Inside Iowa State

Aug. 12, 2004

Faculty salaries, inflationary increases would be top priorities for new state funding

by Anne Krapfl

Inflationary increases for operating costs, "catch up" funding to make ISU faculty salaries competitive among peer schools and new faculty positions in the biosciences are Iowa State's top three budget priorities for FY06, the year that begins next July 1. State law requires state agencies, including the Board of Regents, to identify their priorities for state appropriations by Oct. 1, well before the legislative session opens. The board will finalize its operating appropriation requests at its September meeting, but gave them a first look Aug. 4 in Sioux City.

At Iowa State during the last four years, inflationary increases have been funded through internal reallocations. This approach has "eroded the university's instructional, research and outreach capacity," according to supporting documents.

The average ISU faculty salary ($92,200 for a full professor) is next to last in current peer standings. The goal, over several years, is to bring Iowa State's average faculty salary into the top third among the 11 peer universities. The average salary for a full professor among Iowa State's peers is $98,700.

Noting that Iowa State has reallocated several million dollars over three years to support bioscience-related initiatives, the FY06 request seeks funding for faculty positions in fields that support the biosciences. A study released Aug. 3 by the Battelle consulting group recommends continued growth and development in Iowa in the biosciences.

Final FY04 spending

In other action, the regents approved Iowa State's plan for spending $582,041 returned to the university from the state. Iowa State lost $5.8 million as part of an across-the-board state funding reversion in October 2003. On June 25, Gov. Tom Vilsack announced that, due to higher-than-projected state revenues, he would restore some of the funding to state units.

Following is a breakout of how units that receive a direct appropriation from the state will spend $582,041.

• General university, $444,076: replace roofs on MacKay, Seed Science and Food Sciences buildings
• Experiment Station, $79,537: complete restoration of a research lab
• Cooperative Extension, $50,611: install new statewide, high-speed network in 100 county offices
• Leopold Center, $1,191: sponsor a seminar with a national expert, cover meeting costs of a regional working group
• Livestock research, $566: study pre-harvest reduction of salmonella in turkeys (a significant livestock health issue)
• IPRT, $4,302: purchase software license for a project with a client, and supplies and accessories for other client projects
• ISU Research Park, $383: reduce expenses that are passed on to park tenants
• Small Business Development Center, $1,375: supplement subcontract payments to regional SBDC centers

Regents schools are asked early to identify priorities for any additional state funding in FY06. At Iowa State, the priorities are faculty salaries and inflationary cost increases.