Professional and administrative staff take a pay freeze to help the university
The professional staff, administrative staff and senior officers at Central Michigan University will not receive raises for the 2010 - 2011 fiscal year.
The move is one meant to help soften the blow of impending cuts in state appropriations and increasing operating costs university-wide.
At a time when furloughs and budget cuts at businesses and state agencies are making the news, it’s good to see CMU take another route, at least for now.
The administration has a responsibility to make decisions that are the most fiscally sound for the university.
As such, senior leaders also must be willing to make concessions in the name of the institution they lead. Salary freezes may be one of the most effective ways that CMU can overcome budget problems.
The professional and administrative staff make up about 740 of the university’s employees. They will have to pay either 3.2 or 1.2 percent for the same benefits they had last year. In the end, these are small drawbacks that ensure people will keep their jobs.
No one likes to hear there won’t be any raises and that they’ll be paying more for the benefits they already had. Avoiding alternatives like layoffs and overcharging students on tuition however, should mean more than a few extra bucks— especially if students really are the top priority.
Considering too that these are the people that will make the decisions on what the university should slash from its budget, it only makes sense that they don’t give themselves raises. It would be hard for the staff to justify cutting even more computer lab hours or letting instructors go while fattening their own wallets.
Faculty members will soon begin negotiations with the university over a new contract. In the fall of 2008, negotiations between the university and the CMU Faculty Association did not go over smoothly and instructors threatened to strike when an agreement couldn’t be reached. This year, faculty will have to make concessions if they want to avoid layoffs and less resources for teaching.
Additionally, at a time when money is so tight all around, officials need to take care when choosing people for the university’s top positions. These are the people who receive the competitive high-end salaries that soak up a large part of the university’s finances. It’s important the right people are in these roles—those who will be the best stewards of CMU’s resources. Interims need to be faded out, but only after careful consideration of the best candidates.
Those who work for CMU should take notice of this salary freeze. Everyone at CMU—no matter what their rank, salary amount or tenure at the university—should be open-minded and willing to be a bit more flexible as the state pulls itself out of an economic depression.
A group effort to take less money from students says a lot about where the priorities lie.
