By Ella Prieto, Editor-in-Chief
President’s Report
President Bob Iuliano began the Faculty Meeting by addressing concerns Provost Jamila Bookwala had heard from faculty regarding academic freedom. He quoted his open letter from last March, which condemned federal interference in higher education.
“The College’s commitment to academic freedom was unwavering last March. It is unwavering today, regardless of one’s field of study.”
Iuliano then described three events from the previous “remarkable week”, including the History Department and Civil War Institute’s joint hosting of the Fortenbaugh Lecture, the Majestic Theater’s 100th Anniversary Gala and the donor-funded dinner for the Garthwait Leadership Center’s 15th Anniversary in Washington, D.C.
He transitioned to the continued financial stress on the College, remarking that this is “the most competitive market for higher education that I have seen in my career.” The President’s Council had a two-day budget retreat earlier this week to address such issues and generate ideas for spring semester implementation.
Iuliano acknowledged all the work that has been done and noted that domestic applicants for Early Decision were “meaningfully up” compared to last year and relative to the College’s three-year average.
Faculty Finance Presentation
The Faculty Finance Committee presented its 2025 Faculty Compensation Report, put together by Chair Rob Natter, Matt Kittelberger, Joe Radzevick, Provost Bookwala, Vice President for Finance and Administration Mike Coyne, Matt Price, Sherri Dell and Director of Institutional Research Suhua Dong. The data was compiled with information from the Annual American Association of University Professors Faculty Compensation Survey, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Survey from the National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Consumer Price Index and the U.S. Social Security Administration for the Cost-of-Living Adjustments.
The Committee presented their work with a series of graphs, detailed below:
Average Professor Salary within Comparison Group. (Chart created by the Faculty Finance Committee)
Faculty Salary Comparison for the 2024-25 academic year. (Chart created by the Faculty Finance Committee)
Gettysburg Salary Average as Percent of Like Schools for the 2020-2025 academic years. (Chart created by the Faculty Finance Committee)
Salary and Cost of Living Adjustments.(Chart created by the Faculty Finance Committee)
Retirement Contributions Comparison. (Chart created by the Faculty Finance Committee)
The reach schools consist of Bates College, Bucknell University, Colgate University, Hamilton College, Trinity College and Washington & Lee University. The like schools are Connecticut College, Denison University, Dickinson College, Franklin & Marshall College, Lawrence University and Union College. The watch schools include Allegheny College, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Juniata College, Muhlenberg College, Ursinus College and Washington College.
The takeaways from the Faculty Finance Committee were that Gettysburg salaries were lower on average than peers. However, the gap narrowed at the Professor and Associate Professor levels, which they believe is due to equity adjustments, but the Assistant Professor gap widened. Furthermore, the annual salary increases continue to lag behind cost-of-living changes and inflation. Retirement benefits are also below peers.
The Committee recommended that the administration and Board of Trustees should continue to increase base salaries by 3%.
Professor of Economics Charles Weise proposed that the College invest in the faculty, rather than in other projects, like the dormitory renovations.
“I think we should be pushing for a little bit more than 3%. I’m not really satisfied with keeping up with inflation at this point. I think we should be pushing for more, and I think we ought to be thinking about this as an investment in the institution.”
Study Abroad Working Group Presentation
Associate Professor and Department Chair of French and Italian, John Murphy, presented on the proposed contract with the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), with whom the College currently has two programs; Seville and Berlin.
Through the contract, the fee for Gettysburg students would be reduced to $15,000 per student, confined to a list of approved CIEE programs. Gettysburg would, in turn, end several existing semester-long programs and replace them with CIEE programs. This is projected to save the College $734,000 in fiscal year 2027.
The ended programs would include IFSA Chilean Universities Program, IES Nantes, IES Rome, SIT Jordan and IFSA Merida. CIEE Berlin, College Year Athens and IES Salamanca will have managed enrollment.
Added programs will be CIEE Semester in Santiago, Paris Liberal Arts, CIEE Semester in Athens, CIEE Semester in Rome, CIEE Semester in Amman, CIEE Semester in Merida and CIEE Alicante. Other CIEE programs to add would CIEE Semester in Prague, CIEE Santiago de los Caballeros, CIEE Semester in Paris, CIEE Rennes Liberal Arts, CIEE Semester in Milan, CIEE Fashion, Retail & Innovation (Milan), CIEE Semester in Lisbon, CIEE Seville Liberal Arts, CIEE Seville Psychology + Health Sciences and Semester in Taipei.
After making the motion to have the vote on this proposal for the next meeting, faculty commented on the proposal, mostly related to concerns over the quality of the programs.
Murphy and Director of the Center for Global Education (CGE) Brita Doyle explained that students will have access to take courses at local universities or through CIEE staff, who are typically from local institutions. CGE has also vetted the programs.
Murphy also stated that this is just a first step in rearranging the College’s study abroad program, and they are still working to establish more faculty-led programs.
Change of Tenure Home Policy Motion Introduced
The working committee for the Change of Tenure Home Policy motioned for it to be voted on at the next meeting.
