University administrators accused of misusing faculty merit program

Assemblywoman Kathy Von Tobel, R-Las Vegas, said administrative merit pay is doled out routinely despite lawmakers' refusal during past sessions to earmark funding for the pay increases.

She said she plans to press her colleagues during the 1999 session to put an end to taxpayer-supported administrative merit pay at the state's two universities and four community colleges.

"For the faculty, merit is a very difficult, competitive process," she said. "For the administration, it's nothing more than a slush fund.

"The entire system was set up by the Legislature for faculty. It's clear and concise that top administrators are not covered for merit raises. Yet the university system found a quarter of a million dollars last year to do exactly what the Legislature did not intend for them to do."

Merit raises to university and community college administrators cost more than $250,000 for the 1998-99 school year, university system records show.

University system officials insisted that money comes from salary savings when employees leave and are not replaced immediately, but they refused to provide details.

Chancellor Richard Jarvis said he would fight Von Tobel's attempts to forbid the awarding of merit pay to top-level administrators. He said campus presidents need the flexibility to reward and retain their best performers.

"We believe we have a problem to solve, which is to keep our administrative salaries competitive, and we are solving it with vacancy savings," Jarvis said.

"The Legislature has not funded merit (for administrators) in the past, but they have not specifically said, 'You cannot award merit increases to your administrators."'

Von Tobel and Regent Howard Rosenberg expressed concern over the higher rates at which merit is doled out to administrators.

For instance, records show 33 of the top 40 University of Nevada, Las Vegas administrators, or 83 percent, received merit pay increases during the past academic year.

The raises, which averaged $3,000, were in addition to cost-of-living increases for presidents, vice presidents, associate vice presidents, deans and associate deans.

By contrast, 41 percent of UNLV's business college professors got merit increases averaging $3,500, and 67 percent of hotel administration professors received merit increases averaging $2,100.

"When you continue giving merit to administrators after a certain point, that's why you begin to see their salaries soar," said Rosenberg, a UNR art professor.

Most top-level administrators earn at least $100,000 annually, so cost-of-living and merit pay increases amount to more than $6,000 in many cases.

Two years ago, Von Tobel failed in an effort to change the way the university system uses vacancy savings to award administrative merit.

"They talk about enrollment increases and how many needs there are. Well, why not use some of these excess funds for those needs?" she asked.

She suggested campus presidents look outside for private funding of administrative merit.

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