Von Tobel puts university system on notice over merit pay

Thursday, June 26, 1997 | 11:48 a.m.

Last year, merit pay increases went to the majority of UNLV's top administrators and several short-time employees.

In some cases, faculty members and professional staff members benefited twice from a pool of money set aside by state lawmakers to reward the best teachers and brightest researchers.

Also, administrators at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas have been including vacant positions when calculating how much the state should set aside for merit pay.

This year, Assemblywoman Kathy Von Tobel, R-Las Vegas, wants to force universities to award merit pay to a greater number of professors by cutting the merit pool's other uses. She wants the Assembly Ways and Means Committee to tell the university system to clean up the merit pay system or face greater scrutiny during the 1999 legislative session.

Chancellor Richard Jarvis disagrees with Von Tobel's views and argues Nevada's universities have worked under the same merit pay framework for a decade without a problem.

"This is not a broken system," Jarvis said. "We are not violating any legislation in Nevada."

While Von Tobel's understanding is that her "letter of intent" will not require a vote, higher education lobbyist Jim Richardson said passage by the Assembly Ways and Means Committee will be necessary. So Richardson and Jarvis made the rounds in the Assembly Wednesday, trying to persuade members to reject Von Tobel's efforts.

Richardson, a UNR professor who lobbies on behalf of Nevada faculty members, called Von Tobel's attempts "micro-management."

Von Tobel has requested the university stop using the state pool to pay for promotions and equity pay increases, which are given when a staff member's pay is significantly lower than that of a colleague down the hall or at a faraway university.

She also said the university should stop including vacant positions and newly filled positions when calculating how much money the state should set aside for merit increases.