[media-credit name=’DEREK MONTGOMERY/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Although the phrase "backup position" never technically existed at the University of Wisconsin, the Board of Regents passed a resolution Friday permanently banning future use of the highly scrutinized form of job security.

"As of now, we are eliminating backup appointments," Regent Peggy Rosenzweig said.

For the time being however, UW will continue to offer limited-term appointees — usually administrators serving at the will of the Board of Regents and subject to removal at any time — concurrent appointments in an academic field for which they are tenured.

For limited-term appointees without tenure, the system will now offer six-months notice of termination rather than a so-called "backup" appointment.

"No one wants to go back four months to the system that existed before," Regent Chuck Pruitt, chair of the Business, Finance & Audit Committee, said at Thursday's meeting. "But we also want to make sure that in fixing the problems, we don't handcuff our leadership from attracting the best employees and academic staff to Wisconsin."

Pruitt speculated few people will have problems with the system continuing its practice of granting concurrent appointments to tenured limited-term appointees.

"These [limited-term appointees] are often leaders in their academic institutes and would be a great addition to any faculty on any campus," he said.

The regents' investigation and review of their job-security policies grew in large part out of the public furor over the system's handling of former UW-Madison Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Paul Barrows over the past calendar year.

After concerns over sexual misconduct, Barrows was removed from his limited-term appointment but not terminated — instead he was reassigned to his contractual concurrent position as senior administrative program specialist in the Office of the Provost.

Although not written as a temporary solution, the regents' resolution may be just that, as the Business, Finance & Audit Committee will hear a report next month detailing the plausibility and effectiveness of moving to a fixed-contract system, the stated desire of some state legislators.

"I'm not persuaded from what I read that [a fixed-contract system] is just going to automatically cost more than its worth," Regent Danae Davis said in an interview after Friday's meeting. "I want to hear more about that because I think that there are other institutions that actually do fixed term — that's what I hear so I'm real interested in seeing what the research says."

Regent Brent Smith, member of the Business, Finance & Audit Committee, said he is comfortable with the resolution passed, but like Davis is interested in the results of next month's report on fixed-term contracts.

"My own view is that we should give the president as much flexibility as we can in negotiating in this competitive environment that we live in," Smith said after the meeting.

Smith elaborated by noting he might be open to giving UW System President Kevin Reilly the discretion of either option, allowing him to go with the six-months notice in certain situations, while adopting a fixed-term contract in others.

In other business Friday, the regents made effective last month's vote to rename the UW Medical School the School of Medicine and Public Health.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett returned to Van Hise Hall to thank the regents for directing the UW School of Medicine and Public Health to engage in a "good faith" dialogue with Milwaukee officials as part of that resolution.

"Where we started out and where we are today is quite an improvement," Barrett said. "There has been more collaboration in the last month than there has been in Wisconsin in many, many years."

Barrett had passionately lobbied the regents not to approve the renaming of the school to incorporate "public health" in its title, as he argued a public health school in Madison hurts the chances of one being built in Milwaukee, which he felt to be a more appropriate location.

Although he was pleased with the dialogue thus far, Barrett requested long-term support from the regents in bringing a public health school to his city, support the regents indicated would be available.

"Please stay with us — I need your help," he said. "I need your help to move forward."