Kirkwood board approves faculty, staff raises

Kirkwood Community College faculty and staff will see an average 2.99 percent salary increase in the coming fiscal year.

Kirkwood's board of trustees approved the pay increases during a meeting Thursday. The average salary increase of 2.99 percent and average total package increase of 2.67 percent for faculty and staff will cost $1.9 million.

“We're very appreciative of our faculty and all that they do,” Kirkwood board Chairwoman Lois Bartelme, of Coralville, said.

The faculty salary increase was negotiated with the Kirkwood Faculty Association. The same increase is then applied to all staff, Kirkwood President Mick Starcevich said. Kirkwood has about 775 full time faculty and staff.

This increase for fiscal year 2011, which begins July 1, is higher than the increase Kirkwood faculty and staff received for the current year, which was about 1.9 percent to salary and 1.67 percent to total package.

“Obviously it's a tight year with the way the budget is,” Starcevich said. “The only thing that's saving us at this point from making further cuts is our enrollment.”

Projected fall enrollment numbers right now are up about 14 percent, though officials don't expect that to hold through the start of the semester. It's likely Kirkwood will see about a 10 percent enrollment increase this fall, Starcevich said.

Kirkwood received $7 million less in state money for general education for 2010-11 compared to the start of 2009-10, due to budget cuts.