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April 17, 2014

Most Pitt faculty pay hikes exceed national averages

Except for some Titusville faculty, average pay hikes for Pitt faculty exceeded the average raises for comparable ranks at public universities last year.

The annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession from the American Association of University Professors said the average salary for all full-time faculty members rose 2.2 percent last year, above inflation for the first time in five years. Continuing faculty received an average of 3.4 percent more in pay last year, which is below the rate of increase prior to the recession, the report notes, with pay rates at private-independent institutions higher on average than at public institutions.

The average salary for professors of all ranks at public institutions rose 2.6 percent from 2012-13 to 2013-14, compared to a 3.4 percent increase for those at private-independent schools, and 1.8 percent for religious school faculty.

American universities are experiencing “a continuation of the long period of stagnation in average full-time faculty salaries,” says the report. The report also highlights what it says is a loss of academia’s focus on higher education’s academic mission, pointing to disproportionate increases in the number of administrators, compared to researchers and teaching professors, and higher spending on athletics, even at institutions struggling to find more dollars for classrooms. The report’s authors say that spending per athlete at all institutions between 2003 and 2011 rose 29-35 percent depending on the type of institution, compared to only a 1-5 percent spending increase in funding for instruction.

The report compares data from 1,079 colleges and universities.

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Among public institutions in Category I, professors’ salaries rose an average of 2.6 percent, associate professors’ were up 2.4 percent  and both assistant professors’ and instructors’ pay rose 2.5 percent.

Salaries on Pitt’s Oakland campus, its sole campus in Carnegie Category I (those awarding doctorates), outpaced the national averages: faculty at the full professor rank received a 3.5 percent increase, while associate professor salaries rose 3.9 percent, assistant professors 3.6 percent and instructors 5.3 percent.

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Nationally, on Carnegie Category IIB campuses (those primarily awarding bachelor’s degrees), the salaries for professors and associate professors rose 1.6 percent on average, while assistant professors’ salaries rose 2.1 percent and instructors’ salaries increased 1.7 percent. Salary increases on the University’s three campuses in this category — Bradford, Greensburg and Johnstown — also were higher than those for comparable positions in the U.S.

At Bradford, the average professor’s salary grew 2.5 percent, while associate professors saw a 2.8 percent increase, assistant professors 3.4 percent and instructors 3.7 percent. At Greensburg, professors received a 3.0 percent jump, associate professors 3.5 percent, assistant professors 5.4 percent and instructors 2.7 percent. At Johnstown, the increases were 3.7 percent for professors, 3.4 percent for associate professors, 7 percent for assistant professors and 3.9 percent for instructors on average.

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For Category III campuses (those awarding primarily associate’s degrees), the average pay increase nationally was 2.2 percent for the top three ranks and 1.8 percent for instructors.

At Titusville, a Category III campus, professors received an average raise of 1.2 percent, while associate professors, assistant professors and instructors received average raises of 2.5 percent.

The full report is available on the AAUP website: www.aaup.org/reports-publications/2013-14salarysurvey.

—Marty Levine