TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – When it comes to fixing budget shortfalls, some high earners at the University of Arizona should cut their pay.
That suggestion comes from one of the school’s highest paid employees, University of Arizona Provost Meredith Hay, who earns more than $100,000 a year.
The number of employees making more than six figures at the UA has increased 45 percent since 2005 while costs of paying those workers jumped 53 percent, according to an Arizona Daily Star analysis.
Officials acknowledge there are more employees earning more than $100,000 in what they call the reality of the highly competitive academic market and a product of growth in programs such as the UA’s medical school in Phoenix.
They add it’s not as if those workers are getting raises at the expense of lower-paid staffers.
It costs the UA $76 million to pay 2,323 workers who earn less than $50,000 a year and account for nearly half of all state-paid employees.
It also costs about $71 million to pay the 568 employees making more than $100,000.
