The UT chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) voted overwhelmingly to ratify a one-year contract extension for tenure and tenure-track professors Tuesday.
According to Harvey Wolff, AAUP president and professor of mathamatics, 72 percent of the membership voted to accept the extension, while 28 percent rejected it. “The faculty recognize the tight budget situation the University is facing, but there was still a great deal of concern expressed over things like the size of the administration and the lack of movement on the domestic partners benefits,” said Wolff.
The new contract includes a 1.6 percent salary increase across the board effective Aug. 25 for nine-month faculty and July 1 for 12-month faculty, and a 1 percent merit pool increase payable at the start of second semester based upon performance reviews. Under the existing contract, members received a 3 percent across the board salary increase, a 1 percent merit pool, and a .5 percent salary adjustment fund.
According to James Sciarini, associate vice president of human resources, the contract ratification is an important step in the relationship between the AAUP and the administration.
“Ratifying the contract for one year shows the faculty’s understanding of the challenges the University faces over this next year,” said Sciarini. “We will be going through a year of planning as the Strategic Planning Committee, the Facilities Master Planning Committee and President Johnson’s task force work to prioritize our academic programs and University-wide services to determine the University’s strategic direction. The administration and faculty will be in a better position to discuss important issues and move forward with long-term matters once we get some of this planning under our belt.”
The AAUP membership is still planning to vote on the lecturer contract extension within the next few weeks, which includes a base salary increase of 2.6 percent effective Aug. 25.
