Insiders at Florida A&M University say they expect President Marva Johnson’s proposal to raise faculty and staff salaries to be released soon – perhaps as early as Wednesday. The plan comes after the university received $10 million more from the state than it requested.
Last month, Johnson said she hoped the university would be able to funnel some of the extra dollars to its faculty and staff.
“We’re hopeful we’ll be able to close the gap on some of the concerns we have about competitive compensation," she said. "We know that with the investment the state has made in FAMU, that gap will be closing as we look to implement some of this funding.”
Johnson has faced pushback from the FAMU community since she first applied for the position, but Kenishia Grant, a FAMU alum who has been outspoken against Johnson’s presidency, says she’s glad Johnson making this move.
“If this president is coming in and trying to do right by FAMU and right by the people of FAMU, one of the first things that you do is make sure that they are paid commensurate with the market rate," Grant said. "So, I think that’s a good thing. And again, I think we disagree about politics, but she’s the president now. And so, she’s going to do things that are helpful and useful to the faculty and to the university writ large, and I think everybody welcomes that. If she’s going to continue down that road, again, we welcome that.”
While she says she’s pleased to see a plan for raises moving forward, she doubts the move will reduce concerns about Johnson’s ties to Republican politicians like Governor Ron DeSantis.
“Faculty will be happy about the raise, for sure," said Grant. "But I think it’s possible to be happy about a raise and still thoughtful or concerned about what is going to happen with the trajectory of the university. I think both those things can exist at the same time.”
Grant, who is now a political science professor at Howard University, says professors at historically Black colleges and universities are frequently underpaid.
