Did your institution give raises this year?

[clean]

Our enrollment is flat.  No raises this year.

Since COVID we have had 2 raises.  Neither more than 2 percent.  Of course inflation has been much higher.

One year we got a 'bonus' instead of a raise.  The idea was that instead of a raise, we would get this 'bonus' and IF by the end of the year they felt they could sustain it, it would be factored into the base.  (It was not sustained).  So the next year they did give a raise, but it did not factor in the bonus, so essentially, we got a bonus in year 1, then  they claimed that we got the raise the next year... net effect, admin claims they gave us a bonus and Then a raise.... however, paychecks in real terms continue to fall!   

(In real terms, even after 2 promotion raises and a bump for post tenure review, I make less now than when I was hired as an assistant professor 22 years ago)

What is the state of your university?  Raises recently?  Keeping up with inflation? 

A coworker retired probably five years ago now, after working here for more than 30  years.  He had aggressively saved for retirement, but because state raises are so low and inconsistent, his Required Minimum Distributions from his retirement accounts were more than his university pay!  It is hard to stay employed when you get a raise to retire!   Im working to be in such a situation, and with no raises, it is getting easier and easier every day! 

What is YOUR Plan?

[lightning]

We got raises, but way below real inflation rates of the last two years.

[Parasaurolophus]

Yes--retroactive raises from the government. Plus from the contract negotiations (unfortunately, those contracts were so overdue that they're already over and negotiations for the new batch began immediately).

The raise was a couple percent.

[Ruralguy]

Raises the last three years, about 5% each year. That's roughly keeping up with inflation, although since we didn't get anything 4 years ago (and for a number of years prior), we're not overall keeping up year to year over decades. But its better than nothing, and as I reported in  another thread, our promotion bumps are non-trivial, and our named chair bumps (we have a few of them and a small faculty) are similar. Plus, our area isn't super-expensive. Its not as dirt cheap as you might expect for rural, but much cheaper than even the nearby cities, let alone something like New York. Then again, you get what you pay for, which in my case is not getting much since I don't pay as much.

So, I'd say our raise and salary situation, while not superlative by any means, is not bad.

[Sun_Worshiper]

We get raises most years - usually around 5%. There were a couple of years around covid when the budget was frozen and we didn't get anything. The formula for raises is a mystery to me. In theory it is supposed to be informed by annual reviews, but a former dean told me that he'd just give everyone the same amount (in percentage terms).

[clean]

"our people/Faculty & Staff are our most valuable resource"..... Does this mean that the admincritters think that they own us?  They certainly are not increasing our wages, which one might expect to be the attitude of owners, not employers!   

[sinenomine]

Raises last couple of years, at a 1-3% rate, by supervisors' discretion. And this year we got institutional contributions toward retirement reinstated.

[apl68]

Our library has had raises in recent years, so our staff is no longer as shamefully underpaid as they were.  And we have low cost of living locally.  That said, we're by no means one of the better-paying employers around. 

Long-term budget issues make future raises look pretty much impossible.  We're looking at eventual reductions in staffing levels instead.  Hopefully we can manage to do that through attrition without layoffs.  We only gave staff bonuses last year because I agreed to forego two weeks' pay to balance the books.

[clean]

... remembering COlts Coach and making a minor adjustment... " Layoffs?  Dont talk to be about Layoffs!  "...

When I met with my chair last spring I said that IF we were having budget issues coming up, that I wanted to be at the top of the list for any buyout offers!   

No layoffs.  No buyouts, but no raises.   I guess that things are 'not great', but they are better than 'bad'... 

[Puget]

We've gotten 2-3% a year every year except for the first covid year when we got nothing (and lost our employer 8% retirement match for the year, so really a pretty big cut). Does not keep pace with inflation, but at least it's something. That's a "merit" raise in theory, but doesn't seem to vary that much generally, although I have gotten a few larger ones (I suspect to correct for compression, though maybe I'm just that awesome). This year the budget is tight so everyone got 2% across the board (but I also got 7% for T&P).

[AmLitHist]

When I met with my chair last spring I said that IF we were having budget issues coming up, that I wanted to be at the top of the list for any buyout offers!   

No layoffs.  No buyouts, but no raises.   I guess that things are 'not great', but they are better than 'bad'... 

I can really relate to that, Clean.  I'd love to retire, but they're going to have to offer a decent buyout--either cash severance OR a couple of years of insurance coverage--for me to go anytime soon.

Naturally, after I've reconciled myself to this and been wishing and hoping for another voluntary buyout plan. . . . enrollment is up 8% this fall.  Damn the luck!

[EdnaMode]

It was announced last week that we'll get an average salary increase of 3%... it's 'merit-based' so some faculty will get more, some less. And I deliberately used quotes on merit-based because that is solely determined by the deans. Some schools, everyone will get 3%, others will vary. I don't think anyone ever gets less than 1%, or at least not that I've heard of.

[bio-nonymous]

3%, past two years in a row. /Rant_on: NOTHING before that for many years (even long before I got here no one had cost of living raises since the great recession). I make far less than I when I started in terms of buying power, not surprising of course. 3% twice over 2 years does not keep up with the years of inflation. But at least the chair of pediatrics makes over $550K and the Assistant Basketball Coach $275k... /Rant_over.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Hmm. We had a luncheon, pat on the head, political drama, govt. bonus, but no institutional raise. Par for the course.