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Bringing faculty salaries in line with other higher institutions is the most important issue facing the University of Hawaii, President Kenneth Mortimer says. Mortimer says low pay
creating crisis at UHBy Suzanne Tswei
Star-BulletinIn a budget briefing yesterday before the House Finance Committee, Mortimer said above-average salaries and benefits are necessary to attract qualified faculty.
Faculty salaries lagging considerably behind national averages has caused serious recruitment and retention problems. University officials last year acknowledged "several big losses" after noted faculty left the university.
"We are in a dog-eat-dog, jungle environment for talent ... and money is a fundamental ingredient" to keeping faculty in Hawaii, Mortimer said.
Negotiations for faculty salaries and other matters have stalled between the faculty union and the state. The faculty will be legally free to strike Jan. 29.
The 3,100 faculty members have been working without a contract since June 30, 1999. The last pay increase was July 1, 1998.
The faculty union has proposed a four-year contract with raises of 3 percent each year, plus a $2 million fund for merit pay, said J.N. Musto, executive director of the faculty union.
The state initially offered no wage increase, but later proposed no increases in the first two years to be followed by raises of 4 percent and 5 percent in the last two years of the contract. But the increases would not be across the board but instead be given to individuals at the discretion of the Board of Regents, Musto said.
Mortimer declined to say how much of a pay raise the faculty should receive. But he said he is sending a clear message by speaking publicly in support of bringing faculty salaries to the country's 80 percentile.
"We used to be up there, but we have slipped mightily" in the last 10 years, He said.
In the next 10 years, Hawaii will be "in a vicious competition" for faculty, particularly with California, one of the nation's fastest-growing states, Mortimer said.
At times, the university needs to compete worldwide for the most talented faculty, who often can bring with them large sums of grants to benefit the university.
Mortimer said the university has made salary adjustments to retain faculty but needs to "make sure we reward faculty who are doing exceptionally well."
Merit pay plays an important role in retaining top-rate faculty who can further strengthen the areas in which the university enjoys advantages, such as tropical agriculture and marine science.
In the budget the university is presenting the Legislature, faculty salary remains at the current level of $155,478,240 in general funds.
Once the faculty union reaches an agreement with the state, the pay raises will be presented to the Legislature in a separate proposal.
The upkeep of structures at the university's 10 campuses, including a number of new buildings, also is an important issue, Mortimer said. The university has received funding for new buildings, but not for their maintenance.
"We really need to get up to speed ... like paying our electricity bills," Mortimer said. The electricity and air-conditioning bill for the Pacific Ocean Science and Technology building alone is $500,000 a year, he said.
The university has a backlog of about $167.7 million in repairs and maintenance and another backlog of about $32 million in equipment replacement.
At least $20 million is needed each year to bring current technology to student computer labs, administrative offices and the university's communications network.
Ka Leo O Hawaii
University of Hawaii
