salary raises

lever that we look to, in order to move the institution forward,” Allen said.

Sophomore stage management student Hope Fuller said she can respect the reasons for increasing tuition, despite having to eventually pay her parents back for college.

“It definitely adds a little more stress, hearing about tuition rates rising. But I understand that, as long as the money is actually going towards what they said it is,” Fuller said.

Fuller said she felt VCU’s tuition is very fair given the quality of the education, faculty and other aspects of the university.

“I have a couple of friends that go to [Virginia] Tech and from what I remember it was a little more expensive,” Fuller said. “If the tuition was too high I probably would have gone somewhere else.”

“We want to retain them [university faculty] and recruit them and have them stay and be happy. So we have our strategic plan in spite of the mandated salary increases, we have a strong commitment to increasing faculty salaries,” Gray said.

Students should understand the reasons behind the tuition increases proposed for the 2023 academic year, according to Gray.

Political science professor Amanda Wintersieck said she thinks raises for faculty are “absolutely necessary,” because she said Virginia is an expensive state to live in.

“Richmond happens to be a fairly affordable option if you live in Virginia, but the cost of living in Richmond is about $90,000 a year.” Wintersieck said. “That doesn’t leave

“Does the president need a raise? I mean, [President Michael] Rao makes over $600,000 a year,” Wintersieck said. “Is it reasonable to say that some people over a certain threshold who are doing quite well, economically, don’t need a 5% pay increase?

David Allen, the assistant vice president of the Office of Budget Analysis and Financial Planning, said the proposed tuition increase comes after a freeze on tuition because of COVID-19. Under normal circumstances, tuition does increase annually based on the university’s needs.

The Office of Budget Analysis usually focuses on moving funds internally first before looking into increasing tuition for students, according to Allen.

“We try and look at what we can do in order to fund those things without touching tuition. Tuition really becomes the last

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