We, the undersigned, call on UNT President Neal Smatresk to approve a $10,000 across-the-board pay raise for all UNT employees. A pay raise for EVERY worker on campus is critical.

Merit pay cannot replace regular, dollar-amount, across-the-board pay raises. University worker pay has stagnated as the cost of living has continued to go up. Some of the lowest paid workers in Texas are now at state universities, making just over $20,000 for full-time work. Turnover is increasing at UNT as many of our committed colleagues can no longer afford to work here.

If our university wants to attract and retain top tier faculty, staff, and students, it must support ALL of its employees – from administrative staff and adjuncts to graduate workers and custodians – that labor every day to provide quality higher education to our community.

For these reasons, I am publicly calling on President Smatresk to provide a $10,000 pay raise for all UNT campus workers.