Some faculty and staff at MU are concerned about their pay and benefits after en e-mail that President Gary Forsee's office sent out Monday. KBIA's James Steward has more.

Forsee sent an e-mail asking employees to participate in a confidential online survey about their pay and benefits. The letter says that pay and benefits are a big part of the University's budget and they want to make sure they are spending it effectively.

Leona Rubin is an Associate Professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine and she is also the Chair of the University's Faculty Council. She says she has heard concerns from faculty who fear this may be a sign of pay cuts. However, Rubin says she doesn't think that's the case.

"I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing; I think that communication is important. And this is our chance to communicate what's important to us."

Betsy Rodriguez is the Vice President for Human Resources, and she says this type of survey is merely routine, and it has simply been too long since the last time one was conducted. She says the survey has nothing to do with cost-savings.

"This is just about making sure we understand what people value, so it's not about any kind of cutting. And it really doesn't have anything to do with the budget going on right now; it's just time for us to get the pulse of the employees."

Instead of just asking how satisfied employees are, this survey will ask them to make trade-off decisions about what they value most and least. The results will be used to help the university shape its' pay and benefits packages to better reflect employees' values. © Copyright 2012, KBIA