University Times

In terms of pay raises, the AAUP annual salary report found that average salaries for all full-time faculty at the 1,250 colleges and universities surveyed rose 1.8 percent from 2010 to 2011, less than the 3 percent rise in the cost of living over the same period.

Continuing faculty nationwide fared somewhat better with an average pay increase of 2.9 percent, but still failed to keep pace with inflation.

“This year’s analysis debunks the myth that faculty salaries are driving tuition prices upward,” the survey’s authors stated.

Continuing faculty raises/Pittsburgh campus

For continuing faculty on the Pittsburgh campus, pay increases for most ranks aligned closely with the national averages for similarly categorized institutions.

Among continuing faculty, raises for professors on the Pittsburgh campus averaged 2.4 percent compared with the subset of 156 public doctoral institutions included in the AAUP report, where the average was 2.5 percent. Pay increased 3.1 percent for associate professors (nationwide average 3 percent), 3.2 percent for assistant professors  (the same nationwide) and 5.2 percent for instructors (nationwide average 3.2 percent).

Faculty member John J. Baker, chair of the University Senate budget policies committee, said: “The average salary increases given to Pitt faculty for the 2011-12 academic year are similar to the average increases given by other public doctoral institutions, although Pitt delayed implementation of its increases until Jan. 1, 2012, for most faculty. Still, most faculty were happy to see the increase, even though it was delayed, in light of the large $40 million cut in state funding that Pitt suffered last year.”

He added, “Pitt’s administration is to be commended for awarding the delayed 2 percent increase under such difficult financial circumstances. It shows they are sensitive to the need to keep pace with inflation in order to be competitive in hiring and keeping highly qualified faculty at Pitt.”

Continuing faculty raises/regional campuses

The report said pay increases for continuing faculty at Pitt-Bradford averaged 1.7 percent for professors (1.4 percent at public IIB schools nationwide); 1.9 percent for associate professors (the same nationwide); 2.6 percent for assistant professors (nationwide average 2.8 percent), and 2.1 percent for instructors (nationwide average 2.1 percent).

Pay increases for continuing faculty at Pitt-Greensburg averaged 1.9 percent for professors (compared with 1.4 percent at public IIB schools nationwide); 1.9 percent for associate professors (the same nationwide); 3.2 percent for assistant professors (nationwide average 2.8 percent), and 2.8 percent for instructors (nationwide average 3.2 percent).

According to the report, pay increases for continuing faculty at Pitt-Johnstown averaged 3.5 percent for professors (compared with 1.4 percent at public IIB schools nationwide); 2.2 percent for associate professors (nationwide average 1.9 percent); 3.2 percent for assistant professors (nationwide average 2.8 percent), and 3.5 percent for instructors (nationwide average 2.1 percent).

Pay increases for continuing faculty at Pitt-Titusville averaged 1 percent for professors (compared with 2.1 percent at public category III schools nationwide); 2 percent for associate professors (nationwide average 2.4 percent); 2 percent for assistant professors (nationwide average 2.9 percent), and 4.6 percent for instructors (nationwide average 4.3 percent).

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Pitt-Greensburg political science faculty member Beverly Gaddy, president of the AAUP’s chapter at Pitt, told the University Times, “Anyone concerned about the health of higher education in the U.S. is likely to find this year’s AAUP salary report disconcerting. Faculty salaries are continuing to fall behind at the same time that tuition rates continue their climb.”

She said: “The AAUP report notes that the percentage change in average real salary for all ranks from 2010-11 to 2011-12 was minus1.2 percent,” adding that 2011-2012 is the third consecutive year — and the sixth year in the last eight — in which the change in average full-time salary has fallen below the change in the cost of living.

“As the AAUP report shows, inflation-adjusted tuition and fee rates increased 72 percent at public four-year universities over this past decade, while faculty salaries at these institutions actually lost ground,” Gaddy said.

The report can be viewed at www.aaup.org.

—Kimberly K. Barlow