Demand grows for competitive faculty salaries

By Nicole LaPrade

All three undergraduate schools at Santa Clara are requesting more money for faculty in the Financial Operating Plan for next year, citing concerns over keeping salary rates competitive with other universities in the area.

The salary increase will be presented as part of other budget proposals to the Board of Trustees at a meeting Jan. 20. At that meeting, the Trustees will determine the university's budget and will also set tuition for the next academic year.

The requested increase would raise salaries of quarterly faculty to about $5,000 and $6,000 per course, and the salaries of academic-year faculty to about $6,000 and $7,000 per course in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The proposed increases for instructors come after a five-year plan to boost salaries for tenured and tenure-track faculty.

But faced with rising construction figures, faculty salaries and financial aid burdens, the university said at a budget forum last month that it must find new ways to pay for projects and cut costs.

According to Amy Shachter, senior assistant dean for the College of Arts and Sciences, her college has lower salaries than all the other schools at Santa Clara, and the current salary offered to part-time faculty is not competitive with those offered at state universities or local community colleges.

In fact, lecturers who are hired just for the quarter in the college are paid $4,500 per class. Part-time lecturers at state universities, however, are paid between $6,000 and $8,000 per course taught, Shachter said.

Budgets aside, Shachter pointed to the effects of lower pay. She said several departments have had trouble attracting faculty because of current salaries.

"We want teachers to focus their attention on our students. Now, our salaries don't allow that," she said.

The plan came as a result of a benchmarking study that compared Santa Clara faculty salaries to salaries at a number of other institutions in the area.

"We were lagging the market in some disciplines, not in others. So over a five year period of time, we closed the gap. We put more resources into that as part of a deliberate plan," Associate Provost Charles Erekson said. "We need to now address part-time faculty."

According to Budget Director Dennis Roberts, faculty salaries are set to be competitive to other universities in the region, particularly San Jose State University, Stanford University and University of California at Berkeley.

Jacqueline Wender, assistant dean of finance and operations for the School of Engineering, said part time lecturers there are currently paid $1,350 per unit taught.

"The salaries for quarterly lecturers in the school of engineering have not increased in several years and we would like very much to be able to pay at a higher rate," she said.

"It's our general sense that we do lag in the market, from what we've been able to determine, and we would very much like to be able to compensate these lecturers at a higher rate because they're such a valuable part of all the programs that we offer," Wender said.

David Caldwell, senior associate dean for the Leavey School of Business, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Shachter said the last time that salaries of part time faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences were increased was two years ago. That increase was done through the internal readjustment and reallocation of funds within the college's budget.

"We need to be sure that there's a certain quality level for those classes, that you take, that are taught by (part-time faculty). So, our ability to maintain quality is in part what we pay. If we're not market competitive, they'll go to work at Stanford or San Jose State or Cal State, East Bay, or San Francisco State," Erekson said.

Through this redistribution of funds, Shachter said the college was able to raise salaries between 2 and 3 percent, but they still were not high enough to compare to other state schools in the area.

"Many of those that do teach part time at Santa Clara also teach part time at another college or university in the area. They take on three or four different jobs," she said. "That takes them away from having a presence at Santa Clara."

Contact Nicole LaPrade at (408) 554-4546 or nlaprade@scu.edu.