President announces pay raises

July 25, 2008

From: President Bernie Machen

To: Faculty and staff

Re: Faculty and Staff Compensation

Date: July 25, 2008

As another fall semester approaches, I want to take a moment to thank all of you for your fortitude during the past year. It was a period that tested us as educators, forcing us to make some difficult choices about how to move this university forward with limited resources.

Any time we are asked to do more with less total resources, it is difficult and potentially damaging to the institution. Because of your collective efforts, we have come together and are positioned to maintain our commitment to educational excellence. In recognition of this overall effort, we are going to provide a small, but hopefully significant, compensation increase to eligible faculty and staff.

Beginning Sept. 19, eligible faculty will participate in a 3 percent merit pool and all staff will receive a 2 percent across-the-board raise. Merit raises will be awarded based on criteria established by the dean of each college.

These pay raises are made possible through recent tuition increases approved by UF’s Board of Trustees and with revenue from fees.

Faculty and staff in a collective bargaining unit will be governed by the terms of their respective contracts. Negotiations are underway with each union related to these salary increases.

In addition to the salary increase program, I am pleased to announce that employee health care premiums will not increase for 2009 during a time of escalating health care costs.

I hope these measures will help make life a little easier for you during these challenging economic times.