UNIVERSITY'S MERIT PAY

Merit pay has been debated on the Southeast Missouri State University campus for a number of years. A revised plan has moved a step closer to implementation in 1996.

While some have embraced the notion, others at the university are worried that merit pay may give the administration the means to fire tenured professors.

The most recent plan was approved by Kala Stroup before she left for her new job as Missouri's commissioner of higher education. Interim President Bill Atchley is reviewing the issue, with the final decision to rest with the board of regents. The board indicated in 1991 that it no longer wanted across-the-board pay increases.

Merit pay may be new to some university campuses, but it is a common practice in the business world. It makes sense to pay people for their job performance and not just the number of years of service.

Faculty members denied merit can appeal to a committee headed by the provost. This year, only 12 of the school's nearly 400 faculty members were judged unsatisfactory for base level merit. Two levels of additional merit pay can be awarded to qualifying faculty members.

This merit system can help ensure that faculty members are motivated and effective where it counts: in the classroom.