The NIU Board of Trustees has approved a raise for faculty and staff.

At the BOT meeting Sept. 20, an action was unanimously passed for an estimated incremental increase for regular faculty of 4 percent, beginning July 1 of fiscal year 2008, to be allocated on the basis of merit.

An additional estimated .5 percent will be allocated to “critical faculty retention.”

“Each college, each department, each dean will try to identify those critical individuals that they feel fit the category and then they will be a part of that special allocation,” said Eddie Williams, executive vice president of business and finance and chief of operations for NIU.

As of yet, the percentages are estimated averages compiled from the funds available.

State funding has dropped by nearly 50 percent since 1996, according to trustee Robert T. Boey, accentuating the value of the resources being directed to faculty and staff.

“The simple thing would have been to say, ‘We got an increase of state funding of 1.8 percent, so we will just grant 1.8 percent raises across the board,’ but that is not the way we operate,” said trustee Manuel “Manny” Sanchez.

“The plan will be a stretch for us, but it is entirely merited,” said NIU President John Peters.

Peters has repeatedly said that offering competitive salaries is paramount to “making NIU an incredibly desirable place” for faculty and staff.

“These individuals are the heart and soul of our university, and we board members strongly support the high priority placed on competitive compensation,” said BOT Chair Cherilyn Murer.