IMHO, the #1 issue he'll need to address is employee pay, both faculty and staff. Turnover here is mindbogglingly high because of low salaries. I know offices that provide critical campus services who have near 100% turnover every few years because of the low pay.
Staff just got a $1,000 raise + an additional 1.2% cost of living bump. That was much needed, but it is only the second such pay adjustment since 2018, the other being the 6% across the board given in 2022. SFA salaries were already low pre-pandemic and they've only lost ground vs inflation due to pay freezes in four out of the last six years. And the "lower cost of living" narrative just doesn't work anymore. Home prices in Nacogdoches have almost doubled since 2017 while SFA salaries have barely budged.
More and more we are getting turned down by people who say they just can't afford to move to Nac for the salary SFA offers.
Staff just got a $1,000 raise + an additional 1.2% cost of living bump. That was much needed, but it is only the second such pay adjustment since 2018, the other being the 6% across the board given in 2022. SFA salaries were already low pre-pandemic and they've only lost ground vs inflation due to pay freezes in four out of the last six years. And the "lower cost of living" narrative just doesn't work anymore. Home prices in Nacogdoches have almost doubled since 2017 while SFA salaries have barely budged.
More and more we are getting turned down by people who say they just can't afford to move to Nac for the salary SFA offers.
