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How YSU salaries compare
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Salaries of Youngstown State University faculty are lower than those at other four-year colleges, while many staff salaries are higher, according to a Chronicle of Higher Education database.
The data show that YSU professors, associate and assistant professors all earn less than their counterparts at other institutions, based on the 2013-14 school year. Instructors, those without advanced degrees, however, earn slightly more, $48,357 compared with $48,027 at other four-year colleges.
“This is no surprise,” Annette Burden, president of the YSU-Ohio Education Association, the union representing YSU faculty, said in an email. “The YSU OEA negotiating team has addressed this inequity for well over three contracts now.”
She said that when reporting faculty salary averages, YSU includes department chairmen, chairwomen and directors.
“Since these are administrative positions, including them in the computation inflates the true faculty average and gives the appearance that faculty in each rank make more than they do,” Burden said. “With many of our younger faculty saddled with student loans in excess of $130,000 for their bachelor’s [to] Ph.D., it is not surprising that they are struggling financially.”
The Chronicle’s data report YSU’s average professor salary at $85,554, compared with $107,625 at other schools. For associate and assistant professors, YSU average salaries are $70,506 and $60,624, respectively, compared with $77,806 and $66,325, respectively at other colleges.
Ron Cole, a YSU spokesman, pointed out in an email that the comparison includes larger, research institutions.
A comparison between the salaries of YSU faculty and those at large master’s universities would be a fairer comparison. Those numbers are more comparable, he said.
“For example, average professor salary at YSU is $85,554, while average professor salary at large master’s institutions is $88,879,” he said. “That said, we recognize where our position is in these faculty salary rankings. The salaries and benefits that we provide faculty fit in the confines of our overall budget, which has been significantly impacted in the recent past by reductions in state funding and loss of revenue due to enrollment declines. Even then, we are still able to attract high quality faculty from across the nation.”
Staff salaries are broken down by category.
YSU’s office/administrative support, production/transportation, computer/engineering/science, sales and service employees earn more than those at other schools. Business/finance, community/legal/media, construction/maintenance, librarians/educational services and management staff earn less.
The data, all from 2013-14, put the average salary for YSU community/legal/media staff at $46,613, compared with $56,021 at other institutions.
YSU office/administrative support staff, however, earn $47,816 compared with $38,415 at other colleges.
Connie Frisby, president of YSU’s Association of Classified Employees, isn’t surprised by the data.
“I understand that our average may be slightly higher in some areas, but what it doesn’t address is longevity,” she said in an email. “A large number of our members have 20+ years on the job. Therefore their wages would be higher.”
The data don’t indicate how the salaries are calculated, Frisby points out.
“Is it based on gross salary or net, etc.? Numbers can be made to say whatever you want them to say depending on the variables used,” she said.
“We addressed this issue during our negotiations. Do the numbers truly compare apples to apples? For example, because I personally have chosen to utilize my tuition remission benefit, that counts in my overall ‘gross’ compensation.”
The Youngstown area is unusual in that people born in the area either remain or return, Frisby said.
“I mean that we have a number of employees who were born in the area, went to school here, attended YSU, worked as a student and are now permanent employees,” she said. “In this area people do not ‘job hop.’ We find something and stick with it. We have a great work ethic and give whatever we choose to do 110 percent or more. There is a dedication in the area that I have not seen anywhere else.”