Although the University of Wisconsin says the term "back-up appointment" does not exist, the expression has been a sore point for both the state and UW System for the last three months.

"It does not exist in state statute. It's parlance that unfortunately we've been some of the biggest abusers of," UW System spokesperson Doug Bradley said.

The UW System's difficulty in outlining back-up appointments has furthered confusion and distrust since the sudden revelation that former UW Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Paul Barrows was still receiving a $72,881 salary as a senior administrative program specialist in the Office of the Provost. Concurrently, Barrows had been placed on administrative leave.

If it doesn't exist, how did it come to be?

Essentially, a back-up appointment is a form of job security.

Job security for all university employees has been a dicey issue as far back as the turn of the 20th century, when UW professor Richard Ely was put on trial for teaching his students radical ideas. This created a stir among university employees who feared the trampling of their academic freedoms.

From his 1998 book "Academic Freedom on Trial," UW professor emeritus of economics Lee Hansen said, "In 1894, [Ely] stood accused by an ex-officio member of the Board of Regents of supporting labor-union strikes, organizing boycotts of nonunion businesses and teaching socialism and other 'dangerous' theories."

The ensuing trial lead to Ely's full exoneration by the Board of Regents as well as the regents' famous words which now sit atop Bascom Hill, reaffirming the university's firm belief in academic freedom and free speech.

The plaque reads, "Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere, we believe that the great state university of Wisconsin should ever encourage the continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found."

Ely's case, alongside several others, led to the creation of the American Association of University Professors, which subsequently created a model for protecting the rights of faculty. The 1940 model also set up the process of tenure.

One part of academia's often complex employment practices is this goal of protecting job security. However, over the years, this goal in itself has become more complex.

What is a "back-up appointment"?

For the many employees of the UW System, there are varying forms of job security, depending on the type of classified position held. The three categories of job positions are faculty, academic staff and limited appointments.

Faculty acquire job security through the process of tenure, which includes a "probationary period," thus guaranteeing faculty protection from breaches of academic freedom.

Similarly, academic staff acquire job security in a process similar to tenure or can be assigned to a "fixed-term" contractual agreement.

The third category, limited appointments, is where media, public, UW System and the state have all come to a standstill.

Limited-appointment positions are unlike faculty and academic-staff positions in that they can be removed at any time for any reason. Such positions include chancellors, provosts and other major administrative positions like the one formerly held by Barrows.

In order to provide job security for these candidates, Wisconsin statute 36.17 provides that "a tenured or academic staff appointment … shall not lose that appointment by accepting a limited appointment."

For Paul Barrows, who served his last faculty position at UW-Madison in 1989 as a history and African studies faculty associate, it is likely such a provision existed.

Additionally, individuals given limited appointments from outside the UW System can negotiate for specific faculty or academic-staff positions upon their termination.

The back-up appointment system has caused considerable tension for both the UW System and the state.

"It's complicated, and it's a kind of system that is unique to academia so a lot of other people aren't familiar with it," said UW System General Counsel Patricia Brady.

"The problem with the back-up appointments is the lack of understanding, lack of clarity and I think, a hint of suspicion," Bradley said.

What's being done to tackle the situation?

Barrows opted to take leave from UW in November 2004, using accrued sick and vacation time. During that time, Barrows still accumulated his full yearly salary of $191,794.

While gone, Barrows' former position and department were eliminated from the school's roster. When he was set to return to UW in June, UW Chancellor John Wiley organized a new consulting position at a Milwaukee diversity program. Barrows' salary was also reduced to $150,000 per year.

Shortly after his return, it was revealed Barrows had engaged in a brief romantic engagement with a 40-year-old graduate student.

Barrows was moved into a back-up position June 23 as a senior administrative program specialist.

The UW Board of Regents suspended the use of administrative back-up appointments in late July following the Barrows matter, pending investigation.

Regents hope to use this time to shed light on the ordeal through an internal review, which is presently taking place.

UW System President Kevin Reilly has since strongly considered recommending a contractual system to the board.

In addition, the board used its September meeting to debate and discuss various elements involved with the back-up-appointments issue, including a full brief from UW System General Counsel Patricia Brady.

According to Brady, a contractual system also has its plusses and minuses.

"If, for example, you negotiate with somebody for a position and they get a five-year contract and things don't work out, then you're in a position to honor that agreement," Brady said. "[Dismissing from a contractual position] may often lead to a buy-out of some kind, and it might turn out to be more expensive than the back-up system."

The UW System is not alone in tackling the issue, since the state must also step in to make changes to statute 36.17.

"I believe that we need to do whatever it takes, including changing state statute," said Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater. "I think we're at the point where it really is becoming where the Legislature has to save the university from itself, they have so many problems up there."

Nass added that he believes the UW System incorrectly portrayed the situation.

"They portrayed the whole situation as very temporary and exceptional, and that is just not the case," Nass said. "This has been going on for a number of years … people ripping off the system. It just happens more legislators are paying attention to it now."

Is this unique to the UW System?

The back-up-appointment process is not necessarily unique to the UW System. Many of the procedures are embedded in state law and university procedures.

In a phone survey of 44 institutions conducted by the UW System Office of Human Resources, officials discovered the term "back-up" was not often used at other institutions. However, many of the same institutions indicated they have tenured positions to which former faculty currently holding administrative positions can return.

Still, none of those positions are provided without faculty credentials.

"Most didn't have as formal a policy as far as back-ups, but they had fixed-term contracts and provided things like severance packages and a notice of termination," said Office of Human Resources Assistant Vice President Alan Crist.

In fact, some of the institutions interviewed required a fixed-term contract for all administrators, whether presidents, chancellors, deans or vice chancellors.

"We are a little unique in the sense that there is so much in the rules and regulations about what the universities and policies are in the statutes," Crist said.

Dan Reid, University of Michigan director for communications in the Department of Human Resources and Affirmative Action, said his university had no system that was directly parallel to the back-up-appointment system.

"There are joint appointments which occur when a faculty member accepts an administrative appointment of limited duration in addition to his or her academic appointment, and, once their time commitment to the administrative post expires, they return to the work of their academic appointment," Reid wrote in an e-mail.

Similarly, Reid said employees could hold multiple appointments if they had duties in more than one department or unit.