Uncertainty regarding faculty salary increases has led the College of Liberal Arts to cannibalize five tenured-track professor searches to improve the budget for fiscal year 1999, the acting dean of the college says.

The freezing of these searches comes after COLA officials realized the personnel salary budget may require a 1.5 percent increase in addition to the 3 percent increase already appropriated by the state. This 1.5 percent faculty salary increase may be necessary after union contract negotiations are complete.

This translates into $303,000 of additional funds needed to add to their $20.3 million salary budget for fiscal year 1999.

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COLA Dean Robert Jensen said the reason they are adjusting the fiscal year 1999 budget is because it is unknown what faculty salary increases will be enacted after faculty contract negotiations are complete.

If that money can be used to satisfy negotiations and to hire replacement faculty then I have to be ready to provide the funds for whatever is to be agreed on, Jensen said.

Jensen said the freezing of the five searches may affect the class schedules for the fall 1998.

There will probably be classes closed, Jensen said.

However, he said it is too early to determine which classes will be closed.

The whole idea behind this is to do as little harm as possible to all of our academic programs, Jensen said. The only place it can come is by cannibalizing.

Originally there were 37 tenure-track faculty searches under way in COLA. Of those, eight have been concluded, which left 29 positions to fill. The announcement to freeze five of those 29 searches came from the COLA Budget Committee Thursday.

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The Budget Committee is made up of Jensen, Associate Dean Jon Muller, the chairman of the COLA Council, department chairs, and two faculty members. The committee discussed which classes were most vital to keep.

In the meeting Jensen asked each department to prioritize each of the searches and discuss which searches should not be frozen.

I’m concerned about protecting the core curriculum, Jensen said. [The budget committee] felt that those searches that did not involve the core [curriculum] should be the ones under review.

Jim Sullivan, president of the faculty union, said the union does not support COLA’s move to freeze these positions.

We are definitely opposed to the cancellation of these searches, Sullivan said. We now have people analyzing this from a legal point of view.

Sullivan would not comment further until a statement is released later today.

Jensen said the faculty union cried foul when they found out that two faculty members were able to express their views in the closed-doors Budget Committee meeting.

By having faculty representatives on the COLA Budget Committee, we violated Illinois labor laws, Jensen said. Because we sought faculty input, they felt we were bargaining with individuals.

Jensen said some funds to unfreeze searches could come from the retirement, resignation or death of professors.

I hope to get some resignations and retirements by next year, Jensen said.

Jensen said that funds for salary increases will not just come from faculty salary budget.

I do not plan to get all of the money out of faculty positions, he said. I expect a proportional amount from civil services and [administrative and professional] staff.

Jensen realizes that many will not like the committee’s decision to suspend the searches..

This is always painful, he said. Nobody likes to do this kind of thing. It’s not fair.