SPIRIT OF COOPERATION PRODUCES MERIT PAY PLAN AT SEMO

Is there merit to a new merit-pay policy at Southeast Missouri State University? That is what president Dale Nitzschke must decide in the coming weeks.

But certainly the consensus reached on this new plan by the faculty and administration is a major accomplishment. It marks a stark contrast to past efforts to bring agreement on merit pay at the university.

In the past, even mention of merit pay became a starting point for an argument. Merit pay was stormily adopted a few years ago, but disagreement remained over both the concept and the implementation. At the heart of the conflict was who would decide if faculty members merited a pay increase.

The new policy would take the decision out of the hands of college deans. Department chairman would decide faculty performance, and criteria will be set by individual departments.

A spirit of cooperation between faculty and administration emerged from this recent discussion of merit pay. Perhaps that is the biggest achievement of all.

Considerable credit goes right to the top. This new policy doesn't go to the university president sight unseen. From the start, Nitzschke worked closely with the Faculty Senate to develop this new policy. He began meeting with a faculty committee in the fall to resolve the issue, which some faculty cited as contributing to low morale at Southeast. In fact, Nitzschke has admirably attacked this issue of low morale head on rather than ignoring it or sweeping it under the carpet.

And when it came time to vote at the Faculty Senate, a remarkable thing happened. Consternation was replaced by unanimity. Only two of the Senate's 39 members -- not all of whom participated in the voting -- opposed the measure. That is pretty remarkable considering past attitudes on this thorny issue.

It can be hoped this attitude of openness will spread to other difficult issues on the university campus. Certainly, the handling of merit pay -- regardless of the outcome -- demonstrates a welcome new spirit of harmony and trust between faculty and administration at Southeast.