Peers pay faculty more

Kevin Johnson, a TA in the Germanics department, wants to stay in Seattle and continue teaching at the UW after he finishes his education. He doubts, however, he can afford to.

"I would much rather be teaching here in Seattle as opposed to some college in the Midwest, but if I was going to be making a considerable amount more, then that would be a big issue," said Johnson.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the UW leads Washington State and the Pacific Northwest region in average faculty salary, but is far behind its fellow research institutions in California, the Midwest and the East Coast.

UW professors average $90,100 a year, while an average professor at the UC-Berkleymakes $115,900. Washington University in Missouri posted an average $111,500 salary, and the UT-Austin showed $98,800 per year.

Progress is being made to bring UW pay closer to its peers. During the past year, the UW has increased the average faculty salary by more than 4 percent.

"We have been making a little bit of progress in recent years to close the gap. I think that's very important to continue," said Bradley Holt, an associate professor in chemical engineering and chair of the faculty senate. According to Holt, the senate is well aware of the salary gap between the UW and other large research institutions.

"We are competitive at the starting level. The problem is thereafter. We become a farm club for all the other schools. People come here, start their career, become productive and then leave," said Holt. "It's the faculty that do the research, that teach the courses, that develop the courses and so on. So when you're behind your peers that's a problem."

Although the University has made efforts over the past year to stay competitive, it has had problems retaining faculty members, and those wanting to join the faculty, such as Johnson.

"[The Germanics] department has problems both maintaining people that we have and getting the new people to this department because we can't make as high of offers as other schools in California," said Johnson.

Harlan Patterson, vice provost for planning and budgeting at the UW, agrees.

"We are concerned about being able to retain faculty if the state doesn't fund salary increases similar to other states'," says Patterson. "Faculty salaries at the UW have been slowly on the rise, but we are still behind other universities of our size."

According to Patterson, without state support, the UW will have a hard time increasing its salary options, especially with lack of funding for other University needs.

When the state Legislature adjourned in March, the lawmakers had included in its budget a $6.4 million appropriation for Washington's universities to apply toward faculty recruitment and retention. However, when the bill reached Gov. Gary Locke's desk, he needed to make $37 million in cuts to balance the budget, and the recruitment money was a target.

"About 70 percent of (the University's) expenditures are from people. Their salaries are a major part of the budget," says Patterson.

Holt is equally cautious regarding the University's attempts to make progress in the pay race.

"There are a lot of needs in this institution. Buildings, things that don't work, Internet connections ... we can't afford to close the salary gap in one big swoop," Holt said.