Note from Nathan Fawcett, Cornell director of statutory affairs: The following letter sent from Provost Don M. Randel to statutory college faculty and professional staff summarizes the elements of salary increase programs just announced by New York state. Preliminary information regarding the programs for overtime-eligible employees was communicated by the provost last January: One-time cash lump sums of $550 and $700 have already been paid, and 3.5 percent pools for ongoing salary increases will be available in October 1997 and October 1998. In addition, we are currently negotiating with the State University of New York (SUNY) small, supplemental increase pools for overtime-eligible employees in lieu of the increments and extra longevity step increases that comparable employees in state-operated SUNY units are receiving. With the addition of these supplemental amounts, the pools of funds available to address the salary increase needs of overtime-eligible staff will be comparable in size to those for faculty and professional staff summarized below. Salary increase programs for represented statutory college employees are governed by their collective bargaining agreements."
Dear colleagues:
I am pleased finally to be able to inform you that New York state has concluded salary negotiations for faculty and professional staff at the state-operated campuses of the SUNY system. The legislation that will be enacted to implement those salary programs will contain parallel provisions authorizing the payment of comparable salary increases to statutory college faculty and professional staff. Increases will be authorized for the current year and next, and some provisions will be retroactive.
Our understanding of the overall parameters of the salary programs that will be authorized is that they will provide:
As I indicated in my letter of Jan. 6, 1997, updating you on the status of salary programs, we have been very concerned about the lack of increases for statutory college employees over the last two years and the delays in authorizing faculty and professional staff increases for 1997-98. Given the hardships imposed by the absence of regular salary programs for that period of time, I am happy to report that the above provisions would authorize overall pools for base salary increases that total 11 percent through fall 1999, in addition to the cash lump sum of $1,250 and retroactive payments.
The agreements to provide these salary increases to employees at state-operated SUNY campuses are subject to ratification in September and passage of the required enabling legislation. We are working to ensure that authorization to pay comparable salary increases to statutory college employees is included in the enabling legislation, along with funding for increases paid to our employees in state-funded positions. The statutory colleges must fund increases for employees on non-state-funded lines from other sources of income.
We must also submit proposed guidelines for the payment of our salary increases to the SUNY Board of Trustees for approval at their September meeting. As in past salary increase programs, a significant portion of the pools will be based on merit and not distributed across the board. We expect the necessary authorizations to be in place by early fall 1997 to permit payment of the cash lump sum and retroactive increases as soon as possible thereafter. Staff are working with the statutory college deans to develop the necessary salary increase guidelines and implementation materials for distribution to departments at the appropriate time.
We deeply appreciate your continuing professionalism and dedication during this difficult period and will keep you posted as there are other significant developments regarding statutory college faculty and professional staff salary programs in the coming months.
Sincerely,
Don M. Randel