It’s no secret that money is tight for Iowa universities, and most are pinching their pocketbooks. Iowa State and its faculty — those charged with educating the student body — and staff — those in charge of administrative functions of the university — are not excluded from this.

Professors do more than stand at the front of class and force students to write papers and take exams. As a research university, many professors are required to dedicate a certain amount of time to conducting research. They are also required to dedicate a certain amount of time to service. 

The average time spent on each area in a faculty member’s schedule is 40 percent teaching, 40 percent research and 20 percent service, although this differs between departments. They often work 50- to 80-hour weeks, according to an earlier Iowa State Daily article. 

“In the face of uncertain state funding and tuition revenue, Iowa State leaders have shared partial salary increase parameters for the fiscal year that begins on July 1,” according to Inside Iowa State.

This year, faculty and administrative employees received a 1.4 percent increase in salary, compared with a 3.5 percent increase last year and a 3.2 percent increase in 2013. Professional and scientific staff received a 1.2 percent increase, compared with a 2.4 to 3 percent increase the previous three years.

These increases are among the lowest in nearly a decade.

Salaries are in part paid by student tuition. About 25 percent of undergraduate tuition goes to the individual college based on enrollment, and 75 percent goes to where the courses are offered, according to a previous ISD article on tuition and fee distribution.

In a previous interview with the Iowa State Daily, Arne Hallam, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said about 80 percent of the money the college operates on comes from tuition. Each college, however, is not the same.

While student enrollment, or tuition revenue, has increased during the last few years, so has the number of faculty and staff.

In 2005, when student enrollment was 25,741, the total number of faculty and staff was 1,734, according to the Iowa State University Fact Book.

Jump to fall 2014, and student enrollment is 34,732, an increase of almost 9,000 students. Faculty and staff increased by about 160 to reach 1,892.

With tuition increasing throughout the past decade, except for the last two years in which a resident undergraduate tuition freeze was in place, tuition revenue has undoubtedly increased — estimated to increase by about $15 million from fiscal year 2015 to fiscal year 2016, according to a Board of Regents document — but so has the need for quality professors and instructors and the need to pay them for their qualifications.

Undergraduate resident tuition does not cover the entire cost of the students’ education, as state funds are supposed to cover the remainder, whereas nonresident tuition is set to pay the full cost of the students’ education.

So when undergraduate resident enrollment increases the way it has, tuition revenues don’t necessarily increase enough to cover the costs accrued. 

Iowa State’s average professor salary of about $128,775 ranks above the national average, which is $122,030, according to the latest data from College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. However, according to a 2012 Inside Iowa State article, Iowa State ranked ninth in its peer group for paying its faculty.

When President Steven Leath came to Iowa State in 2012, one of his initiatives was to hire about 200 new faculty members so as not to sacrifice the student experience while the student enrollment continued to rapidly increase. He’s done that and more, hiring at least 100 members during the last year and more than 100 the year before.

We commend the university for giving faculty and staff a raise. But if state funds could have supplied Iowa’s public universities with what the Board of Regents requested, more faculty and staff could have received the raise they deserved. 

Quality education in part comes from quality educators. The university must be able to pay to compete if it wants to maintain its top-notch educators and produce highly sought-after students and renowned research.