Legislators fire back at UW System seeking accountability
11:27 PM 10/02/03
Karen Rivedal Higher education reporter

Fallout continues from the University of Wisconsin System's controversial decision last month to adjust salary ranges for top System executives during a time of state fiscal crisis. <

Lawmakers are firing back, with three measures aimed at increasing openness and accountability in the System. One proposed law would take away the System's ability to unilaterally adjust salary ranges, requiring approval by the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee. <

The other two bills would expand the open meetings law to include all university departments currently exempt, and require that every decision by the UW Board of Regents be made through a roll-call vote, rather than a voice vote. <

"I think we need to have accountability - put your name on your vote," said Rep. Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson, chief sponsor of the roll-call proposal. "I believe when that happens you will probably have longer and hopefully more thoughtful debate. We deserve to know who is supporting what." <

Board of Regents Vice President David Walsh on Thursday said Regents and System officials are open to discussing all the pending measures. <

"The bottom line to all this is we are a public university and the Legislature has and should have something to say about how we run," Walsh said. "All of these bills are just efforts by people who have some opinions on how things should be done, and they have every right to do that. That is their role. I'm not critical of any of those bills, as long as we have an opportunity to discuss them, in open session." <

Board members angered legislators, union leaders and students with their Sept. 2 decision to adjust salary ranges for 35 executives, setting up the possibility of $98,000 in raises for 14 people, mostly university chancellors. The vote, while properly noticed, took place over the telephone just two days before a regular board meeting was scheduled, with barely a quorum of Regents approving the measure by voice vote. <

Afterward, three Regents who abstained from the vote during the conference call expressed misgivings. Regent Nino Amato, in particular, criticized top System leaders, including President Katharine Lyall, for pushing members to vote, he said, rather than agreeing to wait two days for the regular meeting. <

Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, is proposing the measure to require that the Joint Finance Committee sign off any future salary range adjustments, restoring the policy used until about four years ago. A hearing on it is scheduled for Tuesday before the Assembly's Committee on Colleges and Universities. <

"This is being driven by our constituents," Suder said Thursday. "They're furious with the Board of Regents' most recent decision (on the salary ranges.)" <

Rhoades' bill also may be voted on Tuesday, along with measures to require that faculty sabbaticals be paid for through gifts and grants - rather than with tax dollars, as they currently are - and to mandate credit transfers between the UW System and the state's technical college system. <

Walsh also will testify Tuesday about the board's vote to adjust the salary ranges. <

"We want to first set the table about the background to what we did," he said. "Then we want to discuss the substance of it, why somebody might or might not need raises." <

Lyall and Board President Toby Marcovich have said the ranges need to be increased to find and retain quality leaders, especially chancellors for the System's four-year universities. This summer, two chancellors resigned for higher-paying jobs leading universities out of state, and the adjustments were needed to start searches to replace them, Marcovich said. <

However, citing "confusion and criticism," Marcovich last week said the board would review the decision to adjust the ranges at the regular board meeting Oct. 10 in Oshkosh. It's not clear if the vote will be reconsidered; by rule, a motion to reconsider must come from one of the Regents who originally voted to approve the adjustments. <

For Suder, the problem was as much how the Regents made their decision as what they did. Suder said the fact that Regents are appointed by the governor also justified additional legislative oversight. <

"I don't like an unelected body making financial decisions when it comes to salaries," Suder said. "I think those adjustments should be voted on by the Joint Finance Committee in the full view of the public." <

Walsh on Thursday said he would be happy to discuss how the Regents voted on the range increases. <

"In retrospect, all decisions should be made at an open meeting, at Camp Randall if we could," he said. "We're all for that. We may even suggest some internal process changes." <

The measure to apply the requirements of the state's open meetings law to more university business would bring the System more in line with other parts of state government, said that proposal's chief sponsor, Sen. Tom Reynolds, R-West Allis. <

"All the bill would do is require the university system to operate under the same laws that other various governing bodies operate under," Reynolds said. "It's pretty simple. This is about a lack of oversight." <

Specifically, the measure would require the university to provide at least 24 hours' notice to the public and media before meetings of department committees, subcommittees and similar bodies within the System. Currently, those committees are exempt from the notice requirements. <

"That could be very cumbersome, but it's certainly worth discussing," Walsh said about Reynolds' bill. <

Practical concerns also might make the roll-call proposal somewhat difficult to implement, Walsh said. <

"A roll call is always a good idea, but I don't think you want to require everything on a roll call, such as taking a recess," Walsh said. <