The University of Hawaii is including for the first time in its budget request to the Legislature a figure for future pay raises for its faculty. Faculty raises in UH
budget request
By Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com"This is a historic request since the regents for the first time are demonstrating by their request a direct relationship between the programs, teaching and research of the university to the salaries they can afford the faculty," University of Hawaii Professional Assembly Executive Director J.N. Musto told state lawmakers yesterday.
"We have never in this state looked at the totality of the university to see where salaries fit in with other programs."
The union and the university currently disagree on what that number should be. UH's budget request is for $29 million for faculty raises at its 10 campuses over the next biennium budget beginning July 1, while Musto says that number should be closer to $40 million.
If the bill is passed as is, it would give a promise to UH faculty that there would be a minimum of $29 million available for pay raises over two years.
Both sides agree that including the figure in the UH budget gives the university more autonomy over funding and negotiating salaries and would also help to attain competitive faculty salaries.
"I think as soon as we drop this to a separate appropriation outside of what the university's budget is, we give the impression that the state is entirely responsible for that salary increase," Musto said.
Deane Neubauer, interim vice president for academic affairs, said the university's budget request is "an initial target number that we wanted to put in to signal the fact that we are doing something unique here, which is to reflect legislative support in the base (budget) for the augmentation of salaries."
Rep. Mark Takai (D, Waimalu), chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, questioned how the negotiations process would work. "It just kind of seems out of the ordinary for the university, as part of its budget proposal, to submit even before contract negotiations have been finalized a (salary increase) number."
This comes on the heels of study by JBL & Associates, paid for by UH and the union, that compared UH faculty salaries with comparable institutions.
"The report will clearly demonstrate that the salaries of UH are significantly behind those of mainland institutions and will continue to fall if there is no immediate adjustments to salaries," Musto said.
Neubauer said the budget request shows President Evan Dobelle's commitment to his pledge to increase faculty salary to competitive levels and to reach the goal of pushing UH salaries to the 80th-percentile mark.
The goal of making UH more accountable for faculty began at the end of the faculty strike that occurred two years ago, when the settlement reached included a 2 percent raise that was to be funded by reallocation of UH rescues, officials said.
University of Hawaii
