Senate approves pay plan

The Cal State Long Beach Academic Senate approved the policy on performance-salary step increases Thursday that would allow distribution of approximately $72,000 in raises.

The Academic Senate read and then voted on the amendments suggested by faculty members.

The policy provides that a university-wide review committee must approve at least 50 percent of the candidates for raises. It must be composed of full-time, tenured faculty elected by each college, and by counselors, athletic coaches and librarians.

Jack Munsee, a physics and astronomy professor, suggested a committee should be formed to oversee the functions of the university-wide committee. The Academic Senate approved the request.

A longer discussion ensued when David Abramis, an associate professor from the department of human resource management, suggested an amendment to the application procedures.

The procedures provide that an application for a pay raise must be accompanied by a three-page narrative summarizing contributions since August 1992.

Abramis suggested the narrative should be 1 1/2 pages long. But some faculty members said they felt that 1 1/2 pages were too limited to summarize contributions since 1992.

" think three pages is a reasonable length, but not longer," said Simeon Crowther, an economics professor. "I feel 1 1/2 pages is not long enough."

The amendment did not pass and the length of the application stayed at three pages.

The Academic Senate passed every item in the policy, including eligibility, distribution of money and criteria and evaluation categories.

Some faculty members expressed their concern with the policy.

"It is horrible. It will turn faculty against faculty," said Joan McCauley, a librarian and who is the only faculty member who voted against the policy.

"It is going to create problems by singling out partial groups of people," said David Schmidt, an educational psychology and education professor. "We can end up with some inequities." Schmidt said he believes there is no real, accurate way of measuring how productive a faculty member is to Cal State Long Beach.

Academic Senate Chairman David Hood concluded the meeting by applauding the Senate for its accomplishment in approving a performance-salary step increase policy.

"You were faced with two disasters," Hood said. "You got a new chair that you had to break in and the hideous contract.

"There were people that thought we could not pass a PSSI policy, but you have showed them that their expectations were wrong."

The policy will now go to CSULB President Robert Maxson for approval.