Wednesday September 5, 2001

Raises will be awarded across the board and on terms of merit

Eligible UA employees will receive raises on the basis of merit in addition to an across-the-board cost of living adjustment in April, officials said.

The increases come from a bill approved last spring by the Arizona House of Representatives that gives state employees 5 percent salary increases for the next two years - a substantial increase from the 2 percent raise given in recent years.

Elizabeth Ervin, University of Arizona vice provost for academic personnel, said the bill may have been partly influenced by the so-called "brain drain" epidemic that led to the UA losing valuable faculty members to other universities.

"Members of the legislature were told there is a high turnover for all UA employees, not just faculty," Ervin said. "The combination of those stories made them determine that perhaps university employees were not being paid adequately."

Saundra Taylor, vice president of campus life and co-chair of the University Compensation Advisory Committee, said the number of employees lost because of low salaries is hard to determine because UA does not use an employee tracking system .

Taylor said if the increase is meant to tackle "brain drain," it may not be enough.

"(Brain drain) could have been a factor in the increase," she said. "I do think it's going to address that, but we will need to see many years of 5 percent increases to compete with other institutions."

She said the state will allocate money to UA, and the university makes the decision about whether to give 5 percent or $1,500 across the board - whichever amount is greater.

Ervin said UA President Peter Likins made the decision to give all full-time employees $1,500.

Part-time employees will receive a lower, pro-rated raise.

"What the president is trying to do is make sure people at the lower end will get a nice, substantial raise," Ervin said.

Those making $30,000 get a 5 percent raise - but employees making more than $100,000 a year are only guaranteed 1.5 percent.

Taylor explained that employees can earn more than $1,500 through a merit program that will use the leftover money from the state, though UCAC is still working on the details of the merit plan.

Once UCAC makes recommendations to Likins and the amount left for the merit increase is calculated, departments will determine which employees receive merit raises based on general standards of performance.

"Different employee categories have different needs," Ervin said. "We have to try to accommodate all of them in different ways."