The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) just released its annual survey of faculty salaries, and the data they present gives the impression of a boat taking on water after striking an iceberg: almost one-third of surveyed faculty members saw their salaries decline by an average of 3%, while 21% saw no change in their salaries. The survey also shows that only 8% of administrators took a pay cut, but those who did saw their salaries decline by an average of 6%.

The stagnation and decline in faculty salaries is yet another symptom of the on-going disinvestment in public higher education, exacerbated by the strain that the Great Recession is putting on state budgets. As John Curtis of the AAUP points out in the Chronicle of Higher Education's write-up, even with the glimmer of an economic recovery on the horizon, a recovery for higher education is likely to lag behind other indicators, and even then faculty salaries could run up against the shoals of state budget politics. Says Mr. Curtis, "I do think we're at a pretty critical juncture at looking at higher education as a public good and as a resource that contributes something to society. Unfortunately, a lot of governors and legislators are looking at higher education as only an expense."

The CUPA-HR data is likely only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the on-going woes. Just as only a fraction of an iceberg is visible above the water line, the CUPA-HR survey seems to provide only a partial picture of the state of the American collegiate faculty. From the information provided in their press release, the CUPA-HR survey seems to under-represent faculty at community colleges. It also provides salary data for five different categories of faculty: full, associate, assistant, newly hired assistant, and "instructor." The "instructor" category appears to only capture full-time, non-tenure track faculty, omitting the swelling ranks of part-time faculty. The survey summary also does not seem to examine the loss of faculty jobs - disappearing tenure-line positions, faculty furlough days, lay-offs and other data indicative of a labor force that continues to rely more and more on contingent workers.