Regents tackle retention

by Tom Schalmo

Monday, February 12, 2007 00:00

University of Wisconsin-Madison Provost Patrick Farrell touted campus research but discussed the challenge in retaining staff Friday morning at the UW System Board of Regents meeting.

In his UW-Madison Spring Update to the regents, Farrell said the university's teaching and research culture attracts a large number of faculty to the campus, as UW-Madison has a very high research activity ranking from the Carnegie Foundation.

"A surprisingly large number of prospective faculty say, 'That's the place I want to be, that's the place I can conduct research,'" Farrell said.

But once faculty members arrive at Madison, Farrell said the problem lies in retaining them. With salary offers less than those at comparable institutions, faculty members are often looking for other employment options.

Farrell also talked about the impact UW-Madison graduates have, citing university promotional videos that appear during telecasts of UW men's basketball games and Madison's high rankings in Peace Corps volunteers and S&P CEOs.

"These are two inexact qualitative measures of outcomes — outcomes matter," Farrell said. "What our students do matters, what they do when they leave matters, and that's a pretty good measure of what happens while they're here."

Farrell, who began as provost in April 2006, said he is often asked how UW-Madison can remain a quality institution. But he said the goals should be to get better, not stay in place.

"Remaining in place, from my view, is not a goal — it's not a place where we want to be," Farrell said. "We understand we have challenges, budgetary and other issues, but aiming to not fall behind is a terrible place to be in."

Regent Tom Loftus asked the board to consider dedicating a whole meeting to the needs — particularly financially — of UW-Madison.

However, Regent Michael Spector said the strength of the Madison campus can benefit the whole UW System, and there should be a strategic planning discussion to pinpoint how such a goal can be accomplished.

Other Regent News

Also at the board meeting Friday, Regent President David Walsh praised the efforts of Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, who will announce his biennial budget Tuesday, and has said the state should reinvest in the UW System.

"We made our pitch," Walsh said. "And I'm pleased to say that the governor of the state of Wisconsin still thinks higher education is the solution."

The regents also commended UW-La Crosse Provost Elizabeth Hitch, who served as the university's interim chancellor before the hiring of current Chancellor Joe Gow in November 2006.

And later at the meeting, the board gave Hitch and UW-Stevens Point Chancellor Linda Bunnell salary raises.

The Board of Regents will meet again March 8-9 at UW-Parkside, located near Kenosha.