Faculty, staff to get $500 bonuses

by Kenneth Todd Ruiz
Assistant Editor

University of La Verne will distribute the remainder of funds originally budgeted for the School of Continuing Education fine as $500 bonuses to all regular full-time employees.

The bonus plan, announced in January, has received with mixed reactions.

While many have expressed appreciation for the bonus, some said they feel it does not adequately address the ongoing issue of compensation.

"At the base level, people are appreciative of the money and the good faith shown by the administration," said Sharon Davis, co-chair of the Faculty Salary Committee. "Others felt it was meager and were disappointed that it wasn't put into base pay."

Had the bonus been allocated to base salaries, it would have become a permanent factor in future University budgets.

"The one-time, lump-sum bonuses made the most sense at this time," said professor Rita Thakur.

A 25-year ULV veteran, Thakur represented the faculty at a University Council meeting that considered how to address a mid-year increase.

Options they discussed included an across-the-board 2 percent raise, a $500 addition to base salaries, and the one-time bonuses.

"Any permanent increase to [base salary] would have to be included in next year's budget, which would mean less money for next year's raises," said Thakur.

"The majority of classifieds are in favor of the plan," said Bill Myers, chair of the Classified Committee.

Myers represented classified employees in the University Council discussion.

But the larger issue for many employees remains the disparity between salaries here and those at comparable institutions.

Following the conclusion of a three-year plan to address such disparity issues for the three employee groups, last July's pay raise of 2.19 percent came as a disappointment to many.

It was then that talk of a mid-year raise began.

The three-year plan had been agreed to in 1999 after a compensation task force found ULV salaries averaged well below comparable colleges and universities.

The three-year plan did make some progress towards narrowing the gap, but also has achieved less than was anticipated because salaries in the comparison groups also rose.

Working towards this goal, the University is considering a new multi-year plan for next July's increase.

Another possibility would be a two-part raise. All employees would receive a general raise, while those whose salaries are far below average would receive an additional amount.

"We want to make sure all employee groups get taken care of, and this plan would help bring up the people who are really behind," Myers said.

The University hopes to eventually bring salaries for all employee groups up to competitive levels.

"The University philosophy is that people are the most important resource," Davis said. "We believe our faculty to be better than average in quality, so why not be at least average in pay?"