Contact: Monty Jones, (512) 499-4363

Date: August 13, 1998

UT System News Release

AUSTIN - The University of Texas System will undertake a comprehensive study of faculty and staff compensation at all 15 System campuses, Donald L. Evans, chairman of the U. T. Board of Regents, announced Thursday (August 13).

Evans said the study had been recommended by Chancellor William H. Cunningham with the goal of making sure that compensation policies and practices follow three principles - achieving equity in compensation at each campus for all employees; maintaining compensation levels that are competitive in the local, state, and national marketplaces; and conducting regular performance-based evaluations that form the basis for the compensation of each employee.

"Today we are approving a System-wide budget of $4.88 billion for fiscal year 1999, and 60 percent of that budget is for compensation of the System's more than 70,000 employees," Evans said. "Under such circumstances, it is essential that we have a clear understanding of our compensation system and that it conform to this set of fundamental principles. This issue is of the very highest priority for the U. T. System."

Evans also announced that Cunningham had recommended to the board that pay raises for the new fiscal year be forgone for him and three other senior U. T. System administrators as a way of emphasizing the seriousness of the compensation study. The others are Dr. Charles B. Mullins, executive vice chancellor for health affairs; Mr. R.D. (Dan) Burck), executive vice chancellor for business affairs; and Mr. Ray Farabee, vice chancellor and general counsel.

"As we undertake this critically important study, it is my recommendation that freezing these salaries for the coming year can be an effective way to spotlight the importance of compensation issues across the U. T. System," Cunningham said. "We are committed to an equitable, competitive, and performance-based compensation system for all employees."

Evans praised the contributions that Cunningham and the other administrators have made as leaders of the U. T. System and Texas higher education.

"The decision that they have made to forgo pay raises for the new fiscal year is in itself a demonstration of their extraordinary leadership of the U. T. System," Evans said.

"Chancellor Cunningham has demonstrated time and again that he is one of the nation's most outstanding higher education leaders, and the U. T. System and all of Texas are indeed fortunate to have the benefit of that leadership. Dr. Mullins, Mr. Burck, and Mr. Farabee are extraordinarily qualified for their positions, and it is clear that they make a contribution of immeasurable value to the U. T. System, which they have helped make one of the premier systems of higher education in the world.

"I know that all members of the Board of Regents share my high regard for these individuals and my gratitude for their careers of public service. We are also deeply appreciative and proud of the outstanding performance of employees through the U. T. System. Their dedication and hard work are of fundamental importance to the ability of the System to fulfill its important educational mission on behalf of all the people of Texas."

Cunningham plans to report to the board on the System-wide compensation study next spring.