Delaware State University is looking to give faculty and staff raises should state lawmakers kick in another $2.2 million to their annual budget.
President Harry Williams says that would equate to a three or four percent raise for those classified as state employees, which make up most of the 200 full-time professors.
“It’s important to have stability in your faculty and it’s important to have stability with your quality faculty. So part of our efforts to demonstrate clearly that we support our faculty is by providing them with resources because we’re asking them to do more," said Williams, noting an increase in enrollment has expanded class sizes.
He also says it would also apply to many of the 600 staff members.
"They’re the ones who take care of the facilities. They’re the ones who when you come on campus you see the campus is clean and those are important jobs and that’s part of student success is that you have people who can do that."
It’s not the first time similar proposals have come up in early budget hearings with Office of Management and Budget officials.
Williams has put forth salary bump requests for several years to OMB and Joint Finance Committee members for several years, but none of them have been approved, according to the controller general’s office.
In total, DSU is asking for a little more than $5 million over their base budget from the most recent fiscal year with the extra money going towards a new engineering and technology undergraduate degree and a boost to their Inspire Scholarship fund.
Early budget hearings will continue through November.