The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is searching for ways to make $250,839, a house and a car look more attractive to applicants in their search for a new chancellor.
Bill Holahan, chairman of UWM’s search committee for the new chancellor, said A.T. Kearney Education Practice, the firm in charge of the search, feels the amount of money being offered by UWM is too low.
“They have implied there is a considerable gap in comparison to other universities,” Holahan said.
The UW System Board of Regents is in charge of determining a salary for the new chancellor, which has become a difficult process, following the system’s recent $250 million budget cut.
According to an article published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Sunday, several applicants have said that they would not consider the job at this point because the salary is too low.
Holahan said he could not judge if the salary being offered was affecting the type of applicants interested in the job.
The search committee has therefore looked to outside sources for private perks, such as a house and car, to accompany the deal.
“It is up to the regents to strike a bargain,” Holahan said, adding that he and his committee have no part in salary negotiations or what perks might be offered.
Regent Danae Dauls, who serves on the Special Regent Committee in the search for a new chancellor, said the $250,839 offered by UWM is as high as the salary will get. She said discussion about the issue is over.
“The issue is dead. It is just not going to happen,” Dauls said.
Dauls also said she was unsure of what private perks, other than a house and a car, would be offered to the future chancellor.
“We certainly do not want to overpay anyone, either,” Holahan added about discussion to beef up the offer with special perks.
Regent Chuck Pruitt, who is also a member of the Special Regent Committee, said he thinks it is too early to tell whether the salary is affecting who is applying for the job.
“Right now we are just casting the net and finding out who is interested in the position,” Pruitt said. He said that once the committee is past the current preliminary stage, they would be able to more accurately assess changes that need to be made.
Holahan’s committee, which has already received 51 applications for the position, is in charge of searching for the talent to replace Nancy Zimpher, who recently left UWM for the University of Cincinnati where she is now chancellor. Her salary increased from $219,550 that she received at UWM to the $280,000 she is now being paid at Cincinnati.
UWM must also muster funds to pay for the ongoing search. The search firm hired to find candidates will charge UWM one third of what the incoming chancellor will receive or $55,000, whichever is higher, according to the article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. If the new chancellor receives the maximum $250,839, the university will pay the firm over $80,000.
Holahan anticipates his committee will find a new chancellor by March or April of 2004.
