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UW college pay behind the class

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Also by Danielle Repshas:

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UW college pay behind the class (April 19, 2007)
UW salaries on rise, still behind (April 11, 2007)

Thursday, April 19, 2007 12:00 a.m.

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University of Wisconsin college deans earn significantly less than most two-year community college presidents, according to a survey released Sunday by the American Association of Community Colleges. On average, the report found that community college presidents earn $161,380 annually, up 6 percent from last year. Comparatively, UW college deans earn an average annual salary of $98,329, according to Teri Venker, spokesperson for UW Colleges and UW-Extension. Though there are no two-year community colleges in the state, Venker said Wisconsin has many two-year programs at the UW Colleges in addition to technical colleges. And at these state technical colleges, Venker said president salaries fall on both sides of the national average listed for two-year community college presidents. In 2005-06, salaries of Wisconsin Technical College presidents ranged from $127,625 in southwest Wisconsin to $226,900 in the Milwaukee area, according to the March 2007 Legislative Audit Bureau of Wisconsin Technical College System Personnel Policies and Practices. The audit stated 12 of the 16 technical college presidents earn less than the lowest-paid UW chancellors in the system, and only Fox Valley, Madison Area, Milwaukee Area and northeast Wisconsin districts pay their technical college presidents similar salaries to those of UW chancellors in the same area. David Giroux, UW System spokesperson, said very few faculty and staff members in the UW System are earning what their peers at a respected college earn. "Consistently across the UW System, our total compensation tends to lack compared to major institutions around the country," Giroux said. According to Giroux, recruiting professors and deans is becoming a bigger challenge every year because of the discrepancy. "Every time we lose a dean because of compensation, it makes our institution less efficient," Giroux said. "It costs real money to advertise, interview and hire new employees." Venker also said the pool of applicants is shrinking because the salaries are not competitive, but added that the UW Colleges do national searches to find qualified professors and deans. "The University of Wisconsin as a whole has a good reputation," Venker said. "We hire those who are dedicated to teaching, and people who really want to teach are attracted to working in the UW College system." UW Colleges are freshman and sophomore campuses educating students in the liberal arts and providing students with the foundations of a bachelor's degree, Venker said, while technical colleges offer students the ability to earn an associate degree after completing a two-year study program. Community colleges, on the other hand, include both technical and liberal arts components.

1 Comment | Leave a comment

Mary MacKendrick | April 19, 2007 1:15 PM | Reply

This article is confusing because it starts out inaccurately. There are UW college deans at the UW four-year institutions, and then there are the UW Colleges deansCEOs at the 13 two-year campuses across the state. The first sentence should have been written, “Deans/CEOs at the UW Colleges, the 13 freshman-sophomore campuses across the state, earn significantly less….