Qualified faculty to receive raises

Two salary pieces, the Classification Maintenance Review and the General Salary Adjustment, will take effect Oct. 1.

The Classification Maintenance Review will add 3 to 8 percent to the base salaries of classified job titles - positions with a high vacancy rate that are difficult to fill such as clerical and secretarial positions- while all employees will receive the General Salary Adjustment, which is 2.5 percent of their base salary with a maximum raise of $1,000, Roberts said.

He said the third salary perk, the Merit Salary Adjustment, will add 2 to 5 percent to faculty base salaries based upon merit, performance reviews and teaching credit hours.

As a part of this adjustment, the Legislature approved a $4 million package called the Teaching Incentive Program, effective Jan. 1, which will be distributed to faculty members teaching six or more credit hours.

Of the $4 million, $3,750,000 will be distributed among the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University based upon the 21st Day Teaching Load Audit. This audit will measure the amount of teaching assigned to a faculty member based on a review of their assignments on the 21st day of the Fall 1997 semester.

The remaining $250,000 will go to the Arizona Health Science Center.

Roberts said a 10th-week Faculty Teaching Audit will follow to make sure teachers are in fact instructing their scheduled classes.

He said administrators and faculty are worried those not teaching fall credit hours will not qualify for the raise, regardless of efforts outside the classroom.

"There is a lot of concern focused wholly on teaching faculty, leaving (out) faculty who are not teaching this fall," Roberts said.

He said UA has internally put aside $1 million that the provost will distribute to faculty who contribute to education but who may not qualify for the raise under the Legislature's rules. Fifteen hundred faculty will be under consideration.

"Teaching is important, but so are other areas of service," he said. "We will make money available internally so others also have similar and fair treatment."

Edward Frisch, director of resource planning and management, said the details of the Teaching Incentive Program still need to be worked out.

Roberts said about 82 percent of the main campus' $362 million 1997-98 budget goes toward salaries and employee related expenses.

Student evaluations, Roberts said, will be considered in the review process.

"Teachers earn their salaries depending upon their attitude," anthropology junior Chandra Paradis said. "Some deserve more and some don't give a (expletive)."

Although she said not all instructors are passionate about their job, they deserve to be paid sufficiently.

Aaron Price, a sociology and management information systems senior, said professors earn their paychecks but need to focus more on classroom instruction.

"They earn their money - you can tell - but some are more dedicated to their research than their classrooms," he said.