"I don't think it is fair to compare us to another institution," said Joy Tlou, SLCC spokesman. SLCC, he added, has a different mission and set of priorities. "The areas that we used retention funds for were areas that are vital to the operation of this institution."

According to Tlou, SLCC spent more than $180,000 of its funds on four key positions that impact the academic mission of the school. Two of those jobs include SLCC's coordinators for its dental hygiene and assessment and accreditation programs. Tlou noted that SLCC spent its funds within the guidelines set forth by the regents.

Regents also plan to ask the 2006 Legislature for another $5 million in retention funds — that's in addition to asking for an increase in salary and benefits equal to what other state employees might receive.

Kendell hopes lawmakers will hear his message about key faculty and staff, which is, "Don't let them go." His pitch to legislators has been that using a bargaining tool like retention funds will save the state money in the long run.

The remaining $144,628 of the U.'s retention funds has been held back to use in making "counteroffers" and addressing expected retention problems during the 2005-06 school year.

"It's very important for me to get it right," said U. President Michael Young. "We've looked at this very, very carefully to look at what's going to make a difference."

If someone is already shopping themselves around and is completely money driven, Young said it's likely that person won't be persuaded to stay by a relatively small amount of money.

But if "buzz" or gossip on a key professor becomes credible that another school is interested, Young said it's time to sit down with that person and use retention funds as a bargaining tool. Spending $30,000, for example, may mean saving the school from losing millions in grant money for research.

"It's money pretty well spent," Young said.

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com