news the university daily kansan 5A Provost battles with salary shortages By Robert Perkins rperkins@kansan.com Kansan staff writer In addition to working in a notoriously underpaid profession, professors have to deal with making an average of 88 percent of what their peers at other universities do. Along with this also comes the looming spectre of salary compression. pression. Salary compression occurs when professors make less than newly-hired and untested professors who had to be hired into the University at the ever-increasing market pay. According to Provost David Shulenburger, all of this is about to change. At a University Governance meeting yesterday, Shulenburger acknowledged the University's salary problems and described how he and Chancellor Robert Hemenway planned to combat them. them. "We have already lost a number of people who were key to the institution; people we enjoyed as colleagues and who cost a lot of money to replace," Shulenburger said. According to Shulenburger, some have left because of higher pay available elsewhere, while others left because they were frustrated with salary compression. "We're not willing to compromise on quality, but we've got some horrendous compression To deal with these issues, Shulenburger announced that the University would continue to spend tuition enhancement money — about $1.5 million this year — for faculty salary increases. Shulenburger said that this, coupled with support from the state, would bring the average pay up to 95 to 96 percent of its peers in four years. here', he said. Murmurs of agreement circulated throughout the room as he expressed his dislike for the situation. here," he said count of them here a long time and I've had a lot of promises broken to me, and most of those promises were from the Legislature," Shulenburger said. in four years. He also said that there was a chance that if the Legislature provided the support it promised, faculty pay at the University could equal that of its peers, but not to count on this support Mark Ezell, associate professor of social welfare, cautioned against increasing the average pay without addressing salary compression. presentation. "Will the spread get bigger?" he asked. "I don't think that's good for the institution." To deal with the compression last year, the University gave out merit-based salary increases to 25 percent of its faculty. The problem was that this left 75 percent of the faculty still frustrated while their co-workers received raises. Part of the problem, according to Lloyd Sponholtz, associate professor of history, was it seemed to some professors that the raises were handed out to professors that the University was worried might leave, as opposed to professors who had high productivity. Shulenburger assured professors that merit-based salary increases only reflected contribution to the University, though marketability could be a sign of that contribution. Shulenburger also said the raises would be handled differently this year in order to to be sure that the money went to those who needed and deserved it most. Edited by Ashley Marriott Distance learning an option for languages By Maggie Newcomer newcomer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer Distance learning classes offer almost everything their traditional classroom cousins do except the classroom. except the class学习 the Distance learning is the University of Kansas' alternative to overcrowded language classes. overcrowded environments. The program allows students with scheduling conflicts to enroll in Spanish, French, German and Latin through the Office of Continuing Education. complete the course requirements on their own time, with the help of University professors or graduate students, who teach all the classes. Requirements vary from class to class, but most include two tests and a final exam. The curriculum includes print, audio, video and online elements. Barbara Watkins, curriculum and projects coordinator for continuing education, said distance learning was helpful to students trying to stay on track for degrees because language classes were hard to get into. Rosalea Postma-Carttar, director of basic Spanish language programs, said almost 100 students were still waiting to enroll in Spanish classes this fall, and that distance learning might be a solution for some. Watkins said continuing education updated its classes this year to offer language classes that were the most popular and difficult to get into, especially Spanish. has been teaching all the distance learning French classes for 25 years. She once had a distance learning student go on to earn a French degree, so she knows the program can work. "It makes sense for people who don't have another option," Postma-Cartart said. "The first thing required is discipline," Anderson said. "That's the main difficulty for most students." Todd Hernandez, graduate research assistant, teaches all the distance learning Spanish classes. He said for learning the basics, distance learning worked, but students shouldn't expect to be able to communicate much Instructor Corinne Anderson after finishing the class. Barb Kral-Hasty, Overland Park senior, said she would only opt for distance learning if there was no way to fit a traditional class into her schedule. She said the experience she gained from her classmates was invaluable. "I can't imagine that the interaction you get reading and writing is nearly comparable to what you'll get speaking and listening in the classroom," Kral-Hasty said. Edited by Andy Marso Hall Center to double in size with new facility Center director hopes new building will raise interest Construction on the new building for the Hall Center for the Humanities broke ground yesterday, with a ceremony marking the culmination of two years of planning. "That's going to create a really good first impression about the value of humanities at the University of Kansas." The building's two levels will provide 11,000 square feet of space, double the center's current area. Dale Seuferling, president of Dale Seuferling President of Kansas University Endowment Association the Kansas University Endowment Association, said he was excited about the new site's possibilities and enjoyed the ceremony. "It really was a great event to celebrate the addition of this unique building to the campus," he said. The new building, 900 Sunnyside Drive, was completely funded by private donations, and will incorporate the arches of the old powerhouse located on the site. Seuferling said the building would have unique architecture he said. "That's going to create a really good first impression about the value of humanities at the University of Kansas," he said. staff and research schools Seuferling said the extra space would allow the center to hold many of its own events and create more interaction between students and faculty. "It really provides them the opportunity for delivering programs and having the space and The building will feature a 120-seat conference room, a seminar room, and offices for Hall Center staff and research fellows. the resources available without being inhibited by the lack of space" ,he said. space," he said. Victor Bailey, director of the center, said the new site would also attract more people to events because of interest in the restoration and building. James R. Calcara of CDFM $ ^{2} $ Architecture Inc. of Kansas City will be the principal architect for the project. John Gaunt, dean of the School of Architecture and chair of the Hall Center building committee, will oversee the project. —Kansan staff report RECREATION SERVICES WE HAVE A TEMPORARY OFFICE ON THIRD FLOOR BURGE UNION. DON'T FORGET ROBINSON CENTER WILL BE OPEN 5:30PM-10PM MON-FRI 2PM-5PM SAT/SUN. ROBINSON POOL IS OPEN FOR USE 5:30PM-7:45PM MON-FRI... 2PM-4:45PM SAT/SUN. 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