University faculty in the studio art and drama departments make significantly less than their colleagues in other fields and schools.
Within the University, the highest annual salaries of studio art and drama department faculty fall within a comparable range of lecturers, assistant professors, associate professors, professors and University professors at the Engineering School. While top earners in the studio art and drama departments — drama department chair Colleen Kelly and studio art department director William Wylie — earn $125,000, professors at the Engineering school earn an average of $141,918.10.
Average salaries of University arts professors fall right around the range, if not slightly below the national averages of post-secondary school art teachers. For all art teachers for any form of post-secondary schooling, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports an average annual salary of around $81,050, while it rises to $82,380 when counting only those teaching at colleges, universities and professional schools, specifically.
As a public school, falling within this range could be expected, and reflects that the University is on track with adjusting to inflation with other schools around the country. For comparison, the average salary for faculty in the McIntire School of Commerce is $110,096.61, while the national average for postsecondary business professors at colleges or universities is $102,600. The University’s commerce professors are paid more than the national average, while arts professors are not.
It is worth noting as well that these salaries do not reflect other elements of funding for the studio art and drama departments. The number of visiting artists and lecturers, and funding for the Fralin, the theater or other aspects of the arts facilities have nothing to do with salary data. For arts education in general, access to materials and facilities create an inherent difference when comparing funding allotted to other subjects such as English or history.
It is undeniable that the University has an accomplished faculty within the studio art and drama departments. Many of them are accomplished artists outside of teaching such as William Wylie, a professor of photography who has had a multitude of successful solo exhibitions; Kevin Everson, a professor of cinematography whose work has been shown at the Whitney Biennial; and Colleen Kelley, chair of the drama department, who has choreographed dances and fight sequences in feature films and prominent professional theaters. Their compensation lags behind professors in other departments as well as their colleagues at other institutions.
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