Proposed Negotiated Salary Program would allow UC faculty to increase salaries through grants and fellowships

Faculty may soon be able to increase salaries through grants and fellowships as the University of California seeks to free up state money for other purposes.

The Negotiated Salary Program aims to improve UC faculty retention as a response to offers from higher-paying private universities, said Dianne Klein, spokeswoman for the UC Office of the President.

The UC approved a 3 percent merit-based raise across the board in August. This was propelled by a desire to stay competitive, Klein said.

The new salary program is intended to help defray the need for a yearly increase, she said.

It is based on the successful Health Sciences Compensation Plan, which allows health sciences researchers to boost their salary with grant money.

The Negotiated Salary Program would open up outside compensation to other UC faculty, according to Klein.

One aspect of the program is to provide incentives for basic scientists to stay on campus and continue teaching undergraduates, instead of moving to university health sciences positions which previously had the exclusive potential of outside compensation, said Klein.

Even with efforts to address the gap between UC and private university salaries, the program will mainly benefit engineering and science faculty, said Dan Mitchell, professor emeritus of the UCLA Anderson School and Luskin School of Public Affairs.

Fields in the humanities will not benefit nearly as much from the initiative and the salary inequality will still need to be addressed, Mitchell said.

There will not be a limit to the amount professors can potentially raise through the new system.

But Klein said the new system is not as potentially lucrative ““ simply another tool UCOP can offer to navigate tough economic times.

Robert Anderson, chair of the UC Academic Senate, said there does not seem to be much money available for non-science faculty to access.

“Most federal grant agencies won’t allow grant money to be spent (on salaries),” Anderson said.

One concern is that business and law schools, which could use course fees to compensate faculty as part of the Negotiated Salary Program, would determine such compensation yearly and reduce salary stability, according to Anderson.

Another worry is that under the Negotiated Salary Program, grant money traditionally used to support graduate students would instead go to compensating professors, Anderson said.

From here, campus Academic Senates will discuss the proposal individually and give their feedback, Klein said. Even if the proposal is adopted, UC schools will be allowed to opt in or out on an individual basis, Anderson said.

In December, the UC Academic Senate will take up the issue and offer recommendations to the Office of the President.