October 19, 2004

Dear Department Chairperson:

I am writing to you in your capacity as a department chair and also as an individual represented by the AAUP. In the next few weeks you will play a leading role in determining recommendations for FASIP awards for your departmental colleagues. In so doing, on behalf of the AAUP Executive Council and its Negotiating Team, I urge you to give all due attention to issues of salary inequity, especially at the lower ranks, both for assistant professors and for those with various instructor/lecturer titles who are eligible for FASIP awards.

As you probably know, the administration and the AAUP were not able to come together on possible improvements of the process for determining FASIP awards. The contract was agreed upon, and overwhelmingly ratified, with provision for ongoing discussion/negotiation on FASIP process but for the present cycle the procedures are to be exactly as they were in the last contract. Within the boundaries of these procedures, as noted in Section A "Criteria" of Appendix B, there is ample room to consider salary equity issues, in the context, of course, of accomplishments in research, teaching, and service according to the standards your department determines.

The contractually agreed upon across-the-board increases of zero for last year, 2.4% this year, and 2.4% next year (half delayed until January 1) do not cover realistic projections of inflation for these three years. Moreover, the flat rate for all ranks and salary levels may well be more burdensome for colleagues at the lower end of the pay scales. Given these realities, considerations of equity, which are specifically provided for in the contract, surely call for careful attention to the dollar impact of FASIP recommendations you make upon the salaries of individuals in your unit. Enough said!

Thank you for considering the AAUP position. Please share this letter with members of your department as you see fit, and especially with those elected to its Personnel Evaluation Committee.

Yours truly,



Rudy Bell, President
Rutgers Council of AAUP Chapters