The University of Wisconsin System announced Monday that UW-La Crosse Chancellor Douglas Hastad will serve as the new president of Carroll College in Waukesha.
Slated to take over the presidency at Carroll this July, Hastad will be leaving UW-La Crosse after 17 years of commitment to the university.
In a release Monday, UW System President Kevin Reilly called the chancellor's decision to leave a "tremendous loss for the La Crosse community and the UW System as a whole."
Hastad became a member of the UW-La Crosse faculty in 1989 as dean and professor of exercise and sport science. He was named provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs in June 1999, and was appointed chancellor in 2001.
Reilly pointed in his release to several accomplishments of UW-La Crosse under Hastad, including enrollment growth, progress in diversity, nationally recognized programs and several national athletic championships.
"He had a long and great run [at UW-La Crosse]," UW System spokesperson Doug Bradley said. "We'll miss him. He had 17 years of history and understanding."
Bradley noted the learning curve in a high executive position such as chancellor, saying that finding a replacement of his caliber might take some time.
According to William Laatsch, chairman of both the Carroll College Board of Trustees and the Presidential Search Committee, the addition of Hastad as president will be a positive asset to Carroll.
The search for a successor of current Carroll President Frank Falcone, who will retire from the presidency in late June, began with about 80 resumes, Laatsch said.
After whittling the number down to two, the other finalist being Provost George Balich of Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, the search committee voted unanimously on Friday to name Hastad president.
Among the accomplishments that made Hastad the clear choice for Carroll, Laatsch said, the most prominent was his "proven leadership and experience as a leader at [UW] La Crosse as well as in the state of Wisconsin."
Hastad's solid core values, Laatsch said, make him a good fit as president at the smaller, private college, as he received his formal education at a small liberal arts college, much like Carroll.
The smaller size of the institution has other benefits for Hastad, Laatsch noted.
"He doesn't have a system bureaucracy at Carroll," he said. "He will be more nimble in developing programs without waiting months or years."
According to Laatsch, this and other administrative opportunities at Carroll were factors in Hastad's choice to look at the presidency position there; the salary differential compared to his current chancellor position was not.
As the current president at Carroll, Falcone earned upwards of $300,000 in 2003, according to reports by the Waukesha Freeman newspaper that made public IRS documentation of private college salaries. Hastad's current salary at UW-La Crosse is $168,622.
According to Regent Charles Pruitt, administrators leave positions for "all kinds of individual reasons," but noted that the Board of Regents has emphasized the importance of raising chancellor compensation to remain competitive.
The loss of Chancellor Hastad comes in the wake of the regents' decision to raise the salary range for UW chancellors. Pruitt noted top administrators often pay a "loyalty tax" by remaining in positions within the UW System.
Hastad has been one of many, according to Pruitt, to positively contribute to the strength of UW programs.
Reilly indicated in his release that the Board of Regents will likely authorize a chancellor search for UW-La Crosse in the near future.
