There is nothing more important to a major university than high quality faculty members.
So, when university leaders in Kansas see top faculty members leaving their institutions, they are right to sound the alarm, particularly when those faculty members are leaving for positions at comparable or lesser schools that are able to offer larger salaries.
Money isn’t everything in a job, but it is a tangible way to show an employee that his or her work is valued. Because of state funding cuts, faculty members at Kansas University and some other state universities have gone without pay raises for two years. It only makes sense that stagnant salaries would make top faculty members more likely to consider job offers at other universities.
It’s a situation the state can’t afford to ignore. According to university officials, even small raises would send a positive message to faculty members. If tax money isn’t available for those raises, the state and university officials need to get creative. KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little noted, for instance, that some schools have reallocated funds or dedicated a portion of tuition revenues to increased salaries.
Even in a tight economy, many public employees — including Lawrence and Douglas County workers — have received at least small raises. State universities need to find a way to send a monetary message of support to the faculty members who are so important to maintaining the excellence of their educational product.
Comments
toe 2 years, 6 months ago
They should worry more about the loss of public support.
Jeteras 2 years, 6 months ago
Heaven forbid we had to sacrifice our lifestyle a little bit,,,, geeez.. If you cannot maintain your lifestyle "without" a pay raise then you are in a pretty bad situation!
consumer1 2 years, 6 months ago
More BS. What about other state employee's or county employees, or city employee. They havn't had a raise in at least six years and they work for alot less. Sounds like self important crybabies to me.
consumer1 2 years, 6 months ago
And State employees do their own work. They don't have grad students doing their work or Undergrads doing research they put their names on.
none2 2 years, 6 months ago
There is a big difference between a faculty member and most other state employees. Good faculty establishes the reputation of a university which in turn brings money and prestige to the state. If the faculty is good yet are underpaid from their peers, they will simply eventually leave.
Whereas many of the other governmental employees simply want to whine about how they are such good public servants and are horribly underpaid compared to those of us who are supposedly rich because we work in the private sector. Considering that plenty of us "rich" employees haven't had increases in years, the whining of state employees falls on deaf ears. If you don't like your salary, then just leave. Kansas tax payers would be better off. The same cannot be said if KU's reputation sinks more from the loss of good faculty. If KU tanks, Lawrence would be just an unimportant Kansas town.
none2 2 years, 6 months ago
Why don't you get off your pity pot. Oh poor us; we are slaves; we work hard, we deserve more money -- regardless of what the economy is or the Kansas tax payers are burdened with.
Grow up. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued almost 140 years ago. If you don't like your job, LEAVE. Good luck getting rich like you think the rest of us are.
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