I.
Budget Drivers – Operating Expenses
The budget drivers that have the most significant influence on operating expenses are total employee FTE and annual increases in wages and benefits. Both elements imply future obligations, as most personnel have expectations of continued employment, and CWU does not have a history of enacting across-the-board salary reductions. The chart below shows FTE for the university by employee type for the past few years. Note that increases or decreases may not necessarily mean new positions were added; there is also fluctuation due to vacancies in existing positions. In addition, while classified and faculty employee types have been fairly stable over time, over the past two years two programs—Aviation and GEAR UP—have added additional admin/exempt staff due to replacing contractors with about 45 new CWU employees. Even considering that fact, there has been growth in the admin/exempt classification across the university in all fund groups.
Fall FTE by Employee Type
- 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Fall 14
Fall 15
Fall 16
Fall 17
Fall 18
Faculty
Classified
Admin/Exempt
Wage and benefit increases also have a significant impact on the university’s budget. The different employee types tend to experience varying across-the-board, cost-of-living increases. During a period of several years after the Great Recession no wage increases were possible, due both to lack of funding and a state-mandated wage freeze. Since 2013, however, classified staff have experienced wage increases of between 1.8 percent and 3.0 percent, along with increases associated with the state pay schedule for classified employees. Administrative staff have generally seen increases around 2.0 percent, and faculty have received 3 to 5 percent, not including merit and promotional raises, as applicable.
Benefits have been increasing at much higher rates, mostly due to health insurance cost increases. While CWU benefits from the state’s large employee pool, the rates have been fairly unpredictable
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