Friday, December 2, 2022
Graphic by Bridget Marrara
‘Just in time for the holidays’ OSU announces a merit-based raise Luisa Clausen Staff Reporter
continue to recognize and support the employees at OSU. “To retain our world-class faculty and staff and recruit new candidates of the highest caliber, we must be as OSU President Kayse Shrum is competitive as possible with what we keeping her word. can offer,” Shrum said. “In the end, The OSU A&M Board of Rethis is not just a matter of taking care gents approved, for the second year in of our staff and faculty. It filters down a row, a 3% average merit-based raise to the education and experience we program for the Stillwater campus. offer our students.” This merit increase program started This is the first merit program Thursday. All faculty, staff and admin- the university has financed in five istration members hired before July 1, years. Colleges within the university will be eligible for consideration. financed last year’s merit-based raise When Shrum took office as program. OSU’s 19th president July 1, 2021, Heather Yates, a professor for she committed to working toward construction professional development increasing faculty and staff salary and classes and a Faculty Council member, said it is part of her long-term plan to has worked for the university since
2006 and said she does not remember back-to-back years of announced 3% merit raises. Yates said OSU needs to recruit faculty for the Stillwater campus because for a university to be competitive it has to at least keep up with the cost of living. “We need good staff, and we need to retain faculty,” Yates said. “This is one way we can try to improve conditions. I am glad we’re getting a merit raise as the cost of living is increasing. I do appreciate the thought of a merit raise because it does reward people for working hard.” Yates said it is understandable to think an average raise can put faculty against each other. However, she said she is hopeful everyone gets a raise and is confident the money will be
shared fairly. “I don’t feel like it puts us in competition because if they didn’t have the money to support these raises, it wouldn’t be announced like this,” Yates said. “I personally don’t feel like it’s competitive. The more we are clear about who is eligible and who is not the less competitive it gets.” Each year, all faculty and staff go through an evaluation program based on criteria related to the expectations of their particular role. These evaluations are used to assign the raise employees will get based on their performance.
See Merrit on 5A
Friendly fire on farmlands
Local ranchers, farmers, combat drought Lilly Smith, Katy Leard, Lauren Suarez O’Colly Contributors The grass crackles and breaks beneath the farmer’s knee. He digs his fingers into the dust below before letting it fall through his fingers. It hasn’t rained for months. His cattle don’t have any water left in the ponds and he’s already sold all he can afford to. What would his father say? After all, this is family land. If the farmer sells anymore, he won’t have a herd left, but the grass is dead. He didn’t make enough hay for the winter. Even if it did rain, it wouldn’t be enough. This is not the story of one farmer or even two. This is the story of Oklahoma’s farmers. The rangeland in Oklahoma is not new. It has been passed down through generations and is part of a heritage of farmers and ranchers. Most farmers and ranchers find their passion and dedication following in their family’s footsteps and cultivating this heritage. “My family has been in oil production, mineral and royalty management, acquisition and so on since the early ‘80s,” Paul Whitmire, CEO of Whitmire Land and Cattle, said. “We actually got into the ranching business in Ottawa County around ‘91 and since then, we’ve
Courtesy of Adam Gourley Controlled fires are one of many practices that farmers and ranchers can use to minimize the effects of droughts.
just bought more land.” Whitmire Ranch now owns more than 20,000 acres of land. Maintaining such a large amount of land in Oklahoma has many challenges, but Whitmire is prepared for almost anything Oklahoma offers. “Our biggest problem right now is ground conditions,” Whitmire said. “Our ponds are getting dangerously low, and of course, with winter coming, we kind of have to do an assessment of the risk versus the reward, it’s just kind of day by day right now.” See Fires on 5A
Isaac Terry The Reboot Center in OSU’s University Counseling Services offices, offers an opportunity for students and faculty to take a break and de-stress.
Renovated Reboot Center helps OSU students de-stress Isaac Terry Staff Reporter
A free place to relax, study, or sleep is nestled right in the Student Union. The Reboot Center is located on the third floor of the Student Union in room 320W, right beside the University Counseling Services. The service is available to all students, staff and faculty to visit and spend time de-stressing
from their day. Students are even offered weighted blankets and allowed to take naps on couches or special pods, and the room is kept quiet and dark. The center is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the weekdays. There are no appointments needed, and you can visit as many times as you like. Once you check in, you get access to a wide range of relaxing toys, books and resources, many of which you are able to take home with you. See Reboot on 3A