Public Payrolls 2014: NMSU
By Lindsey Anderson, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
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Editor's note: This is the first in the
More than half of NMSU's
The
Most NMSU employees received a 1 percent pay raise this year, funded largely by the state.
Another raise is on the way, including an NMSU first: merit-based raises for professors and instructors.
Top earners
NMSU officials continue to have the highest salaries of all public employees in Doña Ana County.
For the second time, NMSU's top 10 earners all make more than
Their combined salaries total more than
The highest earner at NMSU and in the county -- President
At NMSU, high salaries are not limited to executives.
More employees than ever earn
This year, nearly 250 people earn at least
Faculty pay raises
Yet many NMSU faculty continue to have salaries below the national medians -- or the middle salary -- for their fields.
The university will spend more than
There are 375 faculty members, both tenure-track and not, who do not earn within 10 percent of the medians in their fields, according to NMSU. They make up more than 40 percent of NMSU's faculty.
"We had fallen significantly behind our peer institutions, that it was affecting morale here," Provost Dan Howard said. "It was important to do something to recognize that the faculty here are just as good. ... Compensation is the way in which you help to tell them they're important to the institution."
Faculty Senate Chair
"We ought not measure our value in terms of the monies that are distributed to us, but we do," he said.
Just more than 20 percent of NMSU's staff are professors or instructors.
Officials expect the university may need the next two fiscal years to get all faculty within 10 percent of the median.
Faculty and staff will begin receiving raises in July, funded by state appropriations and next year's tuition and fee increases.
Staff raises planned
Non-exempt staff -- who typically earn hourly wages and receive overtime pay -- will also see pay increases in the coming year.
Staff across the board will likely receive a 1.5 percent pay increase after union negotiations, Andrew Peña, assistant vice president for human resources, said.
More than
The move is the second step in a two-part plan to raise those salaries, he said.
NMSU first: merit pay
NMSU also will implement merit-based pay raises for faculty for the first time.
About
Raises will be based on faculty's annual evaluations, Howard said.
The model will likely be in place for the years to come, officials said.
"We do think that's a good message to send to the faculty ... and that going forward, this is an institution that values good work," Howard said.
Clason said he is skeptical about merit pay.
"The problem that I have with merit pay is measuring merit is really difficult and it opens up issues: who are the fair-haired children and who are the red-headed stepchildren in the department?" He said.
Yet he acknowledged the need to reward NMSU's star professors.
"I suppose merit pay is as good a measure as any," he said. "... We're humans; we like to be rewarded for what we do."
Howard said no faculty will be left behind as merit-based raises become the norm.
"There's a fear that somehow someone who is performing less well than someone else -- writing less papers, doing less research -- is going to be suddenly compensated a lot less," Howard said. "Everybody is going to get something. No one is going to be left behind."
New faculty positions
NMSU will also spend
"The size of our faculty has not increased as much as the size of our (student) class," Howard said.
The jobs will likely be a mix of tenure-track and non-tenure-track positions, he said.
Deans will request money for new hires, then NMSU officials will determine where the new positions will be added, he said. Some may be used to staff classes that are high in demand; others may fill research needs.
"Faculty are the lifeblood of the university," Clason said. "New colleagues bring new ideas. New colleagues help keep experienced faculty on their toes. They help us stay up to date in our fields."
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