The University of Nebraska has announced that employees will not receive general salary increases this summer, a decision communicated by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Chancellor in a recent news release. This marks a departure from the university’s usual practice of granting cost-of-living increases at the start of the fiscal year.
The last instance when the University of Nebraska did not allocate funds for annual salary raises was during the 2020-21 fiscal year. UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett expressed his disappointment in the announcement, citing “system-wide fiscal challenges” as the reason for the halt in salary increments for the talented and hard-working staff at the university.
Chancellor Bennett noted the potential difficulties in staff retention and recruitment due to these financial constraints. Although across-the-board raises from any funding source are off the table, increases related to faculty promotions and tenure will still be honored. Additionally, the board will consider salary increases for “critical market equity or retention” under “very limited circumstances.”
Meanwhile, faculty from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and the University of Nebraska at Omaha had successfully negotiated for raises earlier this spring. These will proceed as planned, though other campus employees will not see similar increases. It remains uncertain whether these raises will be funded by the university system or if the colleges will need to adjust their budgets to honor these agreements.
This salary freeze follows tighter-than-anticipated budget increases from the Nebraska Legislature for the university system. University of Nebraska President Jeffrey Gold had requested 3.5% increases for the next two years, emphasizing the institution’s $6.4 billion annual economic impact and its support of 52,000 jobs statewide during his testimony to state senators.
Gold expressed earlier this month that he aims to prevent the financial pressures from leading to tuition hikes. “Our major goal is to keep high-quality, accessible education affordable to Nebraskans and to others who choose their educational journey with us, but there is no question that we will have to reassess our priorities as to how and in what we will invest,” Gold stated.
In the budget passed by state senators, which awaits Governor Jim Pillen’s approval, the university system is set to receive only 0.625% increases annually over the next biennium. Governor Pillen, who had previously advised against approving these increases, retains the authority to veto them individually.
Further financial challenges stem from reductions in federal funding. In an email sent to university employees on May 6, Gold reported that 74 federal grants, totaling $91.6 million, had been terminated. He also warned that caps on funds for research infrastructure could potentially result in a $60 million annual loss across all campuses.
For full transparency, it should be noted that members of the Nebraska Public Media newsroom are also employees of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
