By By Jonathan Raymond, News Staff

The Faculty Senate voted to pass a resolution yesterday that would enact a two percent merit pay increase for faculty effective July 1.
The senate voted 15-10 in favor of the resolution, as well as 16-10 for another resolution that would result in an additional one percent market adjustment pay increase to go into effect Jan. 1, 2010 if the full time undergraduate enrollment at that time exceeds 2008 levels by 100 students. Abstention votes accounted for the varying vote totals.
Another resolution, which would have effected another one percent increase in merit pay Jan. 1, 2010 if 2009 undergraduate enrollment exceeded 2008 levels, was rejected, 16-12.
‘We did feel good about the proposal and all of the things that were recommended,’ said finance and insurance professor Jeffrey Born, who sits on the Financial Affairs Committee (FAC) that made the recommendations. ‘We did a lot of research.’
The FAC makes yearly recommendations on faculty wage raises. The two percent figure is a three percent drop from last year, when the committee recommended a five percent merit raise pool, according to an FAC report from April 9, 2008. Merit raises will be granted to faculty members who have performed in a manner deemed worthy of extra monetary compensation.
When the Faculty Senate passes a resolution, it goes to the University’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT), which consists of President Joseph Aoun and the senior vice presidents, for consideration as part of the budget process. The SLT develops the budget in the spring and a recommendation is passed to the Board of Trustees for final approval, said Mike Armini, vice president of marketing and communications. A new budget will go into effect July 1.
An amendment to the first resolution was proposed that would have stipulated a preference in the merit pool for faculty earning between $40,000-$60,000, but the specific wording could not be agreed upon and the resolution went ahead as originally phrased.
Some at the meeting expressed concern with what asking for a pay increase in the midst of tough economic times might indicate to the outside world.
‘There’s a danger of sending the message that we don’t get it,’ said Christopher Hopey, vice president and dean for the College of Professional and Continuing Studies, during the meeting. ‘We have to really think about the message we send out.’
Born said he understood and considered his colleagues’ concerns, but ultimately felt the proposal was reasonable and well-founded.
‘I think part of what we were supposed to do was bring this to the body, and I’m respectful of their opinions,’ he said.