By Karen Trimbath
Public Information
In its April meeting, the University Faculty Senate voted to advise President Graham B. Spanier that faculty salary inequities across campuses and within colleges should continue to be addressed -- but the Senate also recognized the provost's office for reporting salary adjustments and expressed its strong support for the Grand Destiny campaign's role in raising funds for endowed professorships and student and program support.
During his opening remarks to the Senate, Spanier said the University will do everything it can to obtain increased funding from the state to help support an increase in faculty salaries. Spanier's statement was in response to a Senate report on a new campus transportation plan that recommended that general funds, not employee permit fees, be used to support pending parking infrastructure improvements, such as construction of parking decks.
Because employee salary increases come from the general fund, the president said using these funds to support parking improvements would reduce the amount of money available for employee raises. If the University has to choose between increasing salaries or using salary increase funds to support transportation improvements, then it should choose to boost salaries, Spanier said.
Spanier said the University is on the verge of a "very substantial change in how we approach transportation on campus." The new Transportation Demand Management plan outlined last week (see the April 28 Intercom) will bring about "major improvements in the parking system," Spanier said, "but it doesn't come without a price."
Some of the improvements in the plan are free bus service; the creation of an extensive system of bicycle paths; and a guaranteed ride home program for carpoolers. The plan, which addresses transportation issues over the next five to seven years, is aimed at reducing traffic on campus and increasing pedestrian safety. New parking decks will be built as needed and 76 percent of the costs associated with these improvements are expected to come from parking fees. Penn State has a tradition of paying for parking through its fee structure and not taking it out of general funds.
The Senate went on to vote for recommendations advising the administration to use general funds to pay for new parking initiatives and to modify current parking policies. The president told the Senate that the Internal Revenue Service (since January) allows employees to pay for parking fees as a pretax deduction. Employees end up paying less in taxes because the amount paid for these expenses does not have to be reported as income.
"Even with the proposed increases, and considering inflation, you come out ahead of the way we're currently doing it," Spanier said.
Other motions passed by the Senate included:
* A resolution thanking John A. Brighton, executive vice president and provost, for his accomplishments on behalf of Penn State. Brighton will retire as provost on June 30 and will serve as University Professor to lead in the creation of a consortium on teaching and learning.
* A resolution endorsing the Grand Destiny fund-raising campaign. The resolution urges faculty to support it with their time, effort and gifts.
* A revision of Faculty Senate standing rules and Policy HR-13, the procedure for hiring new faculty.