News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Tennessee Tech employees are set to receive a bonus and raise if Governor Bill Lee’s next fiscal year budget is approved.
The Tech Board of Trustees approved the compensation plan Thursday. A $1,000 bonus and raises based on performance evaluations are included. Trustee Tom Jones said he was unable to give raises at his own company, so the university is fortunate.
“In this last year, we went through a worldwide pandemic,” Jones said. “People lost their jobs. Businesses lost. The world quality of life declined, and when the world quality of life declines, there is no guarantee of anything. It is not an assumed right that basically you keep up with the price of goods to maintain your exact same lifestyle.”
The merit based raises could range from one to seven percent. Chair Trudy Harper said President Phil Oldham will be in charge of dispersing. Harper said she hopes this plan is a basis for the future.
“They (Raises) have not been terribly consistent,” Harper said. “We were flat one year. We were kind of tighter another year. We were very on extremes one year, and I said it doesn’t feel like we had been terribly consistent, and I felt like this year we were trying to do something that I felt like was repeatable. It will have different percentages I am sure.”
In Lee’s 21-22 budget, $2.1 million is allocated to the university for a four percent salary increase pool. Trustee Teresa Vanhooser said she would like a report of the distribution to make sure no bias was involved.
“We as a board hold president Oldham responsible for the equity and the fairness in the process and that there is not discrimination across the board on how those raises are determined,” Vanhooser said. “And, there is a second or third pair of eyes that look at this process.”
The $1,000 bonus is prorated for part time employees, and all employees must have worked in the 2020 fiscal year to receive the funds. Raises will come to employees who are still working after July 2021.
In other business, the university announced that there will be no increase in housing rates for next school year. The board also approved removing the $300 International Student Deposit Fee.
