With the condition of California's state budget and ongoing cuts in education funding, California State University faculty are getting a break.
On Oct. 27, the CSU board of trustees announced a new plan to raise the salaries of CSU faculty and senior administration members over the course of the next five years.
The recently approved salary increases have come in response to a study conducted by the California Postsecondary Education Commission.
The study, which compares the CSU system to comparable educational institutions across the United States, discovered a significant disparity between CSU faculty salaries and those found at similar institutions.
According to the study, CSU faculty employees earn an average of 13.1 percent less than their counterparts in other states, while senior administration officials earn an average of 49.5 percent less.
Trustees will "be asking (the state) for additional funds ... so that we can bring faculty, staff and administrator salaries up to market," said CSU Director of Public Affairs Colleen Bentley-Adler.
The five-year plan will be open to annual review until 2011 when the salary increase is complete.
One day after the decision to increase salaries was made, however, the board voted to increase CSU undergraduate fees by 8 percent and graduate fees by 10 percent, according to www.calstate.edu.
Critics of the fee increase have cited the seemingly close time frame in which the two decisions were made; however, Bentley-Adler said she dismisses these concerns.
"Student fees are always part of the budget request that is done in October," Bentley-Adler said. "That's standard."
In the wake of budget cuts on the state level, many believe CSU students themselves compose a relatively untapped source of funding.
"CSU trustees do not believe it is fair to students and their families to be hit with a large student fee increase with advanced notice of only one or two months," CSU trustee Roberta Achtenberg said. "Fees are an important source of funds and, like our other university revenue sources, must keep pace with rising operational costs."
Some students are not so sure.
"Student tuition shouldn't be the main source of funding for faculty salaries," graphic design senior Arin Wiggins said. "It seems coincidental that the two decisions were made at the same time, and if it is the case that (the student fee increase) was directly related, it seems pretty ridiculous."
In accordance with the budget compact signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger, as well as the CSU and UC systems two years ago, one third of the student fee increases will go toward University grants, according to www.calstate.edu.
"If you're among the financially needy students, there is a corresponding amount that'll be set aside for financial aid so that the net increase would not go up," SDSU Director of Media Relations Jason Foster said.
Even with the recent tuition fee increases, CSU schools are still among the most affordable institutions of higher education in the country.
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