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JOHN Y. McCOLUSTER
Republican Candidate for U.S. Senate
Meet the man who will be Nebraska's next U.S. Senator. Con
gressman John Y. McCollister will be at a public reception Friday
afternoon, Feb. 13, In the Lincoln Room at the Cornhusker Hotel
from 3 to 6 . Come any time. Talk with John McCollister . . . give
him your ideas... get his thoughts on the issues. He wants to meet
you, talk with you. And if you're inclined to be active in politics,
the campaign welcomes you as a volunteer. Meet John McCollister
Friday afternoon at the Cornhusker.
Paid tor by McCollictar tor Senate Commit). Paul Aman, Chairman; John Oalartanl Traaaurar.
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MUP
Among many faculty members salary overrides all
other issues in the collective bargaining dispute.
Salary levels at UN-L are well below those at most
similarly situated universities, not only in distant cor
ners of the country but among our nearest neighbor
institutions. Salary issues will be among the most dif
fksult to solve when and if enlUctiwA h.rj.jr.i- ccrrtcs
to pass. But, if the quality of UN-L is to be strength
ened, or even maintained, these problems must be
addressed and dealt with successfully. UN-L has a re
cent history of hiring few new faculty members with
extensive experience or proven academic records, ex
cept for administrative positions. Nevertheless, new
comers are often hired at salaries in excess of those
paid to present faculty members of proven merit.
This morale destroying procedure, necessitated by In
sufficient funding for the recognition of merit, per
petuates itself like some pernicious infection by caus
ing the departure of still other faculty whose merit
has gone unrecognized. Thus, the University is forced
back into the market again only to find the proven
scholars even further beyond its grasp than before.
Few among us cannot recount two or three or more
recent repetitions of this wretched scenario within
the circle of our academic acquaintances.
It has been proposed that salary increases averag
ing 12.32 for the coming fiscal year would handlo
the current rate of inflatipn and bring UN-L salaries
to the average of those enjoyed at the four neighbor
ing AAU institutions (Mo., t. St., Kan,, and Colo.)
This is c modest goal, and if properly and profession
ally administered with due regard to merit it could go
far to improve morale and make UN-L competitive in
the market place. The table below shows the differ
ences between average academic year (or equivalent)
salaries at UN-L and those at the above mentioned in-
1975-78
Assoc.
. Professor Prof.
Agriculture $1,887 $ 963
Arts & Sciences 2,165 976
Business Adm. 1,710 1,629
Architecture 1,371 1,058
Engineering 3,168 1,960
stitutions, by college and rank, for the five colleges
where our competitive disadvantage is most acute.
The figures are estimates developed by the UN-L Ad
ministration for use In supporting salary budget re
quests. Differences of Average Salaries by Coileoa .
Big 8 AAU (without UN-L) minus UN-L
Assist
Prof.
$ 290
380
(95)
1,522
1.445
It should be noted that even In areas where UN-L has
traditionally enjoyed a slight competitive advantage
(Law, Teachers, Home Ec), that advantage has
eroded substantially or completely disappeared
during the past year.
But, if the- administration recognizes this problem
as does AAUP, what more can we ask? Implimenta
tion of a solution! The problem has been recognized
in previous years but the gap has widened instead of
narrowed. The correction of this problem simply
must be made the primary financial goal, not only of "
UN-L but of the entire System. The State has every
right to point out that, in the past two years in par
ticular, UN-L has won a substantial increase in Stete
funding. But, these increments have not been used to
solve our problem. The graph shows the changes since
1983-69 in faculty salaries and three fiscal indices
which relate to the economic heal of the State and
the University All are calculated using constant (urv
inflated) dollars. Note that faculty salaries are down
so
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while the other factors all show substantial Increases.
Any new money which can be brought into the UN-L
budget must be used for salary improvements or for
the improvement of essential supports of existing
academic programs.
The allegation that no class on universities or
major land-grant institutions have embraced collect
ive bargaining is simply not true. The record shows
that the Universities of Deloware, Cincinnati. HMr!i,
Rhode Island. Rutgers (St. U. of N.J.), and Wayne St.
U. (Detroit), are among 30 Institutions represented
by AAUP. Other agents represent CUNY (12 campus
es) and SUNY (20 campuses) to name just two. None
of these institutions can be considered anything but
first rank. All have salary scales substantially higher
than that at UN-L.
Of course we cannot guarantee that all inequities
will be corrected in one full swoop or that collective
bargaining will cure til of UN-L't financial and
academic aches and pains. To do so would be naive
nd foolish. But our experience with the alternative is
extensive. It simply has not wvnrlrl
I Paid for hv fhs.
AAUP Collective Bargairs,n Committee
11
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