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University of Missouri Facts (PDF 8.4 MB)
Noting that competitive faculty salaries are imperative for the University of Missouri to recruit and retain top professionals in their field, the UM Board of Curators adopted the Competitive Faculty Compensation Plan at their July 27 meeting in Marceline, Mo.
The plan, which will help the University's average salary for ranked faculty match the average salaries of relative comparator institutions in addition to keeping pace with market changes, requires a three-year implementation schedule with the state of Missouri that will total $21.6 million in addition to the annual merit pool.
The state will be asked to fund half—or $3.6 million each year for three years—of the amount required to bring faculty salaries to a competitive level. The state request is above the 4.2 percent increase in state appropriations the University is requesting.
The University will match the state's funds through efficiencies and reallocations on all of the campuses.
"High-quality faculties are the cornerstone of the University of Missouri," said University of Missouri Interim President Gordon Lamb.
"They provide excellence in teaching, mentoring, research, public service, economic development and patient care. To provide the excellent educational experience our students and the citizens of Missouri expect and deserve, we must retain and recruit excellent faculty."
A recent study by the University showed an ongoing free-fall relative to competitive pay for its ranked faculty during the last nine years. An analysis of ranked faculty at public institutions of the Association of American Universities—a group of the nation's most prestigious public and private research institutions— showed that the Columbia campus ranked last out of 33 universities in the growth of base faculty salaries from fall 1997 to fall 2006, and 32 out of 33 universities when ranked according to the current average base salary provided to ranked faculty for fall 2006.
The average ranked faculty salary increases among AAU universities in the surrounding states of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska between 1997–2006 ranged from 29.2 percent to 47.2 percent.
During this same time, faculty salaries at the University of Missouri-Columbia increased an average of 20.4 percent. Similar problems exist with faculty salaries at the other University of Missouri campuses when compared to their peer groups. The board was presented information on faculty salaries at each campus at their April meeting in Rolla.
"These alternatives to funding are necessary to ensure the University's salaries for ranked faculty are competitive among other universities," Lamb said.