Analysis: Faculty Salaries at Hood

By: Catherine Collins

The comparatively low salaries of Hood professors have long been a cause of concern between the faculty and the administration. An official report done last year by a task force appointed by President Dr. Ronald Volpe names a number of recommendations to improve faculty salaries, which are currently in their beginning stages.

“Some of the recommendations are currently being addressed, while others may call for more time,” Volpe said. “I am hopeful that most or all of the recommendations will have been addressed by the end of the spring 2012 semester.”

According to the report, in which Hood’s faculty salaries were compared with those of 10 similar institutions, the following discrepancies in average faculty salary in 2010 were calculated: a -10 percent discrepancy for assistant professors and a –15 percent discrepancy for both associate and full-time professors.

The report states, “The gross faculty salaries at Hood are below the market. Similarly, the benefits are non-competitive as well.”

The report takes into account the fact that Hood professors teach 18 credits a year instead of 21 or 24, like most of the college’s competing institutions, by factoring in the time dedicated to research, mentoring and service done by Hood faculty, which is higher than at other colleges. The report contextualizes this data by comparing salaries based on student to faculty ratios.

A second report done last year by Dr. Anita Jose, associate professor of management, on behalf of the Faculty Senate, details the history of Hood’s faculty salaries and compares them on state and national levels.

According to Dr. Jose’s report, when the average Hood faculty salaries are compared to those of otherMarylanduniversities, Hood ranks 22 out of 23 in assistant and full-time professor salaries and 23 out of 23 in associate professor salaries.

Although the current administration contributed $900,000 to full-time faculty salaries in the fiscal years of 2003, 2006 and 2009, 3 percent cost-of-living increases in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007 and a 5 percent cost-of-living increase in 2008, those adjustments have not been considerable enough to bring Hood’s faculty salaries out of the 20th percentile.

Ever since Hood’s faculty took a 5 percent pay cut during the 1992 – 1993 school year, the remedial efforts to recover have not yielded significant improvements.

“I have been committed throughout my tenure atHoodCollegeto increasing faculty and staff salaries,” Volpe said.

The aforementioned official report, done by the president’s task force and published on May 14, lists nine recommendations to improve faculty salaries that Volpe has promised to uphold in an email to faculty members. The recommendations include establishing and enforcing workload policies, such as implementing an appropriate use of release time; funding endowed chairs and positions to relieve the operating budget; and others.

Although the course release system is currently being revised, the administration has recently suggested that modifying release time will not actually yield enough money to make a significant difference in salaries.

The recommendation regarding endowed chairs states that the college should plan on “dedicating some portion of annual budget surpluses toward funding of endowed positions.”

At a faculty forum on Aug. 16, Charles Mann, vice-president for finance and treasurer, said that there was a surplus of $1 million for the upcoming school year. That number includes the $450,000 that will be set aside as a contingency, which has been a policy for the past five years, leaving a surplus of $550,000 for the 2011 – 2012 school year.

Only four of the 83 faculty members at Hood are currently endowed, but the official report charges the Office of Institutional Advancement with “actively seeking endowed chairs,” which is not typically difficult for institutions to accomplish.

Nancy Gillece, vice-president for Institutional Advancement, called the search for endowed chairs “a staff priority.”

The most basic question regarding salary increases is whether the college has the money available. Although Hood is very tuition-dependent, the college’s economic situation has improved in recent years.

“We’re much more stable than we were 10 or 15 years ago,” Mann said.

This year, there is a $40 million operating budget. Money for endeavors like the summer campus renovations ($17 million total) and the new athletic center ($10 million total) came from capital funds, which is money borrowed from bond holders or accepted from donors. For capital funds, which are not included in the operating budget, the college actively seeks people with a connection to a certain aspect of the institution and requests money.

“Approximately 85 percent of the College’s operating revenues come from student tuition and fees; the remainder comes from other sources including raising money from friends, alumni, benefactors, foundations, and other donors,” Volpe said. “Through the Office of Institutional Advancement, the College continues to aggressively attempt to raise money from many sources.”

But that money that can be raised is not always consistent or unrestricted, Volpe added.

“These monies raised are oftentimes ‘one-time’ gifts that are not repeated for future years and/or are restricted monies earmarked for projects designated by the donor and, therefore, cannot be used for salaries,” he said.

According to Volpe, approximately $1.5 million is obtained every year through Annual Funds, which is the money that can be used to improve salaries.

“We are always attempting to increase the amount raised in the Annual Funds, which remains the number one priority for the Office of Institutional Advancement,” he said.