Archive: State Budget Means Raises for Faculty, Staff

The state budget signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on June 30 allows the University to offer much-needed salary increases to faculty and staff. "I want to thank the governor and the Legislature for the support they have given to the students, faculty and staff of the University of California," said UC President Robert C. Dynes, PhD. "This budget supports our mission as a public institution -- providing students with access to a high-quality education, researching the important questions facing our society, and providing public service that improves the lives and health of people in communities across California." The state budget and other UC revenue sources will fund an average 4 percent increase in employee compensation in 2006-2007, subject to collective bargaining requirements where applicable. "The salaries of UC faculty and staff continue to lag those at institutions we compete with, putting us at a serious disadvantage in recruitment and retention," Dynes said. "This funding increase is very welcome because it allows us to reward our hard-working employees and prevent the further widening of the salary gap. "This issue will need continued attention in the budget next year and for the next several years, however. This year's increase is only a first step toward bringing all faculty and staff up to market-competitive compensation, as endorsed by the Regents last November in adopting RE-61." RE-61 is part of the University's ongoing efforts to ensure that overall compensation for UC faculty and staff is competitive within the various markets where UC competes for talent. A recent study by Mercer Consulting found that salaries at UC, on average, lag the comparative market by about 15 percent. RE-61 specifically states the University's goal to "obtain, prioritize and direct funds, to the extent that they are available, to increase salaries, to achieve market comparability for all groups of employees over a ten-year period from 2006-2007 to 2015-2016." Read the entire fact sheet on the UC Office of the President website. (pdf) The final budget provides state funding above the minimum outlined in the governor's 2004 compact with UC. The University's state-funded budget in the fiscal year beginning July 1 will total $3.077 billion, an increase of $234 million, or 8.2 percent, above the 2005-06 level. As a result of efforts by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, the budget also adds $2 million in new funding to expand community college transfer programs to UC. This funding will be used to provide advice and academic support to students preparing for transfer to UC. The focus of the effort will be on community colleges with high numbers of educationally disadvantaged students, but historically low transfer rates to UC. "This effort has the potential to make a real difference in expanding educational opportunity in California," Dynes said. "I appreciate Speaker Nunez's leadership in developing this proposal, and I look forward to working closely with the California Community Colleges to continue expanding transfer as a route to college success." UC Budget Details The budget includes the following for the UC system:

• • Enrollment growth: Funding for enrollment growth of 2.5 percent in 2006-2007, at a level of $9,900 per student. This increase allows UC to continue meeting its obligations under the Master Plan for Higher Education to offer a place to all eligible California undergraduate applicants and to continue increasing graduate enrollment, including in the health sciences.
• • Academic preparation and expansion of transfer programs: The final budget preserves $17.3 million in state funding for UC's academic preparation programs, which work to improve the academic performance and college preparation of educationally disadvantaged students in K-12 schools across the state.
• • Student fees: The budget provides $75 million in state funding to avoid a student fee increase for 2006-2007.

Mandatory systemwide fees for resident undergraduates in 2006-2007 will remain at $6,141 per year, or an estimated average $6,802 with the inclusion of campus-based fees. Resident graduate academic students will pay $6,897 in mandatory systemwide fees, or an estimated average $8,708 with the inclusion of campus-based fees.

The state buyout of student fees does not apply to a 5 percent nonresident tuition hike already approved by the UC Board of Regents for undergraduates only. Nonresident students will pay an estimated average total of $25,486 at the undergraduate level and $23,669 at the graduate level to attend UC in 2006-2007.

The state buyout eliminates the need for a 5 percent increase in professional school fees in 2006-2007, but it does not eliminate a one-year, temporary $350 increase for professional students approved by the Regents last year to help cover lost revenue associated with a lawsuit regarding professional fees.

The Regents last year also approved increases in selected professional school fees for 2005-06, but deferred a portion of those increases to 2006-2007; students will still see those increases as well. Total fees for professional students in 2006-2007 will range from about $12,000 for nursing to about $25,000 for law.

• • Research: Funding of $6 million is provided for UC labor research, restoring state support for this program to its 2000-01 level. In addition, the budget provides an augmentation of $4 million for the Gallo Substance Abuse Program at UCSF.
• • UC Merced: The budget continues $14 million in onetime funding, in addition to $10 million in base funding plus funding for enrollment growth, for UC Merced.
• • Science and math initiative: The budget includes $375,000 in addition to the $750,000 in the 2005-06 budget for UC's "California Teach" program to expand the training of high-quality science and mathematics teachers for California's schools.
• • Capital improvements: The budget calls for $340 million in general-obligation bond funding for construction and renovation of UC facilities to address enrollment growth, life safety and infrastructure renewal needs. These funds are dependent upon Proposition 1D, an education facilities bond on the November ballot.