Administrators to propose 2 percent merit raise pools for UNT faculty and staff

UNT plans to ask the UNT System Board of Regents this month to approve the proposed 2005-06 budget, which includes more than $4 million for salary improvements, says Phil Diebel, vice president for finance and business affairs.

The proposal calls for a 2 percent faculty merit pool of $1.5 million plus another $1 million for faculty salary market adjustments; $64,000 for faculty promotions; a 2 percent staff merit pool of almost $1.25 million; and $325,000 for staff job reclassification purposes. The merit pools are intended to reward faculty and staff who have exhibited meritorious service, not for use as an across-the-board raise for all employees. This means some employees may receive a greater than 2 percent increase and some may receive no increase at all.

UNT's budget was built on an assumption of 1 percent student growth and a 4.4 percent tuition increase, which, in addition to the $4 million in new general revenue funds UNT will receive from the state, provides the university with a total budget increase of $12.6 million.

Salaries are the top need addressed by the budget, followed by funding for research initiatives, academic and instructional support, central services and administrative support, athletics, and university wide support — all initiatives outlined in the university's new Academic Plan.

The budget committee earmarked $380,000 for research and $3 million for academic and instructional support — including the addition of 38 full-time equivalent faculty and staff positions. The academic and instructional support initiatives include close to $1 million for new full-time faculty positions; more than $500,000 for part-time faculty, teaching assistants and technical research support staff; and almost $1 million for financial aid and scholarships, plus $200,000 in additional funding for the faculty and staff scholarship program.

For central services and administrative support the budget includes more than $1.7 million, including 28.5 full-time equivalent positions; $200,000 for an outsourced financial aid call center; more than $300,000 for computer system disaster recovery equipment and software; $60,000 for international programs; almost $40,000 for institutional research and accreditation survey software and equipment; and more than $135,000 to cover UNT's portion of the UNT System's new initiatives, including new legal staff, operating and administrative services funds and an employee merit pool.

The budget includes $320,000 for athletics and more than $2.7 million for university wide support, including $500,000 for building maintenance; almost $600,000 for an increase to faculty and staff longevity pay; almost $580,000 for the cost of utilities; and more than $580,000 for the Computing and Information Technology Center.

Regents will meet Aug. 18 and 19 to discuss the budget.

BY MICHELLE HALE mhale@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• New InHouse@UNT format to launch in September
• Regents to discuss campus plans for Denton and Dallas at August meeting
• UNT to use multimillion-dollar bequest to fund unique research of behavior analysis
• UNT opens Honors College for Fall 2005
• Exhibit about UNT's branding process opens this month
• UNT summer commencement is Saturday
• About the commencement speaker
• UNT's First Flight Week, Howdy Week traditions continue this month
• Win a trip to Baton Rouge on UNT's Regal Eagle bus

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