SIXTEEN PERCENT OF SOUTHEAST EMPLOYEES MAKE $50,000-PLUS

Southeast Missouri State University has 142 employees who will make more than $50,000 each this fiscal year. That's 16 percent of the school's 916 employees.

The more-than-$50,000 group includes more than 100 faculty members, school records show. Faculty members typically have nine-month contracts while non-teaching staff work year-round.

Southeast has 360 faculty members. The average salary ranges from $31,509 for instructors to $53,177 for full professors.

The school's non-teaching staff totals 556.

Average salaries: $56,596 for administrative personnel; $29,990 for professional; $24,351 for crafts and trades; $21,689 for technical; $17,741 for services; and $16,229 for clerical personnel.

Salary increases for Southeast employees this fiscal year range on average from 1.5 percent for top administrators to 3.3 percent for clerical and technical personnel. Faculty, on average, will see their salaries increase by 2 percent.

Last year, the school's top executives received 3 percent raises, while the rest of the administrative staff received raises averaging 3.3 percent.

Faculty and clerical-technical staff received a 4 percent salary hike on average.

Ken Dobbins, executive vice president of the university, said financial constraints and a desire to upgrade computer technology limited pay raises for fiscal 1996, which began July 1.

Faced with decreased enrollment in recent years, Southeast had to decide whether to raise tuition dramatically or hold down cost increases, Dobbins said.

The school decided to hold down tuition increases.

Salary hikes were minimal this year, said Terry Sutton. The longtime economics professor chairs the Faculty Senate, which represents the school's faculty.

"It didn't make anybody happy," he said.

Salary hikes increasingly depend on student-fee revenue. Without higher enrollments, salary hikes will be small, he said.

Still, Sutton said teaching jobs at Southeast pay well compared to other jobs in the area. "I think for the region, it is still a pretty good deal."