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Faculty at the University of Northern Iowa are requesting pay increases

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Cedar Falls, Iowa – Over the next two years, University of Northern Iowa faculty are asking for a 9.89 percent pay rise.

Professor of journalism and digital media Dr. Christopher Martin, president of United Faculty, stated that over the past ten years, the actual worth of UNI faculty members’ wages has decreased by over ten percent.

“UNI faculty salaries are not keeping up with inflation and are far behind those of its peer universities due to ten years of the Board of Regents providing little to no salary increases,” union leaders stated in a press release.

According to a 2023 UNI Campus Climate Survey, a significant portion of faculty members who indicate they are seriously considering quitting UNI cite low compensation as their main concern.

According to the union, the average salary for all UNI faculty members is only 87.3% of that of their peers.

On Friday morning, representatives of the university’s faculty labor organization, United Faculty, met with the Iowa Board of Regents and UNI representatives to deliver their initial proposal for the 2025–2027 collective bargaining agreement.

The following three requests were mentioned in the proposal:

• A 4.95% increase in base wages (the minimum salary guidelines) for full-time and adjunct faculty for each of the two years of the 2025-2027 contract. (Each year is half of the 9.89%.)

• A 4.95% increase in the salary fund for each of the two years of the 2025-2027 contract.

• Increases in promotional raises (e.g., from Assistant to Associate Professor) for tenure-track faculty, term and renewable term faculty, and adjunct faculty. The current promotional salary increases for UNI tenure-track faculty have not changed since 2014.

UNI and the Board of Regents will present a counterproposal. After that, the parties will negotiate a new two-year agreement that will take effect in July 2025.

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