by Gloria Diaz
Editorial Director
As the University of La Verne community’s holiday spirits are somewhat dampened by recent news of a budget shortfall, the community is also dealing with a new controversial differential payment plan.
This fall the plan, which provided uneven raises based on discipline, was enacted.
The plan was designed to bring ULV salaries in such disciplines as business and education up to competitive levels with comparable universities, some of which have offered differential pay historically.
But faculty in some departments here are still earning salaries below their counterparts at comparable universities, according to recent findings by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.
And some faculty have expressed concern that the administration’s decision to bring some – but not all – faculty salaries up to parity, has begun to create a rift among the various schools.
“I am concerned with the strong feelings that differential pay has created among the colleges,” said Peggy Redman, professor of education and director of teacher education.
“It is a challenging transition when a university moves toward differential pay, and La Verne is no exception,” said Stephen Morgan, ULV president.
The CUPA data shows salaries in the College of Arts and Sciences lagging behind the comparison groups by as much as 9.2 percent for associate professors and 5.2 percent for full professors.
In 2002-2003 ULV assistant professors in arts and sciences earned $44,506 on average, whereas the CUPA report shows the average for assistants professors in Arts and Science colleges to be $46,115.
ULV assistant professors of education on average earned well above the CUPA average of $47,323 for assistant professors of education that same year.
“Unfortunately, mending needs to be done,” said Richard Gelm, chairman of the History and Political Science Department.
“There are ill feelings that need to be worked through as we move away from our tradition of parity among us all,” Gelm said.
Previously professors in the education and business schools earned more because they were on a 12-month contracts, while most arts and sciences professors had 10-month contracts.
But the contracts for business and education faculty were changed this fall to 10-month, with no cut in pay.
Taking a step toward bringing salaries up to the national average, all University faculty received some increase in pay this fall.
Morgan acknowledged, however, that some departments’ salaries still lag behind competitive levels.
And those faculty feel it in a variety of ways.
“Lack of comparability with other institutions means the University and the College of Arts and Sciences has had difficulty in attracting and retaining faculty,” said Dorena Wright, professor of English.
“I believe that the faculty has been open to discussions to move through the transition,” Morgan said. “It is difficult to know right now where we will be next year because we do not know the (budget) impact on salaries. The goal has always been to bring all to a level of comparability with other organizations.”
