Campus Colleagues,

Earlier this afternoon, you received an email from the UT System office about the Tennessee General Assembly’s approval of the FY2024 budget and impact on the University of Tennessee.  I would like to provide greater clarity on two items.

Salary Pool Increase. The budget includes a 5% salary pool for state employees, as well as investments in employee health insurance and 401K contributions.

The 5% salary pool will provide us with sufficient funding to provide a 4% market-merit increase to all eligible regular faculty and staff, increase minimum wage to $15 per hour, and continue addressing wage compression issues.  Eligibility for the 4% increase requires a record of satisfactory work performance without being under active discipline and having been employed as of June 30, 2023. Additionally, this budget will fund the standard faculty promotions and rollover plan.  We will provide more information about minimum wage and wage compression during the 2023 Budget Town Hall Meeting, on May 8, 2023, at 2 p.m. in the University Center Auditorium.

Fletcher Hall Planning Funds.  The state budget also authorized UTC to spend $5 million of campus funds to begin planning an addition to Fletcher Hall for the Rollins College of Business.  We continue our advocacy for state funding in the FY2025 budget that will be used with private gifts to fully fund the Fletcher building project.

Thank you to everyone across campus for the tremendous work you do each day for our students and our community.

Steve