taken from the May 2002 AAUP AZ Advocate
University Faculty Salaries Lag Behind Peers
by Carol Bernstein
Salaries at the three state universities in Arizona plummeted from 1980 to 1992, going from a few percent ahead of the average of our peer universities to 12% to 14% below, according to the graph, above, and the Table of salaries on page 3. The average salaries of each state university are shown as a percent of the average of salaries at their peer institutions. The dashed line represents the average of salaries for all the peers of each Arizona state university. The salaries in this graph and Table on page 3 represent those of tenured and tenure track faculty and permanent instructors, as reported by each institution to the national AAUP.
Analyses of the financial reports of the UA and ASU, carried out at that time by an outside AAUP economist, showed that the costs of funding interest on bonds for the large construction projects of the 1980’s and early 1990’s were a major drain on the finances of the universities. Large construction projects drain dollars that could otherwise go to faculty salaries. High levels of construction are likely to continue to be factors in keeping Arizona university salaries at depressed levels, compared to their peers.
While there has been considerable construction since 1980, the numbers of tenure track faculty members has not changed greatly at the UA (8% increase since 1980) or ASU (12% increase), but has gone up by 36% at NAU. The numbers of faculty on the three campuses, reported by each institution in 1980, 1992 and 2001, are:
NAU UA ASU ASU West ASU East
1980 495 1,236 1,192 -
1992 580 1,401 1,442 -
2001 675 1,330 1,399 140 62
The decreases in faculty members between 1992 and 2001 at the UA (5% decrease) and
main campus of ASU (3% decrease) may have allowed the average academic-
Faculty numbers have recently been supplemented by adjunct and part-
Salary Data for Arizona Universities and Their Peers
Peer Institutions chosen by each university according to Board of Regents Guidelines
Data taken from issues of Academe, published yearly by the Amer. Assoc. Univ. Prof. Numbers are average salaries, given in thousands of dollars, averaged over all ranks
YEAR
80-
86-
91-
92-
96-
98-
99-
00-
2001-
ASU and Peers
UCLA
30.9
50.8
61.1
62.1
70.3
81.7
85.4
91.3
92.8
U Conn (Storrs)
28.2
45.0
57.7
60.6
70.9
72.9
75.3
78.7
82.4
U Maryland/Coll Pk
25.2
40.1
53.0
53.4
60.9
64.9
68.1
77.3
81.2
Rutgers (New Brun)
28.1
45.4
62.5
62.6
70.5
73.5
75.4
77.5
79.1
U Ill (Chicago)
26.0
38.6
47.9
50.3
58.9
65.3
67.3
71.0
75.0
Ohio State (Main)
28.3
42.7
54.3
53.5
62.5
66.7
70.1
73.9
74.8
Temple U
26.5
38.4
53.7
56.7
68.3
71.5
73.2
73.1
74.8
U Texas (Austin)
25.5
39.5
53.6
55.6
63.8
64.5
67.8
71.1
73.8
U Washington
27.5
39.6
52.1
54.1
45.6
61.8
