U of M faculty approves temporary pay cut

Faculty at the University of Minnesota will take a one year pay cut of just over 1 percent in a move approved by the faculty senate on Thursday.

The plan, proposed by U of M president Robert Bruininks, will cut faculty pay by 1.15 percent next fiscal year. Hourly employees at the U will take the same pay reduction in the form of three unpaid furlough days.

Bruininks says the plan will save more than $28 million as the U works to solve a $130 million budget shortfall next year.

"The university, regardless of our philosophical position, was quite willing to step up," Bruininks said. "The faculty were willing to step up and take some reductions, to save the jobs of people who work here at the University of Minnesota and to preserve the academic quality of the University of Minnesota going forward."

Some faculty senate members oppose the plan, saying it isn't fair to the university's lowest paid workers.

U of M professor Eva Von Dassow wants a larger pay cut for the U's top paid employees.

"We believe that salary reductions should not be imposed across the board," Von Dassow said. "They should be imposed on a sliding scale so that the people that earn the most are cut the most and the people who earn the least are cut not at all."