Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Texas: Barrows claimed doctor advised leave

Former Vice Chancellor Paul Barrows, when applying for a senior position at the University of Texas at Austin, told search committee members that his leave from the University of Wisconsin was physician advised, according to Marilyn Kameen, chair of the Texas search committee.

"[H]e told us he was on a medical leave, that he was going through a real messy divorce after being married for a long time, he was under a lot of stress, he came from a family where siblings had died of early heart disease young, so his doctor had said 'take a couple months off and deal with the stress,'" Kameen said. "And he said he had lost 25 pounds …"

This comment appears to contradict statements made by Barrows in the wake of a recent controversy over his return to UW and subsequent paid leave. Barrows recently told the Wisconsin State Journal, "It was never approved by my physician, not to this day … The chancellor (in early June) asked me to get my doctor to approve a leave that was never medically authorized. My doctor and I would not agree to do it."

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Barrows also commented to the Wisconsin State Journal, "I was not sick during the time that I was gone."

At the time of this article's publication, Dr. Barrows could not be reached by The Badger Herald for comment.

UW officials maintain that the embattled administrator's now-contentious seven-month leave was medically grounded via a letter signed by Barrows' physician.

“I want to assure you, and Wisconsin taxpayers, that Barrows’ sick leave was physician-authorized," Chancellor John Wiley wrote in a letter to various state representatives, including Rob Kreibich, who has called for Dr. Barrows' termination.

Wiley's office claims it cannot release the written physician approval without permission from Barrow's attorney.

"We have repeatedly requested from Lester Pines, Dr. Barrows' attorney, for permission to release the letter," UW spokesman John Lucas said. "And they have declined to give us that permission."

Barrows served under Wiley as Vice Chancellor until November when he abruptly took leave from UW. It has since been revealed that this departure came on the heels of a revelation of an affair with a graduate student.

"A significant factor in Dr. Barrows’ leave of absence was a relationship, which had just then been reported to me, between Dr. Barrows and an adult graduate student," Wiley wrote in a press release on June 23. "Dr. Barrows acknowledged the relationship and contended that it was fully consensual and not a violation of any law or university policy."

Though he now contends his leave was not physician-authorized, Barrows reportedly took 588 hours of sick leave in addition to accrued vacation time.

After nearly seven months away from UW, Barrows returned to work on Monday, June 20. Within a matter of days, however, he would come under intense scrutiny from area and state leaders, questioning the legitimacy of his receiving full pay — nearly $200,000 a year — during his time away from UW. Since the job of vice chancellor had been abolished since Barrows' leave commenced, he was given a modified administrative post upon his return and a new salary of $150,000.

On June 23 — less than a week after Barrows' return to UW — Wiley placed the former vice chancellor on administrative leave, announcing an investigation into what the chancellor called in a release "additional reports of improper conduct." At this point, Barrows was demoted to a backup position at a further reduced salary.

"As a result, we are required to place him in his indefinite backup position, established as senior administrative program specialist, in the Office of the Provost, at a salary of $72,881," Wiley noted in the same release.

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