University of Houston faculty and staff are one step closer to receiving salary increases.

UH President Jay Gogue and his cabinet are proposing to raise faculty and staff salaries by an average of 4 percent starting Sept. 1. The UH System Board of Regents is scheduled to vote on the proposal at its next meeting, Aug. 18.

The plan calls for merit and equity raises for benefits-eligible ranked faculty and visiting faculty. An additional $200,000 has been allocated to address faculty salary compression, and $204,000 has been designated for faculty promotions and tenure raises, according to a memo from Gogue to administrators.

Keeping his promise to listen to the campus community, Gogue is seeking a 4 percent across-the-board raise for staff — a Staff Council recommendation.

“I believe that Dr. Gogue really wants to listen to staff and faculty,” said Joe Papick, Staff Council president. “He makes every effort to demonstrate that he is supportive of issues that affect each of us, and he is responsive.”

Papick said the organization provided Gogue with the information that he needed to make this decision after thorough discussions and after receiving input from nearly 3,000 staff members via an electronic mail survey.

Staff members eligible for the increase must have been employed by UH by March 1, 2005. If approved by regents, faculty and staff members paid monthly will see the increase on their Oct. 1 paychecks while employees paid on a biweekly basis will see it reflected in their first paychecks of the September pay cycle.

Francine Parker
fparker@central.uh.edu