Salary Guide

Most of the comments seem to be complaining about salaries being published, is this because you are the high salary and now your co-workers are seeing the pay difference? What a person makes isn't all that matters, it's the high paid ones that do nothing. What do you think about a civil service employee making $50,000 plus, complaining that they don't make more. This person is so far behind in their work, yet they are continuously taking time off, have one if not more of their children in the office daily and regularly on the cell phone, yes, personal calls. I think it's time in this time of financial crisis they start at the top and remove all the upper positions created for friends/family, then work their way down. Problem is, they will never remove the upper crust, and if they would come down to the lower level they will remove the hard dedicated workers and let the loafers with the high salary stay. I've always heard the saying, the majority of civil service workers wouldn't survive in the public sector.

I have only ever worked in the private sector, but I must say that some of the comments here really reveal an ignorance of what is required of university faculty. Most worked for years as graduate students on salaries that were much less than they could have made in the private sector, or even took on large debts to pay for their education. I have firsthand knowledge of this because the graduate students I know always seem to be very careful with their spending and are working nearly constantly as they are competing to keep their places in graduate school.

I know, also, that those who are in university teaching jobs are generally not only much better educated than others in the same field, but in the private sector, but also brighter, so I hope that they will continue to find the academic sector attractive, lest they go after our private sector jobs.

I live in a university zone in another state, and I am only too happy to support the universities here, because they bring jobs to my region, for people of all levels of education and skills.

I am confused by those who comment that we are whining or show a lack of compassion for those in the community who have been laid off or lost their homes. I can be unhappy that my salary has been posted AND I am sorry for your difficulties-they can exist separately. To keep telling me to either "shut up" or "go work in the private sector" is not productive- it is demeaning. Yes, I choose to use my education to work in a field, that does not for the most part, pay very well. I work in higher education because I have the education, motivation and skill set to help educate young people. I work in an environment where we have indeed severely cut our operating budgets, implemented a hiring freeze, and been furloughed. I want to ensure that the students who enroll here have a quality experience- just as much as students that I worked with five and ten years ago, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to engage with tax payers who seem to either want to mock us or only publicly comment on the 5-10 highest salaries from the thousands of employees. I am also a tax payer, as are many of my students. I am proud of the work that the University does, the service is provides to our local community, state and country. I am also incredibly proud of the work that we are all doing, especially as we constantly attacked from all sides. And we are being paid less and less each year to do it given 0% raises and furloughs.

The DI stated their reasoning for printing this information as:

"Employee salaries are one of the largest items on the University's budget. With the recent mandatory furloughs and changes in the administration, there has never been a more important time for continuing the transparency the University has started. In addition, this list allows the public to see how their tax and tuition dollars are being spent."

I feel that this is simply a cheap attempt at journalism. Where are the additional articles about related topics, analysis of comparable salaries in other industries or even states, interviews with staff members or profiles of how this cash crisis is impacting our staff? What about new cost-cutting initiatives that have been creatively dreamed up by so many of our staff?

Does posting salaries really make a positive difference? Well, DI's list was picked up by www.patrick.net and that means it's now reaching a wider audience. Enough public opinion generates energy which can change things. (I am reminded of Obama's presidential campaign.) Seeing the amount your top earner makes is absolutely shocking. However, I don't doubt that most college campuses pay athletic coaches and directors the same... or more, for that matter! Then I started reading the comments and realized the bigger problem. The crux of the matter, in my mind, is that your staff has not had a raise or vacation time in years, doing more work for less. It seems a little "sacrifice" from the big fishes won't make such a big difference to them--what's 20K in the grand scheme of things?--but it will be of considerable difference to others.

I work at a state-supported college in NY and we are protected by a union. We are virtually guarenteed a raise every year and receive plenty of sick and personal time. I never fully appreciated my union until now. If our salaries were posted, it would be shocking for our staff, but we'd probably get through it. In the end, posting the salaries of employees does give people the chance to look elsewhere for a better opportunity.

I challenge every non-university employee commenting to post their salary and position with their comments

Transparency is excellent. The turmoil that this is bringing is exactly the strength of transparency. To force change and ensure fairness. As consumers, the costs of the products we all by are directly affected by the salaries of those who produce it. I believe there would be this exact response and outrage if compensation levels all businesses everywhere were made public. It would expose why a ten cent pill costs five dollars or why we pay $300,000 for a $100,000 house over the life of a loan.

This is just the tip of the injustice iceberg and it really has nothing to do with taxpayers dollars.

If the DI really wants a good story. Do a report on how many hours U of I professors actually work teaching classes. And how many professors have a side business that they work on during U of I hours supplementing their U of I income. DI will discover that the yearly salary divided by the hours actually worked will result in a hourly salary that will surprise everyone.

When I look at these salaries a whole lot comes to mind. One for instance, Unjustifiable! There are some people who have been here almost 30 years and put in excellent service and then a fly by night come along and work a year, less job responsibility but make more. It just doesn’t add up and I guess it never will because of greed and if you scratch my back I will scratch yours. I have seen it happen lots of time right in my departments. We are constantly being exposed before the entire world for the CROOKS we are. You ROB; STEAL, CHEAT, LIE , MASQUERADE, and then you have the gall to ask us to take ethnic training. No wonder we are falling apart!