The American Association of University Professors at the University of Southern Mississippi, along with the United Campus Workers, USM Staff Council and USM Faculty Senate, held a rally in support of university-wide pay increases. The rallies were held at the Hattiesburg and Gulf Park campuses.
"We would like to have an extra allocation of around $15 million to address all these salary discrepancies," Jeremy Scott, president of the AAUP-USM chapter told the Hattiesburg American. The state had announced a $700M+ surplus in its last budget. "So, money is there," he said.
The rally aims to raise the awareness of a need for competitive pay increases to recruit and retain high-quality employees.
"It's a good investment for the entire state and the future of the state," Scott said.
USM is among one of the nation's top research facilities, yet faculty are paid well below the average of similarly rated institutions.
The average faculty salaries at Old Dominion, University of Alabama-Birmingham, University of Memphis and University of Louisiana-Lafayette range from $101,800 to $76,200.
Each is designated an R-1 school based on the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
USM faculty earn an average salary of $71,100; and make less than in-state R-1 counterparts at Mississippi State and Ole Miss. The peer average salary for similar universities is $92,100.
According to the state Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), the salary scale at Mississippi universities is a less than 80% of the average paid by other universities under the Southern Regional Education Board's purview.
IHL has set in motion a six-year plan to raise faculty salaries to the SREB median, which in 2020 was $85,500. The plan is currently in its third year. (Hattiesburg American 11/13/23) USM faculty urges Legislature to raise pay universitywide (hattiesburgamerican.com)
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