By Jacquie Powers
The Cornell Board of Trustees unanimously approved a $1.43 billion 1997-98 spending plan for the university at its regular meeting May 24. That's 4.2 percent more than the $1.37 billion that is forecast in expenditures this year.
The budget includes a 4.5 percent increase in tuition for the endowed colleges, a projected 4.7 percent net increase in investment income, an expected 14.7 percent decrease in unrestricted gifts and a 2.5 percent decrease in restricted operating gifts from 1995-96.
Also included in the budget plan is a 3 percent pool for salary improvements for faculty in the endowed colleges, plus an additional 2 percent pool for equity pay increases, President Hunter Rawlings told trustees.
A 3 percent merit pool also is included for employees in the endowed colleges and units, Rawlings said, with an additional 1 percent for equity increases.
He said distribution of the monies will be based on merit and at the discretion of administrators in each college and unit, and, therefore, not all faculty and staff members will receive the same salary increase. However, he said this is the first year of a four- to five-year program being undertaken to improve salaries and correct inequities that have resulted over many years.
"This is a first step in rectifying some of the pay issues that exist across the campus," Rawlings said. "We recognize that this pool will not be sufficient to address all pay issues at Cornell, but it's a start and an important one."
The salary increase pools do not apply to faculty and staff in the statutory, or state-supported, colleges and units, whose salary increases await the conclusion of negotiations between the state of New York and representatives of State University faculty and staff. They also do not apply to members of any campus collective bargaining unit. Contract negotiations currently are under way between the university and United Auto Workers Local 2300, which represents about 1,100 service workers on campus.
"Compensation issues specific to the UAW-represented employees will be addressed at the bargaining table," Frederick A. Rogers, senior vice president, said.
Peter C. Stein, dean of the faculty, also addressed trustees on compensation and funding issues. Stein presented the board with a resolution passed by the Faculty Senate on March 12 that urges the board to "commit itself to a course of action to bring Cornell endowed and statutory faculty salaries to a position consistent with its scholarly and professional standing within three to five years" and to "support a plan to generate new funding for the graduate program."
Stein argued that faculty salaries have declined significantly over the past decade in comparison with faculty salaries at peer institutions and that enrollment in some Ph.D. programs has declined as well. He said faculty members feel strong measures are necessary to reverse these trends if Cornell is to maintain its reputation and quality as a leading research university.