ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University President Hunter Rawlings and university Provost Biddy Martin today announced a major, multiyear program to increase the relative status of faculty compensation at Cornell.

"Our faculty is the heart of the university," said Rawlings, "and we are determined to do what is both necessary and appropriate to recognize its contributions. Over the last several years, we have made strides to improve the level of faculty compensation, and this effort has had substantial positive results. Overall faculty salary pools in the endowed units have increased from 3 percent only a few years ago to more than 5 percent last year. In the year we have just begun, 2000-01, I am pleased that this pool will increase by 6 percent. Now we must move to the next stage, which will improve our relative position in comparison with our peer institutions."

The plan announced by Rawlings and Martin results from productive conversations with several representative faculty groups over the course of the past year. The Financial Policies Committee of the Faculty Senate played a key role in these deliberations, as did an ad hoc committee of the College of Arts and Sciences. Both groups have expressed strong support for the new program. Rawlings noted that the plan had been reviewed favorably with the Executive Committee of the Cornell Board of Trustees and will be reflected in the university's budgetary planning assumptions.

The key element of the plan is the determination to bring the average salary of statutory and endowed college faculty in line with salaries at agreed-upon peer institutions. For statutory faculty, the goal will be reached over a six-year period, beginning in 2001-02; for endowed faculty, the goal will be achieved over five years. In addition to the peer institutions listed below, individual colleges will be encouraged to benchmark with additional schools more appropriate for comparative purposes. College-specific pay strategies will incorporate performance criteria and will utilize discipline-based market data. Implementation of the university's comprehensive plan will be based on the college-specific plans.

"I am delighted that our investment in compensation improvements will address the concerns of both endowed and statutory faculty," said Martin. "As we know all too well, the last several years have been especially difficult for the faculty of our four statutory colleges, as appropriations from the state of New York have failed to keep pace with the real needs of these schools. The university's determination to target resources in support of this strategic plan is a critical component of our financial planning."

William Schulze, a member of the Faculty Senate's Financial Policies Committee and the K.L. Robinson Professor of Environmental Economics in the Department of Agricultural, Resource and Managerial Economics, stressed the importance of the administration's plan: "Competitive salaries are a critical factor in maintaining both faculty quality and morale. The plan announced by President Rawlings and Provost Martin directly addresses serious concerns expressed by both endowed and statutory faculty. In addition, I am especially impressed that the university plans to forcefully deal with what has become a genuine crisis, particularly in the statutory colleges."

Speaking as a member of the College of Arts and Sciences ad hoc committee, R. Laurence Moore, director of the American Studies Program and the H.A. Newman Professor of History, noted his strong support for the program: "The faculty salary initiative announced by President Rawlings is a bold and decisive response to what has been an alarming decline in Cornell's position relative to its peer institutions. It will be an enormous boost to the morale of this institution's dedicated faculty. It is extremely satisfying to see the cordial discussions between the Arts and Sciences Faculty Salary Improvement Committee, President Rawlings, Provost Martin and members of the Board of Trustees culminate in this remarkable result. Everyone knows that if Cornell fails to make the investment necessary to guarantee the excellence and loyalty of the faculty, then it will lose its place among America's distinguished universities. President Rawlings has embraced a challenging goal, and we applaud his leadership."

The program announced today is directed to faculty compensation. Rawlings noted that the university is also closely reviewing staff compensation, which affects the more than 7,000 staff on the Ithaca campus, with particular emphasis on those position categories where market pressures are particularly severe. Vice President for Human Resources Mary George Opperman is working closely with the deans and vice presidents in this effort.

Rawlings said that preliminary estimates for the strategic program to improve faculty compensation would require an additional expenditure in excess of $15 million per year above base budget plans during the term of the program. "We will have to work hard to achieve the objectives of this program," he said, "but I am confident that we will succeed." Among the revenue sources to be utilized will be investment payout increases and tuition income. Down the line, he expressed the belief that a fund-raising "Campaign for Faculty Excellence" could also play an important role in achieving and sustaining the program's objectives.