the quality of a university.

"This can only go on for so long," she said. "People will be lured away. It's hard to be the best when you're far down on the list."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.