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Visit the Department of Employment Relations on the Web.

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See a timeline of the 2001-2003 Biennial Budget.

See last biennium's list of UW System employee's pay.

See the e-mail University Senate President Susan Harrison sent Wednesday morning.

See the e-mail Katharine Lyall and UW System chancellors sent to Gov. McCallum.

Does the unclassified staff deserve the 4.2 percent increases in pay, or should a different plan be pursued?  Discuss this issue with the reporters and other readers.

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Unclassified staff's 4.2 percent pay increase uncertain

Department of Employment Relations Secretary Peter Fox's presentation to the Joint Committee on Employment Relations Wednesday will help determine the fate of the controversial 4.2 percent pay plan increase for UW System unclassified staff in the 2001-2003 biennium.

The pay plan calling for 4.2 percent raises for unclassified staff appeared headed for approval until events last week caused concern for several system officials.

UW System faculty and academic staff had expected to receive 4.2 percent pay raises this academic year and next academic year, as was requested by UW System President Katharine Lyall last December.

But now several UW System officials are concerned the 4.2 percent pay raises for faculty and academic staff at all UW schools may not go through.

"I think there's a real chance that it won't happen," said Richard Ryberg, assistant professor of social work at UW-Eau Claire about the 4.2 percent increase. "It feels like you're fighting uphill and really not getting the support from behind.

"But in a way it's not surprising with what's happening in education and how the state has really not supported higher education," he said. "It's really a shame."

Several UW System officials have become more concerned within the past few days.

"Increasing in the past few days, our concern has shifted," said Kevin Boatright, assistant vice president of university relations.

On Dec. 8 the Board of Regents approved the plan and sent it to the Department of Employment Relations.

Regent Guy Gottschalk said one reason the regents approved the raise was to stay competitive with other universities around the country. He also said he is confident the 4.2 percent will be approved.

"I'm optimistic regarding the pay plan, that history will repeat itself and we will be successful," he said.

UW-Eau Claire University Senate President Susan Harrison isn't as convinced the plan will go through as initially expected.

In an e-mail sent Sept 26, Harrison cautioned faculty and academic staff that the proposed pay raise might not make it through final negotiations.

Fox may recommend separating faculty salaries from academic staff salaries to reduce the pay plan for academic staff, Harrison wrote in the e-mail. She also warned it has been rumored that the reduction could be extended to all faculty.

"It's an uncomfortable feeling right now," she said.

One of the reasons why faculty and academic staff are nervous now is because the Department of Employment Relations hasn't released much information about the pay plan yet.

"We usually have prior notice to what is going to be recommended," Boatright said.

Fox declined to comment on the specifics of his recommendation and said there are several unfounded rumors circulating throughout the state.

"All of these steps (proposing the 4.2 percent increases) include recommendations," Fox said. "Somewhere along the line the recommendations seem to have morphed into an expectation."

Fox said the review of Class A academic staff in the UW System has caused concern.

"The group is so large today that from a personnel and management standpoint we have questions that all these classifications are appropriate," Fox said, adding that some Class A academic staff might more appropriately be labeled as classified staff.

Fox said he is aware of several communications on university e-mail organizing action and urging calls. He is also aware of a letter-writing campaign. However, he said those types of factors don't weigh heavily into his decision-making process.

"What is really effective is data and an understanding of Wisconsin's economic environment as it is today and the ability of the state to compensate all of its employees," he said.

Despite that, Lyall and 15 UW System chancellors sent a letter to Gov. Scott McCallum on Sept. 21 addressing the issue.

In reference to any contemplation of reducing the proposed pay plan, the letter said, "this is not a prudent - nor fiscally responsible - course of action."

"The 4.2 percent proposal each year of the biennium put forward by the Board of Regents was designated to get our pay to just the average of our peer group schools by the end of the biennium," UW-Eau Claire Chancellor Donald Mash said. "Nothing will negatively impact the high quality we have been able to put in place more directly than sub-par salaries."

Mash was one of the chancellors who helped draft the letter to McCallum. During the next 10 years the university will lose about one-third of its faculty and academic staff to retirement and that it is a very competitive job market, Mash said.

"I'm very concerned about our pay plan," Mash said. "It is of the highest priority."

McCallum signed the state budget in August, which earmarked about $534 million for the UW System.

The budget included plans for the increases for pay of unclassified staff, but the changes won't take effect until the Department of Employment Relations and the Joint Committee on Employment Relations approves the plan.

"The (Board of Regents) has already acted on tuition under the assumption our budget is approved," UW-Eau Claire Vice Chancellor Andy Soll said in late September.

It is not uncommon for unclassified staff to have to wait several months for a pay increase to take place. During the last biennium a pay plan wasn't approved until January 2000. When the pay increase goes into effect, unclassified staff receive a lump sum payment that compensates for the delay.

The delay in information from the Department of Employment Relations has some UW-Eau Claire faculty and academic staff concerned.

Associate Professor of Computer Science Michael Wick is chair of the compensation committee at UW-Eau Claire and said even though it is probable that the 4.2 percent raises will take place, nothing is for certain.

"We don't know when it's coming," Wick said. "The 4.2 percent (pay increase) seems realistic, but it's all speculation."

Wick said the delays are frustrating. Though unclassified staff are compensated for the pay increase during the delay, Wick said at this point it is like not getting a raise at all.

But the most frustrating aspect about the situation is the professors and academic staff have little say about it, Wick said.

"More frustrating than (the delays) is the inability of the faculty to negotiate collectively," Wick said, referring to a state statute forbidding unions and strikes among the unclassified staff. "We're kind of in an awkward position.

"Our choice is to take it or quit," he said.

Andrea Gapko, academic staff representative of the Compensation Committee to the UW System, said she isn't as worried about the delays that are inherent in the budget process as some are.

"I'd rather get 4 or 5 percent late than 2 percent on time," Gapko said. "You just can't let (the delays) get you upset, otherwise you'd be upset all the time."

Though it may be several months until the final pay plan is approved, much of the work has already been completed.

The plan that includes the two 4.2 percent increases has been approved by all of the UW System schools as well as the UW System Board of Regents and the Department of Employment Relations. The money designated for the increase was approved when McCallum signed the state budget on Aug. 30.

The Joint Committee on Employment Relations must approve the pay plan but often waits until the classified employees have settled on pay increases. Classified employees, including administrative assistants, janitorial staff and others, negotiate salary increases with the Department of Employment Relations through unions.

Because the unions have not come to an agreement with the Department of Employment Relations, the Joint Committee on Employment Relations may be hesitant to approve any unclassified pay plan, Soll said.

After the pay increase is approved by the Joint Committee on Employment Relations, some salaries must still be approved by the Board of Regents. A list of faculty and academic staff salaries more than 75 percent of Lyall's salary must be approved by the Board of Regents.

After this, individual institutions will release salary information and appointment letters to faculty and academic staff.

The big hurdle that remains is the approval of the 4.2 percent two-year increase by Fox and the Department of Employment Relations on Wednesday.

"This is a curious juxtaposition I'm in because a lot of my former associates are mad at me on a personal level," Fox said. "But I don't approach this on a personal basis. We're all professionals."