I am writing to address the article concerning salaries for university presidents that ran in The Clarion-Ledger on Oct. 17. Considering the salaries already being paid to the high-ranking officials at these universities, it has many staff members really steamed. Many staff members at Mississippi State University live on less than 10 percent of what the current president of MSU is now making, and state officials don’t seem to care that we have not had a raise in the last two years.
The president of the University of Mississippi makes just 32 precent less than the president of the United States, while MSU’s president makes just 37.5 percent less than that of George W. Bush. Are they living in poverty? I think not.
Furthermore, our homes are not provided to us. We have either a mortgage payment or a rent payment each month. What’s even more ludicrous is the fact that MSU also provides a home maintenance account in the amount of $18,580 for the president’s home, which is more than some members of MSU’s staff make for an entire year of service. Don’t even get me started on the travel expenses. It is no wonder why the morale at the university is in the commode.
Since the university has been under a hiring freeze for roughly the last year, in most cases, when a department loses a staff member, the remaining staff members are to assume the duties of the vacated position. So, on top of the responsibilities that we were initially hired to do-and they are extensive-we are expected to assume the responsibilities of the person in the vacated position with no additional pay. Yet, we should do so with a smile on our faces. We, in many cases, and I do know there are exceptions to this rule, are grossly overworked and underpaid.
Many university staff members have to work two jobs simply to make ends meet. This, for the most part, is not because they are necessarily living above their means, but because they choose to do more than just exist, which is all you can afford to do on our current salaries. Unfortunately, for these individuals it is a catch-22 situation because working 50-60 hours a week doesn’t leave much time for sleep, let alone a social life.
State officials and members of the Institutions of Higher Learning Board really must consider that staff members are the backbone of these universities and should the staff members decide to walk out, the universities would not function with any type of efficiency, if at all.
The cost of living continues to soar, and we are expected to live on the miserly salaries doled out to the peons by those in positions of power. The fact of the matter is that it has been many years since we have had what might even be considered a decent raise, yet the university seems to come up with the funding to beautify the campus. The many planters across campus are re-planted several times each year with different flowers for each season. I don’t think the staff members care whether this is done with soft money when we are told that the budget restraints just don’t appropriate money for the allocation of raises. Perhaps some of this soft money needs to be converted to hard money to allow for raises in the budget, as opposed to trees, flowers and other extravagant items for which the university allocates funding.
Many faculty members are in the same boat as the staffers, but I will leave it to them to state their own case, because even though they too, in many instances, are grossly underpaid, there is still no comparison to what staff members are expected to survive on.
– Suzanne McClain