University of Missouri professors protest spending cuts

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A palpable sense of angst was on display at the University of Missouri's flagship campus Thursday afternoon -- and the anxiety stemmed from a lecture hall full of professors, not students stressing over final exams.

Roughly 200 professors crammed into a business school auditorium to raise concerns about a plan that boosts faculty salaries by making financial cuts on campus, including a hiring freeze on most vacant teaching jobs.

Compete Missouri is a three-year, $7 million effort that aims to make faculty salaries more competitive with those at other public research universities.

The extra money comes in part from the elimination of 60 positions from academic units, chancellor Brady Deaton said. And that has some professors worried they will see a slight salary bump, but it will come with more crowded classrooms and heavier teaching loads.

"The spirit of this institution is not good," said Eddie Adelstein, a professor of pathology and anatomical sciences. "A lot of people are unhappy. That's more important than the money."

The financial troubles on campus date to a succession of state budget cuts that began in 2001, when the university received $193 million from lawmakers. By 2004, that contribution had declined to $168.3 million. Even with recent increases averaging 4 percent, the state share is still below its 2001 levels.

Nationwide, Missouri ranks 47th in per-capita state spending on higher education. Among a group of 34 peers in the Association of American Universities, the school is ranked next-to-last in faculty pay, ahead of only the University of Oregon.

And the school's ranking in the popular U.S. News & World Report list of top colleges has plummeted to No. 91, a drop of 20 slots in just one year.

"This is a short-term approach dealing with a longer-term problem," Deaton acknowledged to the crowd.

In a budget overview, Deaton pointed out that the university actually employs 91 more tenured professors than it did in 2001, and 144 additional nontenured faculty members. But those expecting the protests to lead to change will be disappointed, he said.

"We cannot do better than this at this time," he said.

When students return in the fall, Missouri expects to see record enrollment. Their tuition should help alleviate some of the university's financial challenges, said Provost Brian Foster, the chief academic officer.

Combined with an expected $2 million surplus made possible in part by the Compete Missouri plan, faculty can expect to be eligible for pay hikes of 5.5 percent to 7 percent next year, he said.