DID YOU KNOW? Dolphins sleep with one eye open.
• THE METROPOLITAN • APRIL 15, 2010 • NEWS • A5
Springtime saunter
CCD Professor Candace Ruiz strolls past a row of blooming trees April 13 while leaving Auraria. The ubiquitous flowering
trees lining the campus sidewalks are just one of many signs that summer is fast approaching. The sun is expected to stay
out until the weekend when light showers are expected throughout Denver. Photo by Leah Millis • lmillis@mscd.edu
Future of faculty pay raises
spurs serious salary debate
By Andrew Flohr-Spence
spencand@mscd.edu
Professor income at Metro has fallen be-
hind again, and the college’s faculty and ad-
ministration are discussing ways to change the
trend.
One possibility is a raise, without which,
some fear Metro will lose good professors to
other schools.
“Metro has long been able to sell the college
to candidates on the idea of Colorado as a nice
place to live,” management professor Madison
Holloway said. “But when they find out they
would take a $10,000 to $15,000 pay cut to
live here, they are not going to come.”
Holloway said he sat on a faculty search
committee for the management department
where four candidates turned down the job
once they found out the salary the college of-
fered. “And they were good candidates … with
real-world experience”
And not only will the low pay turn new
candidates away, but it could affect the reten-
tion of current staff.
“This is really the first cohort who is com-
ing forward under Stephen Jordan’s leadership
that we have hired under the expectation of
preeminence,” Lynn Kaersvang, faculty senate
president, said. “And these people are fabulous
people, they are amazing people, they work
24/7 … and these people expect results for what
they do and they expect acknowledgement.”
Metro President Stephen Jordan an-
nounced at the April Board of Trustees meet-
ing that Metro had “fallen way behind” with
faculty salary levels when compared to colleges
around the country.
The College and University Professional As-
sociation for Human Resources, or CUPA-HR,
supplies Metro with data from 65 other colleges
and universities that compare to the college in
size, mission and local economy.
Metro’s stated goal is to have at least 50 per-
cent of faculty above the averages and 50 be-
low, a goal that was established under Jordan’s
presidency. The motto was if Metro wanted to
be a “preeminent college,” then Metro needed
to offer better pay to attract quality faculty.
And the goal was being reached, until the
economic crash. For the last two years, faculty
has received no pay increase.
To change this, Jordan proposed to the
board a 4 percent raise for faculty and adminis-
trators in the budget for next year. Jordan said
that because of budgeting cuts Metro made im-
mediately after the economic downturn, and
because the college had underestimated how
much money the enrollment increases in the
past year would bring in, the college projected
to have some money left over from this year.
“I looked at the CUPA data … and all the
cuts we made … and I thought we should be
interested in our current people first,” Jordan
said. He said he then discussed it with his vice
presidents and they approved the idea. “I don’t
bring this forward lightly,” Jordan said, noting
he knew few other businesses were giving rais-
es right now. “I think it’s the right thing to do.
“I think we need to remember we’ve asked
the faculty to absorb a 20 percent increase in
enrollment since 2005-2006, while the fund-
ing level has gone down to the 2005-2006 lev-
els,” Jordan told the board.
The board voted to approve next year’s pre-
liminary budget, but not before some discus-
sion.
“I know the faculty has been working re-
ally hard...,” Trustee Robert Cohen said. “But I
work in business…and I know of no one giving
raises right now.”
One question raised by the faculty recently
is how exactly the CUPA-HR data is compiled
and used. Members of the Faculty Senate Bud-
get Committee recently requested open access
to the site so they could put in numbers to com-
pare data.
While the college denied open access — ex-
plaining that no other Colorado college grants
faculty open access — the administration said
it would work with faculty on getting numbers
they wanted run.
A meeting was held on April 12 between
the Office of Administration and Finance and
the Faculty Budget Committee to discuss the
issue, but as of press time, the Faculty Budget
Senate Budget Committee did not respond as to
how the meeting went.
“The meeting was productive with a great
deal of discussion about the budget for 2011,
particularly faculty compensation,” Metro
Spokeswoman Cathy Lucas said. While no
word was given on how the CUPA access ques-
tion was answered, Lucas said they discussed
the possible 4 percent increase to faculty sala-
ries, an increase that “reflects Dr. Jordan’s vi-
sion to maintain equitable distribution of fac-
ulty salaries around the CUPA peer average.”
“It may seem inappropriate at this time
with few other businesses offering raises be-
cause of the economy,” Professor Holloway
said. “But when you realize that we’ve been
sinking or stagnant for many years, the reason
becomes clear.”
Meningitis
case claims
student’s life
By Caitlin Gibbons
cgibbon4@mscd.edu
A 20-year-old Metro student died April 8
due to a case of bacterial meningitis.
The student’s name is not being released
by the college because of the Family Educa-
tion Rights and Privacy Act, said Cathy Lucas,
Metro’s spokeswoman. Adams County Coro-
ner, Jim Hibbard, who performed the autopsy,
said the death was due to natural causes and
the name would not be released to the public.
The college was notified by the Colorado
Department of Health, according to Steve Mo-
naco, director of the Health Center. Following
the notification, Monaco visited the only class
the student was enrolled in to notify the 27
other students about their possible exposure.
“The risk is extremely small for students in
the class,” Monaco said.
Monaco addressed the class and explained
that one of their fellow students had died from
the infection and what symptoms and risk fac-
tors they had. The infection is spread through
saliva, and sharing personal items like a ciga-
rette, eating utensils and drinks is one way the
infection can be contracted, Monaco said.
“The window they have for concern is
through April 15, based on what the health
department told us about the case. Through
that date, if they develop any symptoms, the
student should immediately see a health care
provider,” Monaco said.
Students at Metro are not required to re-
ceive a meningitis immunization.
“State law does not mandate meningitis as
an immunization requirement,” Monaco said.
“What the state does require is that students
are given a fact sheet. They have to sign and say
they have read it.”
UCD and CCD also are in compliance with
state policy.
Monaco said, in light of the recent death
attributed to the disease, there has not been an
increased demand for the vaccination. In fact,
there have been no requests at Auraria.
The vaccination is available for $115 at the
Health Center, and Monaco said that is prob-
ably the least expensive price students will find.
Dr. Ken Gershman, chief of the commu-
nicable disease program for the Colorado De-
partment of Public Health and Environment,
could not comment on the specifics of the case
at Metro, but said meningococcal disease is re-
ported to both the state and local departments
of health within 24 hours due to the severity.
“This is a relatively rare condition, but
when cases happen, they are very high-pro-
file,” Gershman said.
He said there are different schools of
thought regarding not making it a require-
ment to have all students vaccinated against
the disease.
“Ultimately, the decision of individuals not
to receive the vaccination for the meningococ-
cal disease does not create the condition for an
outbreak,” Gershman said.
Other illnesses such as measles are more
highly contagious, hence the requirement for
vaccination for college students he said.
Gershman added that outbreaks of me-
ningococcal disease are rare, and such an
outbreak has not happened in his 10 years
of working with the Colorado Department of
Public Health and Safety.