FY-08 Salary Program
December 29, 2006
Mayor William W. Bunten
215 East Seventh Street, Room 352
Topeka KS 66603
Dear Mayor Bunten:
Strategic Priority - Salary Program
I remain concerned about the escalating tuition costs at Washburn University and the strategic priorities offered by the administration to justify the tuition rates. The salary program is always the top strategic priority, with the administration providing ample statistics in their Faculty Salary analysis to support this priority. The Board is given no information comparing administrative salaries to peer institutions. A comparison of the gross budget amounts by classification indicates that the current salary program favors administrative staff at the expense of the faculty. In the absence of setting dollars aside specifically for faculty salary enhancements, the Board continues to support a salary program that favors administrative staff over academic staff.
| Classification | FY-06 % Increase | FY-07 % Increase |
|---|---|---|
| Faculty - 9 month | 6.4 % | 4.9 % |
| Administrators | ||
| Academic | 2.2 % | no change |
| Administrative | 8.3 % | 10.2 % |
| Classified Staff | ||
| Academic | 4.0 % | 3.8 % |
| Administrative | 3.4 % | 7.4 % |
I am baffled as to why the Board continues to support this methodology in the absence of any comparative date for administrative salaries.
Visions Unlimited
The Washburn University Board of Regents must approve expenditures that exceed $50,000. I noticed an expenditure in the List of Claims for $160,000 paid on November 3 to Visions Unlimited Inc for "Visions Career System - Phase I & Phase II". I am curious as to when the Board approved this expenditure and what source of funding was utilized for this purchase.
Escalating Tuition Rates
It appears from the materials handed out at the December 15, 2006 Budget & Finance Committee meeting that the Board is considering a tuition increase anywhere from 2.9% to 9.7%. Please encourage your fellow Board members to consider the decreasing enrollment in part-time students, those most likely to bear the full burden of the tuition increase. You are in fact making courses at Washburn University inaccessible to those of us who provide the sales and property tax revenues for the university programs.
Sincerely,
Mary Lou Herring