Come August 1, faculty members will see a larger number on their paycheck.

University President the Rev. Kevin Wildes. S.J., and the Board of Trustees approved a 2.5 percent increase in salary, with one percent allocated for equity adjustments.

According to Edward Kvet, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, the increase will be used to keep a fair balance between incoming and existing faculty and staff, as well as for merit increases.

“The pool is the total amount of salaries at the university,” he said. “For this year, we have a merit pool equal to 1.5 percent of the total salaries at the university to be used to give staff and faculty merit raises and an equity pool equal to one percent of total salaries to be distributed as equity to select staff and faculty.”

In an email sent to all the faculty and staff, Wildes said: “I am very pleased that we are able to address equity imbalances with this salary allocation. Two years ago, we initiated the long-term process of allocating funds for equity, and we will continue with this ongoing effort in subsequent years.”

Kvet said the university is committed to taking care of the faculty and staff.

“It is important for the university, to the best of our ability, to provide funding annually for merit raises for our employees,” Kvet said in an email. “Funds from the salary pool apply to all employees and are distributed based on merit and equity.”

Kvet also said that the increase is something the university tries to do annually.

“We review staff and faculty salaries to ensure they are equitable to positions at comparable in our peer reference group of universities and/or the local marketplace,” Kvet said in an email. “If we find a position out of equity, we will make a salary adjustment based on the amount available in the equity pool, assuming the reason for the current salary is not lack of performance.”

This year’s increase is not more than in the past, but Kvet said that what is important for the increase is to address the equity issues.

Vice Provost for Information Technology Bret Jacobs said he thinks the increase is encouraging.

“I think the announcement reflects the university’s commitment to its faculty and staff, particularly given the current state of the economy,” he said.

“Nationally, the average increase for salaries this year is 1.9 percent,” Wildes said in the university-wide email.

Wildes also said the university uses the increase “to help keep faculty and staff salaries competitive with other universities and colleges.”

Hannah Iannazzo can be reached at [email protected]