NIC staff to request salary increase

North Idaho College’s staff is asking for a 5.7 percent raise in salary to keep up with the costs of living.

That request is one of several in a proposal that will go to the board at its meeting 6 p.m. today. Others include more vacation time; closing the campus the entire week of Thanksgiving, instead of only the last three weekdays; and increasing the percentage of insurance premium the college pays.

Staff and faculty members who are part of the negotiating team present a list of recommendations every spring, when budget talks heighten.

This year’s budget will be tight, staff and officials say.

“But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make the request,” said Gary Coffman, vice chairman of the negotiating team. He and others kept the lean budget in mind and believe their requests are reasonable. They based their salary increase percentage on cost-of-living figures from Idaho Commerce and Labor.

The staff and faculty aren’t unionized, so the team’s power is limited. But talking to the college leadership about employees’ needs is important and useful, Coffman said.

The college is also not keeping pace with the salaries offered at comparable colleges in the area, said Coffman, who is the director of counseling, advising and testing services. If NIC isn’t able to catch up, that could affect its ability to recruit and retain quality staff, he added.

“Employees are really concerned about what that means for the institution,” Coffman said.

President Michael Burke agreed.

“We’ve got to have salaries that are attractive,” he said.

But the college’s allotment from the State Board of Education and enrollment numbers for next year – two significant pieces of revenue – are still unknown.

“I can’t make too many commitments yet,” Burke said.

Still, the staff’s list of recommendations will become a part of the budget discussion, particularly at the board meeting next month, said spokesman Kent Propst.