97-05-02 Trustees: Raise Package

TRUSTEES APPROVE RAISE PACKAGE, 3 PERCENT

     COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University’s Board of Trustees
Friday (5/2) approved a 3 percent budget increase to the
university’s salary pool for faculty, staff and student employee
raises to take effect July 1.  Individual employees could receive
more or less than the average increase, based on performance and
the need to address equity.

     “We think this is a decent package,” said William J.
Shkurti, vice president for finance.  “Given the resources
available, it represents a commitment to keep up the purchasing
power of faculty, staff and student employees.  We would like to
do more, and we will continue to monitor raises across the
country.  We’ll take a look again in fiscal 1999 at what we need
to do to stay competitive and make appropriate adjustments as
funds permit.”

     “The package is in line with salaries at comparable
institutions, which are expected to increase between 3 percent
and 3.5 percent during the next 12 months,” said Larry Lewellen,
acting vice president for human resources.

     Ohio State continues to recover ground lost in the early
1990s when there were little or no salary increases because the
state slashed $80 million from instructional subsidies.  However,
for faculty salaries, Ohio State still falls 5.7 percent below
the target position of 25th in the Association of American
Universities pay scales.

     And staff salaries at Ohio State University remain
substantially lower than local and regional market averages,
according to comparative studies from the Office of Human
Resources.  The university is 7.7 percent below market for
managers and administrators, 5.6 percent below for professional
staff and 14.8 percent below for paraprofessional and technical
staff.

     For classified civil service positions, the university falls
5.7 percent under market rates.  This figure is skewed by the
state government, which pays comparable civil service positions
considerably more.

     Separate compensation packages are being developed for
University Hospitals and for employees under collective
bargaining contracts.

                               #

Contact: Cathy Cooper, director of human resources
administration, (614) 292-4164.


[Submitted by: Von Vargas  (vargas.12@osu.edu)
               
Fri, 2 May 1997 16:46:07 -0400 (EDT)]
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