The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents plans to vote Friday on whether to raise the salary ranges for their top administrative positions.

UW System staff has recommended salary ranges that would put the minimum above the current salaries of 13 chancellors.

The 13 chancellors of non-doctoral campuses all make less than $176,113, the minimum of the proposed salary range, according to data released by the UW System and obtained by the Associated Press. Six of those chancellors currently earn $168,222.
The new range’s midpoint is $195,681.

UW staff proposed the new ranges using a long-standing practice of calculating them at 95 percent of the median of peer universities.

The salary range for UW President Kevin Reilly currently is $277,541 to $339,217, with a midpoint of $308,379. Under the proposal, his new range would be $297,707 to $341,864, with a midpoint of $310,786. He currently earns $320,000.

UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley’s current salary range is $297,968 to $364,183, with a midpoint of $331,075. The proposed new range is $307,800 to $376,201, with a midpoint of $342,000. He currently earns $251,043, with an additional $55,000 from the UW Foundation.

According to Regent Roger Axtell, chancellors at UW-Milwaukee, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Whitewater and UW Colleges have all left Wisconsin in the past few years for positions at other schools paying anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 more.

"I personally consider this the top priority problem in the whole system," Axtell said in an earlier interview. "It's a sad situation."

Regent Brent Smith, who sits on the Business, Finance and Audit Committee, said his committee is slated to discuss the issue Thursday.

Chancellor salaries at UW schools, Smith agreed, are a "longstanding" problem.
Being able to attract and retain qualified people for high-ranking positions is important to the success of the UW System, Smith added.

"I think there is a strong argument for an increase," he said. "It's a competitive field. Other institutions try to lure [our administrators] away."

Although UW administrative salaries are generally accepted as subpar, Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, has said he does not feel the deficiency should be a priority for the Board of Regents.

"Paying administrators more creates less opportunities for students," he said last month. "Nobody in the state is going to blink an eye if we lose a few administrators at the UW System."

The full board is expected to vote on the salary ranges Friday.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report