The University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly has proposed a 2 percent pay increase for UW System employees for the next two years.

The proposal will be debated and voted on at the Board of Regents meetings on Thursday and Friday later this week.

UW System Spokesperson David Giroux said Reilly is making the proposal for two reasons. Giroux said one of those reasons is the law. He said the UW System is required to submit a pay scale recommendation to the state government for ultimate approval by the governor and the state Legislature.

The second reason, Giroux said, is because it is necessary for the UW System to meet its goals to increase the number of college graduates and to create more jobs in the state.

“If we are not hanging on to those people we won’t be able to do that,” Giroux said.

Board of Regents President Charles Pruitt said the system wants to make sure it can keep the best employees.

“Our faculty and staff operate in a nationally competitive environment, and our goal is to try and attract and retain the best,” Pruitt said. “It was pretty clear the UW System is behind the national averages and behind our peer institutions.”

Earlier this year, Reilly set up a commission to evaluate how UW System employees at different campuses were paid compared to other institutions across the country of the same size and who they might be competing against.

The report found University of Wisconsin professors salaries were 9.31 percent below their competitors. UW-Milwaukee’s professors were 28.7 percent behind their peers.

Pruitt said the recommended salary increase is more about not falling further behind other schools, and it would not dramatically close the gap.

The 2 percent increase is on top of an earlier request by the system to restore the 3 percent pay cut all state employees had this year in mandatory furlough days.

Giroux said they recognize the difficult economic climate the state is facing, but he said the UW System can help improve the economy if they can adequately pay their employees.

“We are part of the economic solution for Wisconsin and to be that economic engine we need to hang on to our talented people,” Giroux said.