I retired from Miami University this past month after 32 years as a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership. It has been a great career. I valued my students and colleagues and in turn felt valued by them.
I felt especially valued in 2016, when the university awarded me the Benjamin Harrison Medallion, which recognizes faculty for exceptional contributions to teaching, research and service throughout their careers.
However, Miami did not seem to value me (or other faculty) as much in the form of compensation (indeed, for all its praise, the Benjamin Harrison Medallion comes with no monetary award). Between 2016 and 2022, faculty were offered annual raise pools averaging only 1.8%. During the same period, Miami increased spending on upper administrative salaries by more than 30%.
In my last two years, during a period of rapid inflation, the university decided not to give bargaining unit faculty any raises. Now, this is affecting my retirement compensation.
Retirement payouts are calculated based on a retiree’s highest earning years. Because I received no raises for my last years of teaching, my retirement benefits through the state teachers’ pension plan are about $5,000 less a year than they would have been.
In my last years working at Miami, I was involved in the Faculty Alliance of Miami (FAM) – our faculty and librarian union – because it offered what I saw as the only way of achieving salary recognition and democratic representation in university decisions.
FAM is currently bargaining its first contract, and its compensation proposal includes back pay, making up for the raises bargaining unit members lost out on. If Miami management agrees to make bargaining unit members whole with back pay, retiree members can update our compensation records and receive the full retirement checks we are owed.
I encourage all my fellow recent retirees, current bargaining unit members and all Miami students to pressure Miami management to support a fair compensation package. Let them know you support FAM’s efforts to win faculty and librarians a fair contract that makes all of us whole. If management’s proposal wins the day, I will make $5,000 less a year than I should have for the rest of my life, and my fellow recent retirees — no matter how dedicatedly they served Miami — will be in the same boat.
If you agree that unnecessarily depriving retirees of deserved income is unfair, you can take action. This Friday at noon, FAM members will be holding a Rally for Raises on the Oxford campus.
I hope to see you there!
Kate Rousmaniere was a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership from 1992-2024, where she also served as Department Chair. She also served on the university Senate for many years and as Chair of The University Senate Executive Co. from 2008-2009. She has served in a number of local government positions in Oxford and volunteers in a number of local community organizations.
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