Faculty Salaries at UWM
Understanding the Issues and
Suggesting Some Questions
Salary Shortfall, 2005-2006,
Increases by Percentage and Dollar
Amount Required to Reach Median
• For Full Professors: 16.32% or $14,100.
• For Associate Professors: 8.61% or $5,700
• For Assistant Professors: 6.94% or $3,900
Current UWM Mean Salaries by
Rank
• Full Professors:
$91,580
• Associate Professors
$71,891
• Assistant Professors:
$63,835
• Instructors
$55,333
How Much Money Would Fix the
Problem?
• A Back of the Envelope Calculation:
• 243 Asst Professors need $3,900 each.
• 554 Tenured Professors need ~ $10,000
each:
• Bottom Line:
$6,487,000
Assistants:
$ 947,000
Tenured: $5,540,000
Some Propositions
• Inadequate salaries threaten UWM's growth agenda.
• Underpaid faculty are "raidable" - e.g., likely to be
recruited elsewhere.
• A poor salary structure makes targeted recruitment of
faculty and staff for growth initiatives problematic.
• The current situation is particularly worrisome because it
appears that the salary setting system has broken down.
That system requires:
– (1) Regent and System analysis of and advocacy for
the salary needs for unclassified staff and
– (2) an annual local merit review process which
allocates salary increases.
• Neither process worked last year.
Some Questions
• What is the salary package for 2008-2009?
• In the planning discussions for the 2009-2011
biennial budget, what plans have the UWM
administration submitted to address the lag in
salaries at UWM?
• What plans are there in the UWM administration
to bring to the attention of the university's
stakeholders, e.g., our students and their
families, our investment partners in the business
community, and the local political leadership,
that an inadequate salary and merit system
threatens the quality and future of the university?