A union consisting of faculty from several UW System campuses is pushing for state money set aside to retain and recruit quality faculty to instead be spent on student financial aid.
In his 2009-'11 budget, Gov. Jim Doyle set aside $15 million for UW System schools to use for salary increase in order to retain or recruit talented faculty and staff. Numerous studies have shown UW salaries are among the lowest in the nation compared to peer institutions.
The Association of University of Wisconsin Professionals, a faculty union, released a resolution Monday in support of UW-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow's proposal to reallocate the $15 million into funding for student financial aid.
""Right now, with the very difficult economic times we find ourselves in, families need additional assistance with the cost of students going to the university, and part of that is the fact that tuition keeps going up,"" TAUWP President Mark Evenson said.
According to Evenson, the $15 million ""star fund"" is allocated by people who do not have the academic credentials to do so. He said the money does not address the real issue of faculty retention, but rather contributes to a ""bloated bureaucracy"" at universities.
UW System Spokesperson David Giroux said the fund comes with very strict limitations and is only meant to retain and recruit faculty and staff who might receive better salary offers at different universities.
""It is very much a safety net … it's not meant to fix all of our problems, but when an institution is going to lose a person who will create a huge gap in that institution, they might have the resources to keep that one person,"" Giroux said.
He added Doyle set aside a lot of money in the budget for financial aid, and in comparison, a moderate amount for faculty and staff retention. He said both financial aid and quality faculty are important to students, but it is impossible to make a value judgment between the two.
Louise Robbins, UW-Madison professor of library and information studies, is president of Public Representation Organization of the Faculty Senate, a UW-Madison faculty organization. She said affordability for students is a concern, but the $15 million fund is the only way for the university to offer competitive salaries.
""This is the faculty's only way to be assured of any sort of resources for recruitment and retention,"" she said.
