Southeast Missouri State University's faculty remains divided over merit pay, the chairwoman of the Faculty Senate told the Cape Girardeau Rotary Club Monday at the Holiday Inn.

At issue is a merit pay plan the university adopted in 1991 after the Board of Regents said it didn't want across-the-board pay hikes.

Senate chairwoman Dr. Nancy Blattner said many faculty members oppose merit pay and want to return to the across-the-board pay raises.

Blattner, an associate professor of English, said some professors think they shouldn't have to demonstrate annually they deserve a pay raise.

The school, however, has no plans to abandon the merit pay system, Blattner said, but the school might continue to fine tune it.

Blattner said, "Short of eliminating the merit pay plan altogether, there is likely to be disagreement."

Blattner supports the concept of merit pay, and the Faculty Senate's professional affairs committee might review the merit pay appeals process this year, but it is uncertain if the committee will recommend changes.

A member of Faculty Senate for two years, Blattner wants to improve the group's image on campus and in the community. She received tenure and was promoted to associate professor last spring.

On tenure, Blattner sees it as a university's commitment to its teaching staff.

"Now the university has vested itself in me," she said of being granted tenure.

While some faculty might abuse the system, she said, there will be abuses in any system.

This year's Faculty Senate has 37 senators and 27 alternates representing the academic departments at the university.

The Faculty Senate is an advisory group that makes recommendations to university president Dr. Dale Nitzschke.

Blattner said some students want the university to change its spring semester schedule.

They want spring semester classes to start before the holiday that celebrates the birthday of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Those students don't like the late-January start because it means they get out of school later than students at some other colleges, Blattner said. They say it puts them behind students from other schools in looking for jobs or beginning internships.

The Faculty Senate's academic affairs committee expects to look at that issue this fall, she said.