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UW-River Falls chancellor announces resignation

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by Carolyn Potts

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

The chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls announced Tuesday he will resign from his position June 30, becoming the fourth UW chancellor to resign in under a year.

Chancellor Don Betz will leave UW-River Falls to become the president of Northeastern State University of Oklahoma, where he was affiliated from 1971-93. Provost Connie Foster will serve as interim chancellor until a new chancellor can be hired.

According to a statement released by the UW System, President Kevin Reilly will immediately begin a search for the next leader of UW-River Falls. There are currently three other chancellor searches in progress at UW-Madison, UW-Whitewater and UW-Parkside.

Each time a leader leaves a university, it indicates the competitive nature of the higher education market, said Brent Smith of the UW System Board of Regents.

However, Smith said when a UW System chancellor leaves for a position at another institution, it cannot be ignored.

“It shows what a competitive market we are in and that there are always jobs available,” Smith said. “It reminds us that we need to stay competitive with our compensation for our faculty and our chancellors.”

The regents approved a plan at their meeting Feb. 7 to increase the salary ranges of the chancellors at 12 institutions systemwide, including the UW-Madison chancellor position, in an attempt to make compensation more competitive for each institution’s peer class.

According to Board of Regents Vice President Chuck Pruitt, the regents are very sensitive to the issue of competitive compensation and still have some work to do.

Though compensation is a concern when hiring chancellors and faculty, Pruitt said they choose to leave for different, individual reasons.

“All of these decisions are individual,” Pruitt said. “Don Betz came from Oklahoma, he was in that system for a long time and this is a decision to go home, which we need to respect and appreciate. It’s what made the most sense for him to do.”

Smith is confident the UW System will continue to attract good leaders for its institutions.

“We continue to get good leadership, and I am confident that we will find a good replacement for Don Betz,” Smith said.

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Anonymous (April 9, 2008 @ 9:17am):

It is disappointing to see a chancellor of Dr. Betz's caliber leaving his position. He was engaged in international circles as well as the local River Falls community. Dr. Betz is a professional; he is not leaving UWRF for monetary reasons. His departure is not a reflection of the adequacy or inadequacy of UW chancellor salaries, and I hope his return to Oklahoma will not be viewed as such.

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