The University of Wisconsin fell under state scrutiny once again as the Senate Higher Education and Tourism Committee held a public hearing at the Capitol Wednesday concerning the university's employment policies.
Fueled by a storm of media publicity, controversy around the system's handling of employee issues flared in the summer months after paid-leave and backup-position abuses by several employees were uncovered, with the felony convictions of three UW professors adding to the system's bruised reputation.
To put UW's situation into perspective, Jane Berg, director of employee relations for the non-profit employers' organization MRA-The Management Association Inc., exemplified the differences in employment policies between the public and private sectors.
"Backup jobs are not typical in the private sector," Berg said. "However, the offering of severance agreements and severance packages for higher-level employees is more common."
UW System President Kevin Reilly justified the importance of granting backup positions, saying otherwise many UW schools may have difficulty retaining faculty members and administrators.
"We do feel the need to provide them with some modicum of job security," Reilly said. "Backup appointments have allowed us to do that."
Offering fixed-term contracts — which Reilly said are more commonly used at other universities in the nation — would be another way to give certain employees job security. However, the university does not currently have a contract system in effect.
State Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, chair of the Higher Education Committee, questioned whether the state Legislature would have to initiate changes in state statutes to fix system employment policies.
Both Reilly and UW System General Counsel Pat Brady said specific laws would have to be amended to legally bring about policy changes, especially concerning the termination of convicted felons working for the system.
"The way the law is currently written, if somebody is convicted of a crime, that in and of itself does not allow us to terminate that person," Reilly said.
Similarly, the private sector is also bound by the same laws, Berg said, though she added it "behooves us to [internally] investigate improprieties swiftly."
One major difference between the private and public sectors is the regulation of sick leave, however, Berg said, noting most employees in the private sector only receive about five or six days of paid sick leave per year.
Through testimony at the hearing, Reilly spoke of progress made in the effort to overhaul employment practices in the university system.
"I am pleased to report to this committee that the UW System has been working diligently to review and reform policies and procedures with the Board of Regents and the chancellors," Reilly said.
During the hearing proceedings, Reilly told the committee the system has suspended the practice of awarding backup positions and said sick-leave policies have been tightened enough that the system now has the toughest medical-leave policy of all Wisconsin's agencies.
In addition, Reilly spoke of continuing dialogue with the Joint Legislative Audit Committee as another example of steps the university system has taken to rehabilitate relations between the UW System and the state Legislature. Reilly previously requested the audit committee approve an external audit of UW System employment practices, which was granted Tuesday.
"I believe that the Board of Regents and I have made substantial progress in tightening up our employment practices," Reilly said, adding Board of Regents President David Walsh has been "instrumental" in the quest to bring about necessary changes.
