11/7/03

AU BUDGET INCLUDES ONE-TIME SUPPLEMENTS FOR EMPLOYEES

AUBURN -- The Auburn University Board of Trustees on Friday (Nov. 7) approved a $588 million operating budget for fiscal year 2004, including one-time salary supplements for eligible faculty and staff.

The AU budget includes $443.5 million for its main campus, $53 million for AU-Montgomery, $42 million for the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and $49 million for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

The budget would provide most AU employees with one-time salary supplements of between 3 and 7 percent.

"Through implementation of our five-year plan, Auburn University is in an enviable position among colleges and universities in Alabama," said AU President William F. Walker. "The money being used to make possible these one-time supplements is, in effect, money set aside through sacrifices made by the Auburn University community over the last five years."

AU staff would receive across-the-board salary increases of 3 percent with the possibility of an additional 4 percent based on merit. AU administrative and professional staff would receive 3 percent across-the-board with the possibility of an additional 3 percent based on merit. AU faculty would be eligible for 4 percent merit increases with the possibility of additional increases based on provost's review.

AU chose the one-time salary supplements over permanent raises in order to stay true to its commitment to maintain and attract quality faculty through salaries comparable to regional averages and, at the same time, provide a "safeguard until the university gets a better grasp on the financial outlook for FY 2005," said Don Large, AU's executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Many trustees spoke of the state's dire financial outlook for fiscal year 2005. Trustees Lowell Barron and Jack Venable, both state legislators, supported the proposal, but warned the board it would face attacks from the Alabama Education Association, the state's K-12 teaching lobby, in the coming legislative session.

But Trustee Jack Miller said the salary proposal was reflective of good financial management and AU's commitment to its mission.

"This board's responsibility is to remember that people who teach are the heart and soul of the institution and the board must be ever mindful of their interests," Miller said. "(The salary proposal) is a reasonable and prudent course based on excellent fiscal responsibility and management for the past few years and allows a reasonable financial optimism for the future."

Trustee Paul Spina also stressed that AU's financial stewardship of state allocations made the salary proposal possible.

"This is Auburn's money," Spina said.

In addition to unanimous approval by the Board of Trustees, the budget and, more specifically, the salary proposal also were endorsed by faculty leaders of both Auburn's main campus and AUM.

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nov03:AU-budget