OTC proposes pay raise for all employees, governing board votes Monday

At Ozarks Technical Community College, pay for all employees is expected to go up by at least 4% during the next fiscal year.

The OTC Board of Trustees will vote Monday on the 2023-24 salary plan, which includes a 4% raise for all full-time and part-time employees including adjunct instructors.

OTC Chancellor Hal Higdon said this is the second year for a 4% across-the-board raise and the plan calls for upping the minimum pay for hourly workers to $13 for part-time and $15 for full-time.

Higdon said the raises were the No. 1 priority.

He said in building the spending plan for next year, the college plugged in all the "musts" — essential items such as paying utilities — and then evaluated what was left.

"We've been very fortunate, we have new buildings, we had money from the federal government that helped with deferred maintenance, the state helped with deferred maintenance last year, and we're in good shape with equipment so we were really able to put our money back into the employees," he said.

"The important thing to know is that it is full-time, part-time, adjunct. No one is left out."

The salary plan is expected to cost $2.5 million to implement.

Higdon said that amount is possible because state funding is up and the board approved higher tuition.

"It's a competitive environment. We've been trying to get our minimum wage up. Our minimum wage now for full-time will go from $14.06 to $15, part-time will go to $13," he said.

"Everybody gets 4% and then we have another pool of money to look at market adjustments, especially on those middle and lower areas because we can't afford to lose maintenance, janitorial hourly people in a competitive market place."

Higdon said OTC is projecting flat enrollment for the 2023-24 year but early indicators show summer may be up 3% with potentially a similar bump for the fall semester.

"If we do better than we expect we will have (one-time) money to put into equipment and other things," he said.

Higdon said the college has been able to give pay raises even in economically lean years even when other institutions skipped a year or more without giving raises.

Given the high inflation, Higdon said employees or others may question the size of the raise this year, which is the same amount as last year. For a couple years before that, it was smaller.

"Some might say 'Why didn't you do 6% or 7% (this year)?' Well, in the years when we had no money we did 1% or 2%," he said. "I believe in doing a little bit all along (rather) than waiting two or three years and doing a big one," he said. "I think it's more painful and worse for the institution and for employees."

The proposed salary chart that will go before the OTC board showed the starting pay for a new employee with at least a bachelor's degree is $34,516 and $40,852 with a doctorate.

A new adjunct instructor will make $813 per credit hour a semester for a lecture course. Those with 10 or more years experience at OTC will be paid $1,103 per credit hour for a lecture course.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: OTC proposes pay raises for all employees, board to vote Monday