http://www.cdispatch.com/articles/2006/06/15/local_news/local02.txt

State university presidents to get 5 percent raises

...State Higher Education Commissioner Tom Meredith recommended the new presidential salaries, which haven't been increased since 2003, the same year of the previous across-the-board pay raise for university employees.

Meredith's salary will remain the same. He gets $325,000 a year with a $25,000 annual housing allowance. He began working as Mississippi's chief higher education executive officer in October.

The state Board of Institutions of Higher Learning unanimously approved increasing the pay for the state's eight university CEOs. They were praised for their work and the long hours they spend on the job.

“We appreciate the 24/7 they put into these positions,” said Virginia Shanteau Newton.

Ironically, only two of the eight presidents were present Wednesday for the board's monthly meeting, which normally has all of them attending....

...Mississippi's faculty salaries this past year averaged about $56,000, which is about $10,000 below the average for southern universities, according to IHL board statistics. Salary increases will vary, but universities have generally budgeted to raise them by 5 percent effective next month.

With the next fiscal year starting July 1, the Mississippi IHL board on Wednesday approved the operating budgets for the universities....

...The budget reflects college administrators' priorities to go beyond what the Legislature provided for employee pay raises and to ensure more money gets directed to instruction. Elsewhere in the budget pie - with the exception of energy costs - spending is essentially unchanged from this year.