MU will continue plan to increase faculty salaries

COLUMBIA — Despite the uncertainty of the current economy, MU will continue its plan to improve faculty salaries.

Faculty pay is scheduled to increase 7 percent over the next three years, MU Budget Director Tim Rooney said.

Only a major shift in university finances would alter the plan, Rooney said.

Salaries have lagged behind those at MU's peer institutions for several years after cuts in the early part of the decade. Raises were modest or nonexistent after a drop in state funding in 2002.

Should the university face additional budget cuts, Rooney said areas such as campus maintenance and administrative costs would be affected before faculty pay.

Nikki Krawitz, UM System vice president of finance, emphasized that academics are the "last to be cut" when the budget gets tight.

"(We are) trying to protect the academic experience, teaching and learning," she said.

Krawitz listed cuts in administrative costs, cuts in utilities and combining services as steps to be taken before slicing into the academic budget.