How Much is Too Much? A Quick Note About Raises at UNCG

I have been going back through UNCG salary data since 2008/2009 and looking at the raises that each individual has received who is still employed by UNCG.

Wait, let me correct that. Generally speaking, I have been looking at the raise (singular) that most people have received during that time. Rhetoric of financial crisis aside, I have already found something disturbing…and I’ve only made it from Z – R.

James Ryan received a $4,000 raise.

Okay, I know that’s not terribly shocking on the face of it. I mean, it’s certainly not the largest raise (I could refer to Mike Tarrant’s $25,000 but why bother since he is leaving - I'll certainly refer to Kim Record's raises, but that's an article in and of itself to be address later).

What is shocking about it is that James Ryan was already being paid $350,000 per year. Yes, he makes more than the chancellor. He is, in fact, the highest paid employee at UNCG. Now, I will grant that he has done less damage to UNCG than the chancellor and for that he should be rewarded, but the question it raised in my mind is this:

We have folks who have been working with us for 10, 20, 30, 35 years who are making $20,000 a year. The raises the folks in that range have been given generally amount to no more than $300. Spread that over 12 months and you are saying, before taxes, here’s another $25 for your dedication, don't spend it all in one place!

Many who received these meager sums are the ‘essential employees’ who haveto come to work even when the university is closed. These raises certainly don’t keep up with the cost of living and we should be embarrassed as a university, as a government entity, and as human beings to hand another $4,000 to a man making $350k in the face of the poverty wages being paid to other members of our UNCG community.

I hope that should I ever be in the position to earn $350,000 a year and someone were to offer me a $4,000 increase, I would have the decency to not only decline their offer but to shame them for having made it in the first place.