BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana’s Southern University college system is boosting pay for faculty and staff across its campuses, under a package of salary hikes and one-time bonuses approved Friday by the system’s governing board.

“There’s never a good time to advance a salary adjustment, but I want to as well acknowledge the chancellors for digging deep and identifying the resources to do so,” said Southern University System President Ray Belton.

Southern’s main campus in Baton Rouge will enact a 3% across-the-board raise that starts Dec. 1. Southern University at New Orleans will do a similar 3% pay hike retroactive to Oct. 1. The university system’s law school will do an average of 4% raises beginning in December, while the agricultural center’s employees will get a 3.5% pay hike on Dec. 1.

On the system’s Shreveport campus, faculty and staff will receive a $500 one-time bonus. Other “market value raises” of varying amounts for specific employees will start there in February.

The salary increases will cost the historically Black college system $2.7 million annually, according to budget documents. The Southern University Board of Supervisors agreed to the pay bumps without objection Friday.