Document text
Faculty pay lags at SOU That could contribute to brain drain Bu PETER WONG SALEM -- Todd Zakrajsek has been a psychology professor at Southern Oregon University for five years, and is president of its faculty senate. Teacher Salaries Southern Oregon University 1997-98: Professor: $46,200 Associate professor: $39,000 Assistant professor: $34,300 Instructor: $30,000 Average all ranks: $39,700 Weighted average for 10 comparable universities outside Oregon: Professor: $57,400 Associate professor: $46,600 Assistant professor: $38,400 Instructor: $31,500 Average all ranks: $47,400 SOU percentage of average : Professor: 80.5 percent Associate professor: 83.7 percent Assistant professor: 89.3 percent Instructor: 95.3 percent Average: 83.7 percent Note : SOU and Oregon's two other regional universities compare themselves with 10 similar institutions in other states. Sources: Oregon University System; American Association of University Professors, 1997-98 faculty salary survey But Zakrajsek said SOU and Oregon's other public universities are having a tougher time these days attracting young professors like himself. The reason is simple. In the nationwide competition for faculty, comparable universities in other states pay more. Zakrajsek, an associate professor, said that fact was brought home to him recently. "Based on the salary we pay, if I were an assistant professor coming to Southern today with my family, my kids actually would qualify for reduced-price or free lunches at Bellview Elementary School," he said. "It amazed me that the children of someone with a doctorate would get what are essentially welfare lunches." At first glance, the 1997-98 average salaries of faculty at SOU exceed those for most jobs in the Rogue Valley. The average for an assistant professor was $34,300; for an associate professor, $39,000, and for a full professor, $46,200. But experts say the real comparisons should be made with faculty salaries at other out-of-state universities that the Oregon university system compares with Southern, Eastern and Western Oregon universities. Of the 13 universities in this group, Eastern ranked 11th, SOU 12th and Western last. "When we compare ourselves to similar institutions in the rest of the country, we were below the zero percentile, which is mathematically impossible but was the case," said SOU's Kemble Yates, associate professor of mathematics. "We were so low that we did not even register." Faculty salaries at Oregon's three largest public universities fared little better comparatively, even though the salaries are higher than at Oregon's regional universities. Of the 19 universities in the larger group, Oregon State University ranked 16th, the University of Oregon 18th and Portland State University last. The pay for instructors and assistant professors was relatively competitive at the larger universities. For instructors, it was between 94 and 98 percent of the average, and for assistant professors, it was 92.9 percent at OSU, 90.5 percent at Oregon, and 86 percent at PSU. But for associate and full professors, the averages generally were in the mid-80s; for PSU full professors, down to 76.1 percent. Dave Frohnmayer, University of Oregon president, said those figures are impressive to out-of-state universities that are hunting for Oregon faculty members. "Believe me, those other institutions know it -- and they are raiding us," said Frohnmayer, a Medford native and a law professor. "All we need is a brain drain of our faculty, and our investment in human capital goes down the drain." The Legislature will consider faculty pay as its joint budget subcommittee on education continues reviewing the higher education budget this week. Oregon's public universities were hurt, both directly and in relative terms, when the Legislature cut state support in the early 1990s and forced the system to raise tuition to offset some of the cuts. Mark Nelson, a lobbyist for the Association of Oregon Faculties, said the cuts sent a negative message to faculty. "The Legislature made conscious choices to fund other programs, but it disinvested in higher education," he said. "This session is the first opportunity we've had to gain back some ground." His reference was to a proposed state budget that contains millions for a new system of per-student budgeting for the campuses, which will get to keep the tuition they generate from the students they enroll. The budget also proposes $5 million for targeted pay increases for faculty. Nelson wants $7.5 million. "I want to make it clear that the university system has been seriously undercapitalized for the past decade," said Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber, who proposed $75 million beyond the amount needed to maintain services. "This is the first installment in trying to get them back where they need to be." Senate President Brady Adams, R-Grants Pass, wants $25 million beyond what Kitzhaber has asked. He said the system should be rewarded for its willingness to change the way it does business. "Some of that money will pay for new professors, or existing professors to teach new classes," Nelson said. "To the degree that it filters through the system, it will add to the general atmosphere of improvement." State Rep. Judy Uherbelau, D-Ashland, said students have been able to win widespread bipartisan support to freeze undergraduate tuition because they are more vocal. She also said legislators are more likely to have college-age students of their own. "As a group, I think professors have not been as appealing," she said. But she credited Joe Cox, the system's chancellor for five years and SOU's president for seven years beforehand, for a gradual turnaround in how many legislators view the system. Along with more state support for the system, Cox and the Board of Higher Education have emphasized efficiency and better measurements of student performance and faculty productivity. The turn in direction began under Thomas Bartlett, Cox's predecessor as chancellor. But Uherbelau said the system under Cox is perceived to have shaken off some of its aloofness from the Legislature -- a development that can only help the cause of faculty salary improvements. "It lingers, but I think the feeling has changed," she said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA