Although it faces record-breaking budget cuts, the University of Wisconsin System hired several dozen employees between March 2003 and March 2004, according to a new report by the state Legislative Audit Bureau.
The report also stated the UW System devotes nearly four times as many financial and personnel resources to administration as it formally counts, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It determined that roughly 25 percent of employees in the system had some administrative functions — a figure notably higher than the 6.9 percent estimate the UW System provided.
UW System President Kevin Reilly challenged the report Friday, saying the UW System relies on national university standards to account for administrative positions.
The audit bureau acknowledged these standards were different, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“One of the challenges with the review is that the LAB used its own unique method of assessing our administrative staffing,” Reilly said in a statement. “For example, they counted positions that have supervisory responsibilities and all clerical and secretarial positions as administrative costs — positions in student affairs, admissions, career planning, athletics and financial aid that most students and citizens do not generally associate with ‘university administration.'”
Reilly also noted there are no measures by which to compare assessments of UW administrative staffing against other universities, which makes it difficult to determine whether the system’s 15 percent administrative cost is high or low.
“We want to explore this further and to work with LAB staff to produce data that can provide comparisons to other universities so we can benchmark our future progress toward becoming more efficient,” he said in the statement.
The report found that, while UW executives still receive less pay than those at other universities, the Board of Regents has given out more than $500,000 in salary increases for the top 20 executives since November 2001.
The Legislature suggested that UW send periodic reports on executive salaries, in addition to receiving guidance on coding contractual expenses.
Reilly said the UW System will implement these changes.
“We pledge to vigorously continue this effort and to be as sensible with each state tax dollar as the people of Wisconsin would be,” Reilly said. “We look forward to reporting back to the Governor and legislators in February on our progress in that regard.”
Regent President Toby Marcovich agreed with Reilly, noting UW should strive for continuous improvement.
“Our recent study — “Charting a New Course for the UW System” — highlighted a number of areas where we, in collaboration with the state, can maximize resources, reduce duplication and increase efficiency,” Marcovich said in a statement. “That study, combined with the LAB report, can help us to take advantage of some of these efficiency opportunities.”
Eric Varney, an Associated Students of Madison student council representative, believes the UW System could be more financially efficient.
“As a whole, in any large organization you’re going to have a lot of administrative costs, but there are extra costs that are not necessary, and there are people in the system who are more or less along for the free ride,” he said.
Varney questioned the accuracy of both the state’s reported administrative costs and those of the system, saying he finds the difference between the two surprising.
“Twenty-five percent is hard to believe, but so is seven percent,” he said, adding, he supports Reilly’s decision to send the Legislature periodic reports.
The State of Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau is a non-partisan legislative service agency that checks whether state agency operations have transpired legally and properly, according to the UW System website. They also determine whether programs are “administered effectively, efficiently and in accordance with the policies of the Legislature and governor.”
