This podcast contains comments from Texas A&M president Michael Young during the September 14, 2020 faculty senate meeting.

Texas A&M president Michael Young tells the faculty senate he is still pursuing merit pay raises.

That's after the A&M system board of regents told Young to place $14 million dollars towards merit raises into reserves.

Young said "this is my current heartbreak", adding "We have made a number of runs at the chancellor and at the board, trying to get them to see this in the light that we believe it ought to be seen in."

The president also said "We were instructed by the board for reasons that I think have to do appreciably more with politics than with what are sensible management in my judgment or actual financial exigency to postpone those raises."

Young said "We have sequestered that money. We're not going to spend that money on anything but raises. And we're just hoping that as soon as we can persuade the board to release that, we will."

Last month, Young proposed to the regents a base merit raise of one and a quarter percent and a one time merit pool of three quarters of one percent.