Some professors at UW-La Crosse getting pay raises - FOX 25/48 - WLAX/WEUX La Crosse & Eau Claire News

Some professors at UW-La Crosse getting pay raises

 After a 5 year pay freeze some teachers at UW-La Crosse are getting a salary increase.

A few teachers will be getting an extra $2,000 next year, but the increase won't get them close to what the average salary is for university teachers.

Joe Anderson is one of the 68 teachers and 7 staff at UW-L that will be getting a pay raise.

"I love doing what I do here and I like teaching, but I've got colleagues that are making considerably more than me," said Anderson.

Student tuition will rise this fall by 5.5%, but Anderson says it's time for the teachers to start getting recognized.

"I think students need to realize we haven't had pay increases for years and I mean years," said Anderson.

Some teachers at UW-L are getting paid considerably below the average of their field, and even with the pay increases they don't come close.

"Tuition is at average but salaries are well below average. We don't want to raise tuition too high, but we also do need to pay employees what they are worth," said Chancellor Joe Gow.

Most of the pay increases were given to teachers in the English and Communications department said Chancellor Gow. Gow was also offered a pay increase but he declined the offer.

"I am one of them with a salary well below the median, but I decided not to take it so there would be more money for faculty and staff," said Chancellor Gow.

The money found for these salary raises did not come from the state.

"What really helped was that we had more retirements than usual. When we have retirements we can hire someone at an entry level pay leaving us more money to work with," said Chancellor Gow.

We did talk with College Republican Vice Chair Hannah Bresson. She was in favor of the salary increases for the teachers, saying "It's time the professors get a raise for all their hard work."