University President Jehuda Reinharz proposed the creation of a pool for faculty and staff salary increases at last Thursday’s faculty meeting.

The announcement does not signify an accross the board wage increase; if approved by the board of trustees, only faculty and staff earning less than $150,000 per year would be eligible for the increase, and the decision of who received one would be made by the appropriate deans or managers.

Thursday’s faculty meeting was closed to non-faculty members, however, Reinharz told The Hoot in a phone interview that “we need to show the faculty and staff that despite all sorts of changes and belt tightening taking place, everybody appreciates the hard work that they are doing day in and day out.”

“We need to recognize them in some fashion,” he said. “Even if it’s not a huge sum of money, we need to recognize their contribution to the welfare of the university.”

Reinharz also proposed a wage-freeze for university employees earning more than $150,000 a year.

There are 1,111 employees at Brandeis not including Aramark and Mailroom staff, with 36 employees earning more than $150,000 a year.

Both proposals will be voted upon by the board of trustees at their March 24 meeting, and Reinharz said he is hopeful the measure will be passed.

“I have spoken to some key memebers of the board who are very much in favor of this,” he said. “I can’t guage the reaction of the whole board, but I will certainly make the case to them that if you want to keep outstanding people at the university, you’ve got to compensate them appropriately.”

The money for the pool could come from the university’s reserves, Reinharz said, however the size of the pool has yet to be determined.