In anticipation of the Board of Trustees budget meeting on June 13, 2025, we assembled and sent a report to board members, President Mearns, and Provost Marri with some of the findings from the survey we conducted during the spring semester. While there is much more in the survey that we plan to analyze and include in a future report – particularly regarding perceptions/experiences with both the most recent Indiana legislative session and from SB 202 – we focused on compensation and its significant link to morale. We assembled this report in response to chatter that the Board would decide to freeze faculty raises. A concern that was warranted, since the Board did in fact decide to suspend merit pay and raises. Future report(s) will include professional staff concerns as they are revealed in our survey results.

As we mention in the recommendations portion of the report, we will continue to conduct a salary analysis based on department and rank, compared to similar institutions, and also plan to present these findings to leadership. While we understand that this year’s Indiana budget bill will lead to major deficits in higher education spending, we also must continue to impress upon BSU leadership that faculty will continue to leave our university if nothing is done to improve compensation inequity, and consequently morale. 

You can read the full report here: