Salary discrepancies between male and female faculty members was the hot topic at the Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting on Monday.
According to a new study, female assistant and associate professors salaries have increased to equalize the difference between female and male professors, but male professors salaries increased in comparison to their female counterparts.
“I can’t give money to women just because they are women,” Provost Robert Holub said. Holub had requested the deans of the various colleges to send him a report justifying the pay of their professors, and he said there is nothing more that he can do.
Leaving that topic unresolved, the committee also talked about the living wage issue. Sen. Stephen Blackwell, from the budget and planning committee, went over the updated living wage summary report. From 2005 through 2007, the number of employees earning below the living wage decreased from 1,468 to 1,109.
Martie Gleason, human resources team leader, also called the committee’s attention to the federal minimum wage increase to $7.25 on July 24, 2009. This will affect how the living wage will be calculated, Gleason said.
Rita Geier, associate to the chancellor, made a special appearance to discuss approving a new intercultural policy statement for the hiring process at UT.
“I want to move from rhetoric to practice,” Geier said.
Geier pushed to have the new policy statement to be approved by the next meeting so that it can be placed in ads for faculty and staff employment. The new statement stresses how much UT values the ability of its employees to contribute to diversity and intercultural perspectives on campus.
The committee also debated a resolution that would send a second survey to faculty members on the performance of system President John Petersen. A survey was conducted by the senate in January 2008 and showed a low level of support for Petersen among Knoxville faculty. This resolution calls for another survey to show the public the updated sentiments of the faculty’s confidence in Petersen during the 2008-09 academic year. This topic was left unresolved.
The committee’s last agenda topic discussed the annual faculty surveys. Senate members quibbled over the survey’s questions, which sometimes can be so specific that the surveyed faculty member can be identified easily. David Patterson, Faculty Senate president, said that certain questions left little room for anonymity.