University of Northern Colorado faculty will have to wait until January to receive raises for the 2025-26 academic year.
While faculty raises typically take effect in August, and a UNC Faculty Senate committee backs this timing, a faculty senate leader said she’s not sure “it’s best for the university” to pay out the across-the-board increases in late summer.
Faculty and professional staff are scheduled for 3% raises in January, according to the fiscal year 2025-26 budget passed by the UNC Board of Trustees earlier this month.
“I think all faculty want long-term success for the university,” said Britney Kyle, anthropology professor and the faculty senate chair through June 30. “We want what’s best for the institution. We want the administration to be fiscally responsible.”
Kyle will be succeeded as faculty senate chair July 1 by gender studies professor Harmony Newman.
By waiting until January to issue the faculty raises, university officials believe they’ll have a better idea of tuition revenue, in addition to saving money by not paying out the raises for the full fiscal year.
In August, eligible faculty will receive promotional increases. Promotional increases are awarded at different times of the year when faculty are promoted to a new rank, such as from assistant professor to associate professor to professor. The salary increase from assistant professor to associate professor is $3,750. The increase to full professor from associate is $6,250.
The elevation to a new rank comes following formal evaluation at different levels, such as department chair, dean, the provost’s office and then approval from the university board of trustees.
Because of a separate contract, classified staff will receive 2.5% raises in August from the state, not from UNC. Classified staff are state employees who work in non-teaching roles.
Kyle said the faculty raises will be delayed because of the budget challenges plaguing the university. University leaders want to see how fall enrollment will pan out once students are on campus. Tuition and fees, including room and board, are the largest sources of revenue for the university, especially at the undergraduate level.
At that point, UNC should have a better picture of its financial status.
“They fully anticipate giving the raises, barring some type of major discrepancy,” Kyle said.
The UNC 2025-26 fiscal year budget projects 52.8% ($115.8 million) of its $219.3 net operating revenue will come from student revenue. Operating revenue is the money coming into the university. Undergraduate student enrollment is projected to be down by 0.1% from the FY25 forecast, while graduate student credit hours are forecasted to be down 2.4%, according to the budget.
Kyle said “the majority” of faculty are not interested in mass layoffs, which could be a faster approach to aligning the budget with faculty and staff numbers.
“I think most think of us as a community, and mass layoffs hurt morale,” Kyle said. “If it’s (more money for faculty) achieved through attrition, that’s good.”
With attrition, the university would evaluate over time which faculty and staff positions to refill based on departures.
In December, Kyle raised concerns from the faculty about the declining percentage of the university budget devoted to instruction.
Kyle’s presentation at the time showed UNC spends the smallest percentage on instruction among in-state peer institutions. UNC is at 36.3%. Western Colorado University ranked first at 51.6%, according to Kyle’s data, while Colorado Mesa was second-last at 42.3%. Instruction includes salaries and benefits for faculty to teach, teaching assistant salaries, travel for faculty and students to present work and curriculum materials.
In the early 2000s, about 51% of the UNC budget was dedicated to instruction. Board of trustees policy from long ago indicated 55% of the budget should go toward instruction — though questions have been raised about the source of this percentage and the legitimacy of reaching it each year.
Faculty senate and professional staff, including on President Andy Feinstein’s team, will work more on this in the fall, Kyle said. She said the faculty wanted to collaborate on revised guidelines offered by Feinstein’s office.
Deanna Herbert, UNC assistant vice president of communications, said Feinstein started work earlier this spring on a plan to outline funding priority guidelines. Feinstein shared the draft with governance groups on campus, including the Professional Administrative Staff Council, the Classified Staff Council, the faculty senate and the student senate.
Late in the academic year, Herbert said, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee wanted to slow the process on the proposal to allow for more engagement. The administration’s draft will be modified over the summer based on feedback, and that work will resume in the fall.
“It’s on the agenda for fall faculty senate meetings,” Kyle said. “The faculty senate has a lot of ideas about it.”
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( UNC faculty salary increases on hold until early 2026 )
Also on site :
- June 25, 2025 – Your Daily Horoscope
- Love Island fans claim there’s ‘been a glitch in the matrix’ as ‘AI’ beauty Yasmin breaks habit for the first time
- Holger Rune to sell smashed racquets for charity ahead of Wimbledon