Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Anybody know where I can find university salaries online? I’m interested in looking up the pay for local college presidents and professors. Meantime, there’s a new report out about university pay:
Faculty pay has been battered by the deepening national recession, but you can’t tell that from the American Association of University Professors’ new annual report on the economic status of the profession. The average salary of a full-time faculty member rose 3.4 percent in 2008-9, it says, a rate well above inflation.
That would be good news, but the association collected the salary information in the fall of 2008, before layoffs, pay cuts, and furloughs began to crimp faculty members’ incomes. In short, the numbers “do not reflect the ominous economic reality that is now confronting colleges and universities across the land,” says the report, titled “On the Brink.”
To put the association’s salary calculations into perspective, much of the document, released this week, paints a picture of higher education under attack, and it highlights various budget-cutting measures under way on campuses.
According to the association, the average pay for a full-time faculty member in 2008-9 is $79,439. At research institutions, that figure is $90,055; at master’s institutions, $69,451; at baccalaureate colleges, $67,337; and at two-year colleges, $59,310.
For six years, the AAUP’s annual surveys have shown that the growth in average faculty salaries has barely exceeded inflation or failed to keep pace. In 2007-8, for example, average salaries rose 3.8 percent, but an inflation rate of 4.1 percent ate up the increase. That trend came to an end this year, the new report shows. With inflation at its lowest rate in more than half a century — a rock-bottom 0.1 percent, the report notes — faculty pay, adjusted for inflation, rose 3.3 percent in 2008-9.
Sorry, that’s 2004’s average. For 2008 the average UNCA salary was $67,639.
UNC Asheville’s average is $56,678. You can view the data at http://www.unca.edu/ir/ if you download the Factbook.
UNC-A Faculty is rated one of the highest in the state, but for years has trailed in faculty pay & benefits. At almost all of the 15 sister institutions there are dependent and spouse benefits such as attending for free or free tuition, but at UNC-A you’d be lucky to get a $250 / yr dependent scholarship.
The faculty at UNC-A stay because they love the area, the community, and the college setting – it certainly isn’t for the pay.
I posted about this yesterday on my blog here is the link
http://triadwatch.blogspot.com/2009/04/north-carolina-university-system-salary.html
Danielle, that’s awesome. Thank you.
University of North Carolina System Salary Database:
http://apps.newsobserver.com/know/uncga/
I can tell you it’s considerably lower than that at Warren Wilson, but the college has other perks available to its faculty members and to my knowledge does not participate in the whole tenure game.
I’m a UNCA alum, from what I understand you can find salary information in the library there. Good luck looking! I feel pretty confident WNC is below the national average, but then again I haven’t done the research!