Whereas faculty salaries in the University of Alabama System continue to trail regional averages by 10 to 15 percent, and

Whereas the State of Alabama has fallen well below regional and national norms in its support of higher education, and

Whereas these problems are not likely to be remedied in the foreseeable future without major efforts on the part of the University of Alabama System,

Be it resolved that the Faculty Senate of the University of Alabama requests that the administration of the University of Alabama System and its Board of Trustees develop a strategic plan for securing necessary financial resources from public and private sources to bring faculty salaries at least to the regional average and that development and implementation of this plan be made the top priority of the System and its Board of Trustees for the coming academic year.

Adopted unanimously by the Faculty Senate on August 31, 1999

Resolution on Faculty Salaries

WHEREAS, over the last ten years faculty at The University of Alabama have received compensation that is, on average, lower than the regional average for faculty at research universities in the Southeast;

WHEREAS, these salary conditions have resulted in a serious decline in morale among faculty at The University of Alabama, and The University of Alabama has lost talented faculty because of its noncompetitive salaries and will lose additional faculty in the future for the same reason;

WHEREAS, the Resources and Priorities Committee of The University of Alabama has recommended that the University increase faculty salaries by at least 3%, and the University increase tuition by 5% in order to help fund such additional compensation;

THEREFORE, be it resolved, that the Steering Committee of the Faculty Senate at The University of Alabama hereby calls upon the President of the University to make giving faculty at least a 3% increase in compensation his single highest financial priority for the 1999-2000 academic year;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Steering Committee of the Faculty Senate hereby calls upon the administration of the University and the Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama System to develop a plan for bringing faculty compensation at The University of Alabama to at least the average salary level for research universities in the Southeast within the next three years; and

BE IT STILL FURTHER RESOLVED that the Steering Committee of the Faculty Senate requests that the President of the University and the Board of Trustees strive to meet these salary goals with due consideration to all sources or revenue available to the University, including raising tuition and fees to levels that are consistent with UAB and UAH, and by providing future increases in tuition and fees that are consistent with the average increases of other research institutions in the Southeast.

Adopted by the Faculty Senate Steering Committee, May 25, 1999