UGA president looking to increase staff, faculty salaries

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) University of Georgia President Jere Morehead has revealed where a significant portion of a recent tuition hike will be going: into the pockets of UGA's comparatively underpaid faculty and staff.

During a Wednesday news conference, Morehead said he's looking to increase salaries by about 5 percent to narrow the faculty pay gap between UGA and other Southeastern Conference schools, the Athens Banner-Herald reports.

Morehead says the raise will be the first in a series of increases over several years to help UGA become competitive with the other universities.

UGA Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Pamela Whitten said the raises will be merit-based. Whitten said some employees will get more than 5 percent and some will get less.

According to statistics from the Southern Regional Education Board, UGA had paid full professors an above-average salary in 2001 for Southeastern flagship universities. By 2013, though, UGA had fallen to last place in the rankings.

Earlier this month, the state Board of Regents approved a 9 percent tuition increase for in-state undergraduate students at public universities. That amounts to an additional $387 per semester per student for the next academic year. In-state students account for almost 90 percent of UGA's 27,000 undergraduates.