
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 26, 1995                   TAG: 9508280149
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV6   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                 LENGTH: Medium

OLD DOMINION PRESIDENT TO SEEK 10 PERCENT PAY RAISE FOR PROFESSORS

Old Dominion University President James V. Koch said he will ask Gov. George Allen for a 10 percent raise for faculty to stop a ``brain drain'' of professors leaving for higher-paying jobs.

``Our future prosperity ... is a talented, energetic faculty,'' Koch said. ``We cannot continue to achieve at our current level if our faculty departs or slowly deteriorates.''

Koch on Thursday told a convocation of more than 400 professors and staff of the Norfolk university that his top budget priority this year will be to lobby the state for a substantial pay raise for the 1996-97 academic year.

He also said the university might try to redistribute its own money next year to increase salaries, but he didn't know how much it could provide.

Allen does not believe Virginia is in danger of losing a significant number of professors to other states, spokesman Ken Stroupe said on Friday. ``Virginia has some of the finest higher education institutions in the country and we are committed to keeping it that way,'' he said.

He said Allen insists that colleges ``target any additional money toward their academic mission and holding tuition increases to the rate of inflation.''

An Old Dominion study released this summer found that more than two dozen professors had left for better-paying jobs since last summer. At least 10 got raises of $10,000 or more at universities including Eastern Kentucky and Arizona State.

Five years ago, Old Dominion ranked in the top half of similar schools in the country in terms of faculty salaries, Koch said. Now it's in the bottom third. Old Dominion's average salary of $46,300 ranks at least $3,000 behind the averages at other state schools with doctoral programs.

Robert L. Ake, chairman of Old Dominion's Faculty Senate, touched on the salary issue during his remarks. ``A raise of less than 1 percent a year for five years is not nearly enough to buy faculty silence - what do you think?'' he asked, drawing a burst of applause.

Afterward, Koch said he said he didn't know whether the governor, who unsuccessfully sought cuts in college aid this year, would support a big pay raise. But, Koch said, ``we have provided evidence that they (the low salaries) have made a difference.''

by CNB