All of my university dept colleagues got a very odd letter yesterday that no one could figure out. We've been strongly advocating for more money. If I told you what I was paid, you'd weep. Really. It's why even during the busy semester virtually everyone has extra jobs. Anyway, seven years ago the university agreed to pay people a very small amount ($300 annually) every year to support retention. No one has received any kind of a non-title raise in almost 10 years, so even that small amount was welcome. Well, two years later, they just stopped paying it. No explanation, no nothing.
Every time we asked about it, we were told the money was just no longer available. Yet there seemed, for a while, to be money available for new hires getting paid more than we were. They like to call this salary compression. I guess I have another name for it.
Our department chair told us there was no money, and morale has been very low. A good friend who just won a teaching award told the chancellor--at a planned photo op--that she was quitting because she couldn't afford to work here anymore. So, out of the blue yesterday we all received a letter saying that they'd start this again. And some of it--though how they figured it is very bizarre--will be paid retroactively--very very slowly. To make up for years of NOT paying it, they'll add another $50 each year. Now that may make up for it by the time I retire. But a whopping $233 extra landed in my June 1 paycheck. I know I should be happy about it, and I sort of am, but it again raises the issue of how lousy it is there. Sigh.
Some Good News
May 30th, 2013 at 04:57 pm
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I hear you about not being paid well ... I signed my contract here for next year and received an approximate 1% raise ... which equates to about $3/pay period extra before taxes ... All I can say is that it's a good thing I'm not here for the money!
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