Kansas University is closing the gap when it comes to faculty salaries, according to a report released Monday.

The average faculty salary at KU this year is $73,861, just $222 less than the national average at public doctoral institutions. Last year, KU’s average salary was $70,032, or $1,869 less than the national average.

“We complain about our raises, but we’ve talked to colleagues around the country who have very little when we’ve had some money,” said Susan Twombly, an education professor and chair of KU’s Faculty Council. “It’s a very difficult problem, and KU is trying to address the issue.”

KU’s average 5.5 percent increase this year was well ahead of the national average of 2.9 percent at public doctoral universities and 2.8 percent at all universities, according to the report by the American Association of University Professors.

KU’s larger-than-average increase was due to a combination of factors, said Lindy Eakin, vice provost for finance and administration. The state offered a 3 percent increase to all state employees and an additional 1 percent to faculty, while tuition money provided another 2 percent raise.

If proposals tentatively approved by legislators are finalized when the Legislature returns to session next week, faculty should be able to expect approximately 5.5 percent again for the next school year, Eakin said. He said KU again planned to provide a 2 percent increase through tuition funds if approved by the Kansas Board of Regents. KU is entering the fourth year of a five-year tuition increase plan.

“If that comes through and the regents approve our fourth year, we’ll be in a position to make progress,” Eakin said.

KU officials said raising faculty salaries was vital to attracting high-quality professors and keeping other universities from “raiding” those already here.

Regents rebut university audit (12-16-04) Audit: Faculty earn more, teach less (12-14-04) Faculty audit (pdf document) Faculty audit, executive summary (pdf document)

Twombly said she was concerned about salary compression — when new faculty members are being paid as much as longer-tenured faculty. She also worries there may be specific inequities still present among campus departments.

“I think there are some pockets of problems those overall numbers mask,” she said. “In general, the university is trying to do what it can to make the salaries of the people who are here competitive and being competitive for those who are coming in.”