Tara Kaveh
Special to Mustang News
At a meeting Thursday, May 30, in Alex and Faye Spanos Theatre, College of Liberal Arts (CLA) staff and faculty voiced their concerns over current salary issues. Many questions surrounded the issue of the expansion of administrative positions and salaries over the past few years. In areas like advancement, many new positions have been created and filled. Provost Kathleen Enz Finken addressed this concern.
“While to me that reason is obvious, it’s not necessarily obvious to everyone on campus. We are in a fundraising campaign. We are headed towards at least $500 million in donations. We have hit every target in the last few years. And you can only do that with staff who are out beating the bushes, making connections, etc., etc.,” Enz Finken said.
Historically, Cal Poly has had minimal focus on fundraising. With recent major growth and interest, administration has turned to fundraising through philanthropy and possible public-private partnerships to help develop Cal Poly’s future, Enz Finken said.
The fundraised money is distributed in the College of Liberal Arts toward instructional equipment first, CLA Dean Doug Epperson said. Then toward student scholarships and finally toward faculty excellence. At a listening session in the Multi-Activity Center (MAC) last Thursday, April 23, Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong explained the breakdown of the $2.5 million that administration has allocated for staff and faculty salaries.
The money will be distributed over the next couple of years, retroactive from July 1 of each year. Currently, the first $500,000 is being distributed from 2014; $1 million will be effective starting July 2015, with $500,000 in 2016 and $500,000 in 2017.
The current $500,000 is being dispersed among staff and faculty who were identified as most significantly below the CSU average for their classification. These three groups are custodians, warehouse workers and grounds workers. Some of the money is also going toward adjusting veteran police salaries for those who are below the CSU average based on years of service.
Armstrong announced his immediate goal of raising all staff and faculty salary levels to the CSU average.
“This is a multiyear thing, and $2.5 million is not enough. We’re working to find other ways,” Armstrong said.