65.3
57.3
72.5
U Colo (Boulder)
26.1
39.5
53.0
53.9
58.7
63.2
64.7
66.7
69.9
U Nebraska (Linc)
24.3
33.8
48.8
50.6
57.0
58.9
62.2
64.3
68.5
ASU
27.1
39.4
47.5
47.9
55.6
60.9
64.2
65.8
68.3
U Kansas
25.4
36.4
45.9
47.3
53.8
58.1
61.4
65.0
68.1
U Cincinnati
26.2
40.3
52.8
52.6
58.9
62.2
63.7
65.6
66.5
Florida State
25.9
36.6
46.4
45.4
55.4
58.5
60.6
62.5
65.8
U Oklahoma
24.2
33.5
44.5
45.2
50.8
55.2
57.2
59.4
61.1
Average of ASU peers
26.6
40.0
52.5
53.6
60.4
65.3
67.9
70.3
73.8
Ratio:ASU to Peers
101.9
98.5
90.5
89.4
92.1
93.3
94.6
93.6
92.5
NAU and Peers
U Delaware
25.2
36.8
49.9
52.5
63.7
69.3
71.1
72.9
75.1
George Mason
21.2
37.1
53.6
51.5
62.6
65.3
67.2
71.5
70.6
U Nevada/Reno
25.7
36.7
48.5
49.5
58.6
64.4
65.7
66.5
69.7
U Nev. Las Vegas
24.1
36.9
44.9
45.1
52.8
58.7
60.5
62.1
66.7
Calif State Fresno
30.3
44.4
55.4
55.4
60.0
60.5
63.8
64.2
65.9
Oakland U
23.5
35.5
47.1
50.0
57.7
60.2
61.1
62.7
63.6
Miami U (Ohio)
23.9
36.3
47.6
46.7
53.2
57.8
59.1
61.6
62.2
Ohio U/Athens
24.2
37.6
48.9
49.2
56.1
58.0
58.8
60.7
62.0
Old Dominion
23.0
36.3
NA
43.7
48.0
54.9
NA
61.6
61.7
U Vermont
22.7
35.3
46.3
46.7
50.0
53.7
54.5
56.1
57.0
U Minnesota/Duluth
23.1
34.2
43.9
46.0
50.9
56.5
56.9
55.8
59.5
U Central Florida
23.2
33.1
42.8
42.0
50.0
51.7
52.6
55.0
57.6
U Wyoming
26.5
35.7
43.9
44.4
47.0
48.5
50.7
54.7
54.9
Bowling Green
24.9
36.1
45.5
46.6
51.2
50.3
50.4
52.2
54.0
U Montana
21.5
30.1
36.1
39.5
44.7
48.9
51.7
53.5
53.7
Ball state
23.3
31.0
37.1
38.1
45.0
48.4
50.0
51.7
52.6
NAU
25.1
34.1
40.1
40.7
45.3
49.0
50.0
51.9
52.6
U N. Dakota/main
21.7
30.9
36.9
37.3
39.7
NA
44.8
46.4
49.2
Average of NAU Peers
24.0
35.5
45.5
46.1
52.4
56.7
57.4
59.4
60.5
Ratio:NAU to Peers
104.6
96.1
88.1
88.2
86.5
86.4
87.1
87.4
86.9
UA and Peers
UC Berkeley
33.5
54.6
66.8
67.9
73.1
87.7
91.0
94.4
96.5
U Virginia
27.9
44.9
55.8
56.5
66.1
74.5
78.0
82.0
82.7
U Ill Urbana
28.9
44.8
54.0
56.1
65.1
71.7
74.6
77.7
81.5
U N. Carolina CH
29.6
42.1
52.2
53.8
67.6
72.1
75.3
79.7
80.8
U Michigan/Ann Arb
31.0
45.6
57.9
57.5
67.9
72.7
75.0
77.5
80.8
Univ Minn/Twin Cit
27.3
41.9
53.2
55.9
63.3
72.4
74.9
77.2
80.6
U Wisconsin/Mad
28.4
43.2
52.2
56.0
62.4
68.2
74.0
78.9
79.9
U Iowa
26.8
38.9
53.8
57.0
64.0
68.2
71.3
74.4
77.0
Ohio State main
24.2
42.7
54.3
53.5
62.5
66.7
70.1
73.9
74.8
Michigan State
28.0
39.2
52.5
52.8
60.7
64.9
67.4
70.0
73.1
U Washington
27.5
39.6
52.1
54.1
57.8
61.8
65.3
69.4
72.5
Texas A&M main
25.7
35.9
47.4
48.8
55.6
60.1
63.3
70.1
72.3
UA
28.2
40.4
47.4
47.2
59.4
64.5
67.5
69.9
72.0
U Florida
25.0
39.9
47.4
48.0
57.2
62.4
64.2
68.4
71.1
U Missouri/Columb
25.4
34.4
42.7
45.4
58.4
62.1
62.3
64.5
66.5
U Utah
27.1
36.7
47.1
48.3
55.9
58.3
60.9
64.0
67.8
Average of peers
27.8
41.6
52.6
54.1
62.5
68.3
71.2
74.8
77.2
Ratio:UA to Peers
101.4
97.1
90.1
87.2
95.0
94.4
94.8
93.4
93.3