Next year, Penn State plans to increase faculty salaries 3 to 4 percent despite a 5 percent reduction in state appropriations for the 2002-2003 academic year. Believe it or not, this is a good thing.

Even though students and the university are not looking forward to a potential double-digit tuition hike next year, Penn State must competitively compensate its faculty and staff members for many reasons.

As Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said Tuesday, "Faculty are the heart of any good institution." He's absolutely right. Professors and other teachers just don't stand in front of a room and lecture to classes all day. They also undertake various research projects and studies for different organizations, and they do extension work throughout the country.

According to a recent report published by U.S. News and World Report, Penn State ranked No. 46 in overall academic quality among national universities and No. 188 in faculty resources.

Obviously, this must change. The university's faculty and staff members deserve to receive as much money and materials as their counterparts at other large research institutions do.

The salary increases are necessary even despite a large tuition increase because adequate compensation is undoubtedly one of the factors potential employees weigh before accepting a position at an institution.

To keep attracting the best and brightest faculty and staff members to our university, Penn State must provide adequate financial and educational resources to get them here and not to another school.

When Penn State attracts stellar faculty members, the students also win. We are able to soak up information from these professors and even participate in their research projects. Consequently, our degrees become more prestigious.

No one wants to see Penn State's cost of learning spike next year. Even though the university asked the state for a $30 million increase in funding last September, Gov. Mark Schweiker's budget calls for a decrease of $17 million in university funding.

Administrators and student leaders need to work together to find a viable solution to dealing with next year's budget cuts that also allows the university to provide the increase in faculty salaries that it needs to stay competitive with fellow universities around the country.