"I am very pleased that the university was able to begin to redress the problems of low pay for members of our staff," said A&M-Kingsville President Dr. Manuel Ib ¤ez. "We still have a long way to go before we reach the national average for our staff as well as our faculty, and I hope the State of Texas will recognize this in the near future. Universities throughout Texas, not only A&M-Kingsville, still have a long way to go."

The average increase for A&M-Kingsville clerical workers is about $179 a month per employee, says A&M-Kingsville Personnel Director Karen Evans, coordinator of the wage survey.

"This is a significant step forward in terms of the university offering competitive salaries," Evans said. "It will enable managers to alleviate some of the internal struggles of trying to acquire competitive pay rates for their valued staff members."

The upward adjustments were made after the wages of A&M-Kingsville clerical workers were compared to the pay levels of similar jobs throughout the Coastal Bend and at several other similar-sized universities in Texas.

"This survey was undertaken because of my feeling that folks here were underpaid," Ib ¤ez said. "We even had some employees qualifying for food stamps. It's unconscionable that a state employee would qualify for food stamps."

Steven Crandall, vice president of fiscal affairs at the university, believes the addition of half a million dollars to the payroll is worth the expense. "It's a lot of money but these people deserve it," said Crandall. "I'm very pleased. It's something we've needed for a long time."

A wage comparison survey that resulted in pay increases for the university's physical plant and service/maintenance workers was conducted prior to the clerical group survey.

--John R. Kent