Recently, Seawolves have taken an interest in the salary disparities between the higher- and lower-paid campus faculty. In the midst of a national demand to raise the minimum wage, many are taking notice of other professions that some believe do not receive compensation proportional to the amount of work they require, while other professions receive salaries that are higher than some expect. Most students here at Sonoma State are even still unaware of the pay difference between the professors and President Judy Sakaki.
According to CalSalaries.com, in 2019, Sakaki made about $514,667 in total compensation, whereas the average salary for an arts and humanities professor at Sonoma ranges to about $70,000 – $110,000 a year with benefits. This does not include the adjunct faculty, whose salaries are dependent on how many units they are teaching that semester.
Adjunct professors, or part-time professors, are untenured professors that do the same type of work as tenured or full time professors, but for a lower salary. In order to supplement their pay, some professors on campus also teach at colleges like Santa Rosa Junior College or Napa Valley College–in some cases, both.
“Adjunct lecturers are the hardest working faculty we have, some of the best I’ve ever met,” said Hollis Robbins, the dean of the School of Arts and Humanities earlier this week. “It would be great if we could pay our lecturers more, but we are limited by the state.”
Students are divided on this conversation, with some saying a position like Sakaki’s seems to earn a disproportionately high salary compared to other hardworking faculty, and others saying that the work of a university president warrants such a salary.
However, one thing most students have in common is that they are unfamiliar with the specific duties of a university president. Phrases like ‘ambassador for the school’ are the only descriptions that came up when students were asked.
“I figured that the president of the university would make more than professors, but I didn’t realize that’s how big the gap was,” said one fifth-year student upon learning the difference in pay for the professors on campus.
While some students on campus were also somewhat unsure of the type of responsibilities that the president held, more seasoned students remember pre-COVID-19 pandemic ‘“walk ‘n’ talks” that the president would hold. During these walks, Sakaki would personally interact with students in order to connect with them and discuss campus-related topics. Still, students are seemingly hard-pressed to understand what Sakaki does on campus.
Being back on campus after being away for so long due to COVID-19 has students questioning the nature and process by which things are done. The past few unconventional, remote semesters have made students curious about how their tuition is used, as the repercussions from a global pandemic have raised financial questions for many. Students worry that not enough of their tuition goes to paying their professors.
“When I think about it, it makes me think we should pay our professors more,” said a first-year student.
As this discussion over campus salary disparities develops, students will wait in earnest to hear what campus staff thinks about the matter.
Names of students quoted in this article were withheld due to the political and public nature of their comments.
