At the Feb. 9 meeting of the University Senate a memo from Senator Housworth concerning analysis of faculty salary increases was distributed and made available to the University community. The memo labeled increases in the salary of the Geography Department an 'aberration' that 'needed to be explained separately.' We have examined the numbers from our end, and determined that there are problems of both fact and context which exaggerate the differences between our salary patterns and those of other departments. For the record, we want to note some factors that may contribute to the seeming anomoly. For the period in question our faculty started FAR below average and has made some progress in rectifying this situation. However, as of Fall 1998, the Geography faculty represented in the survey - all Full Professors - made on average less than the average Full Professor salary in the College of Arts and Sciences. Furthermore, four of the five faculty in our department employed through the years in question moved from Associate to Full Professor rank, providing some mandated salary increase. Perhaps most problematic in the assessemnt is that an Endowed Chair salary held by one of our faculty WAS included in the calculation - despite stipulation in the orginial analysis that this was not the case - causing considerable exaggeration of the average given the relatively small size of the department. Our interest is not to debate the details of the analysis, but to express our support for fair salaries for everyone employed at the University of Oregon. We do, however, encourage all those involved in this effort to work carefully with the data, and to contribute to an atmosphere of mutual support and equity.

Prof. Shaul Cohen Dept. of Geography 1251 University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403-1251 Voice 541/346-4500 Fax 541/346-2067 scohen@oregon.uoregon.edu