Update From Brett
"1," "One," and "Won"
"The more they applaud, the bigger your salary will be." - Anna Held, Entertainer, 1872-1918
We are nearing the end of our annual evaluation period, reviews are finished and thoughts turn toward other topics. The start of school is almost upon us but there is also goal setting for next year and yes, the unresolved business of the annual salary increases. Our budgeting letter for next year arrived just a month ago carrying news of our budget allowances, which I can tell you are set at 1%. This means that the average increase across UTS this year will be just 1%.
It's less than I would like to give. I'll even say it's less than we deserve. As an institution Emory recognizes, and I absolutely appreciate, the amount of work you accomplished this year. It was a bigger portfolio of work than we have ever tried before and within that massive undertaking, we actually achieved most of our goals. There were significant milestones, upgrades, implementations, and service launches across Application, Infrastructure, and Operational teams all year and for all the complexity we took on, we made it through together.
That's a theme I've been hearing and appreciating recently. Being able to share information, approach people on other teams, have a family atmosphere: I have heard a lot about how meaningful that is lately, including the first impressions of our newest hires. We should all be proud to be part of an organization that really views itself as one entity, with one service oriented perspective, and part of one family. During a down economy, being able to surround ourselves with other people who are mindful and able to do the right thing every time is very sustaining.
Not every school and department is giving a raise this year and I've heard of nobody giving more than 1%, though there might be a small unit out there somewhere. When I know that we're giving what we can, keeping our training budget, growing professionally with access to new and interesting technologies every year, doing work that has real meaning in this society, and getting all of this while we watch an inflation rate that stubbornly stays above 8%, I feel like we've already won.
Your effort over the last five years has led us to a pivotal point in our division and I am very excited to show you some of what we have planned for next year. We'll have less on our plate in most areas - what a relief! - and will now be able to direct some of our discretionary, non-salary funding into the academic mission. I'll have more to unveil on that topic during our upcoming Annual Kickoff. Until then, thanks for making this the best place to work in all of Emory.
- Brett Coryell, Deputy CIO, UTS