BLINN BOARD APPROVES EMPLOYEE PAY RAISES IN 2023 BUDGET
Full-time faculty and staff at Blinn College are set to receive pay raises.
The Blinn Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to adopt an approximately $121.3 million budget for the 2023 fiscal year.
Employees with salaries below the College District-wide median will receive a 6 percent increase, while employees with salaries above the median will receive a 5 percent raise. The budget includes $400 in faculty longevity pay and increases the entry-level salary for full-time faculty from $42,000 to $45,000. It also increases the staff minimum wage from $11 to $15 per hour.
Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance Richard Cervantes said aside from a 5 percent raise in 2020, the last increase of this size dates back around 15 years.
Trustees were satisfied with the proposed raises, including Board Secretary Charles Moser, who said the College should put equal emphasis on taking care of its infrastructure and employees.
The pay increases are costing the College District $2.7 million. The total budget represents a 0.2 percent increase over the previous year.
The board also received a report regarding spring, May minimester, and summer I enrollment. Spring enrollment dipped 2.17 percent districtwide with 15,167 students enrolled. That total included 5,366 students on the Bryan Campus, 4,116 online, 2,405 on the RELLIS Campus, 1,658 high school dual credit students, 1,433 on the Brenham Campus, 51 on the Schulenburg Campus, and 33 on the Sealy Campus.
May minimester enrollment improved 1.35 percent with 972 students enrolled, while preliminary summer I enrollment declined 5.35 percent with 5,764 students.
In other business, the board authorized the College to negotiate and execute contracts for the demolition of Holleman, Memorial, and Solons halls on the Brenham Campus and for the College’s customer relationship management system.
I think it is wonderful that the Board takes interest in the employees of the college because Mary sure doesn’t. She only takes interest in herself and her “pets”. I do hope the 6% or 5% will be a morale booster for all those that actually make the college run. I do have one question I would love for KWHI to ask. Since Mary and her “pets” received a 3% raise last year, and the other employees only received 2%, are they all going to give up this raise and step back like great leaders would? I am sure I can answer this seeing how vain this woman is, but I thought it would be at least worth asking.
Lots of new buildings in Brenham but enrollment is still down. Maybe its the 8-week classes? Have any other community colleges converted everything to 8-week format?
During the meeting, Trustee Moser saw the current $42,000 starting salary for faculty and asked if that was correct, with a somewhat surprised tone. Marie Kirby (head of HR at Blinn) stated that it would actually be a bit higher due to education and experience. Moser asked for a typical starting salary number and Kirby said “in the 50s”.
A new faculty member with a Master’s ($42,000) with 24 hours in their field (+$2400) and 10 years experience at another college (+$300*10) would start at 42000+2400+3000=$47,400. A new faculty member with a PhD ($47,400) and 10 years experience at another college (+$300*10) would start at 47400+3000=$50,400. Of course, these “starting” salaries require a decade of experience. “In the 50s”?
Does Blinn’s head of HR not know what the actual salaries are? Or is the Board of Trustees being misled? The 5% and 6% increases will help, but Blinn is still behind comparable institutions.