To: Tenure/Tenure-Track Faculty
From: Linda Rouillard, Vice President, UT-AAUP
Date: December 15, 2014
We recently reported that the BOT had filed for
fact-finding. Now, they want to return to the table with a mediator. The first
meeting with the mediator takes place on Wednesday, December 17.
Here is a summary of recent BOT proposals for
tenure/tenure-track compensation and health benefits
|
|
BOT
proposal in August 2014
|
BOT
proposal (last, final) on September 26, 2014
|
|
Back
Pay
|
None
|
None
|
|
Salary
|
•
a 3% increase in 2014, 1% in 2015, and
1% in 2016 - a total of 5% across-the-board for the next three years
|
•
$2000 applied to base, then 2.7% in year
1, followed by 2% in year 2, and 2% in year 3
|
|
Merit
|
•
a total of 1.5% for Merit over three
years and 1.5% for Faculty Excellence Awards over three years
|
•
no merit pay, but a possible extra 1% in
year 2, and 1% in year 3, should there be a 2% increase in enrollment
|
|
Health
Care
|
•
employee contribution to health care
would increase to 20%
|
•
employee contribution to health care
would increase to 20%
|
|
Summer
Teaching
|
•
capped at $2800 per credit hour
|
•
capped at $2800 per credit hour
|
As we reported in our
two members' meetings in early September 2014, the majority of members
responding to our survey about the BOT August 2014 proposal indicated that they
would not be willing to accept a contract with such provisions.
Faculty hired since
2010 have seen no raises since their arrival. Faculty members who have devoted
their careers to UT have had no raises in 4 years because the Jacobs'
Administration, with the BOT's blessing, was determined to beat down the union.
On the other hand, the
BOT has allowed administrators to richly reward each other. In fiscal year
2013-2014, as the Administration continued to drag out our negotiations, the
BOT approved over $3 million in pay increases for approximately 240 individuals. More specifically, the BOT
•
gave the VP/General Counsel a $29,040
raise or a 15% increase;
•
moved an Executive Associate Dean to an Associate
Vice Provost position---at an additional cost of $35,000 or a 23.3%
increase;
•
promoted an Associate Dean to an Associate
Provost with a salary increase of over $41,399 or a 40% increase;
•
promoted a VP for Medical Affairs and
Associate Dean to Chief Operating & Clinical Officer and Senior Associate
Dean - accompanied by a $45,000 raise or a 14% increase;
•
promoted the Associate Dean of the College of
Medicine to Interim Dean -added cost of $102,770 or a 65% increase.
If UT's budget can
handle these kinds of increases, it can afford to recognize the hard work of
the faculty.
The $3 million in pay
increases to anyone but union faculty would fund close to a 6% raise for
our 600 bargaining unit members whose total salaries were approximately $51
million in FY2014.
Our UT-AAUP 2008-2011
contract provided 3% annual raises. No raises in 4 years at 3% of $51 million
amounts to $6.12 million. Administrators have had this money long
enough; it's time to share.
