9/10/99

ATHENS, Ohio -- A faculty salary study of the state's public universities by the American Association of University Professors found that full-time, tenure-track professors and associate professors on Ohio University's Athens campus ranked second in average pay for the 1998-1999 academic year, trailing only their Ohio State University counterparts.

The average salary for full professors on the Athens campus was $75,700, and associate professors averaged $56,300. Full professors at Ohio State averaged $84,900 and associates received $58,100.

Next were Wright State University, at $75,600 for professors and $55,500 for associate professors; the University of Cincinnati, $75,400 for professors and $56,100 for associate professors and Miami University, $75,200 for professors and $55,600 for associate professors.

OSU paid the highest average salaries ($66,700) for all faculty members -- professors, associate professors, assistant professors and instructors -- at state-assisted universities in Ohio, followed by Cincinnati ($62,200), Ohio University ($58,000) and Miami ($57,800). Ohio University faculty, administrators and classified staff received an average 3 percent salary increase for the 1999-2000 academic year.

Faculty salaries at Ohio University have increased substantially during the past two decades. In 1983-1984, tenure-track faculty on the Athens campus ranked 10th in the state in average salary ($29,233).

Since 1978, the university has given raises to faculty that total 149.8 percent, a greater increase than any other public university in Ohio, said Mike Williford, director of Institutional Research. The state average percentage increase for faculty at public institutions during the 20-year period was 135 percent.

Overall, the faculty salary rankings for Ohio's public universities correspond to the salary rankings of their presidents. A story in the Aug. 14 issue of The Columbus Dispatch surveyed salaries for presidents at Ohio's 13 public universities. Ohio State President William Kirwan's salary of $291,000 for the 1999-2000 academic year led the state, followed by Cincinnati's Joseph Steger at $250,000 and President Robert Glidden at $242,300. Glidden received a 13 percent increase in June.

The average salaries for faculty and the presidential salaries also corresponded to enrollments for the top three state public universities. For the 1998-99 academic year, OSU enrolled 55,233 students, CSU enrolled 34,000 and Ohio enrolled 28,407.

At Ohio University's four regional campuses, average full-time faculty salaries were $50,100 at Zanesville, $48,200 at Lancaster, $46,300 at Eastern and $44,000 at Chillicothe. The study did not provide information on Ohio University-Southern salaries.

Case Western Reserve University, a private school, had the highest faculty salaries for all universities in Ohio, paying full-time professors an average of $86,400 and an overall average faculty salary of $69,900.

Ohio State employs the most full-time faculty (1,946) on its main campus, followed by Cincinnati (1,109), Ohio (695) and Miami (667).

Based in Washington, the American Association of University Professors is a professional association that conducts yearly nationwide faculty salary surveys.