Lyall letter addresses controversy

UW System President Katharine C. Lyall issued a letter Nov. 12 to clarify actions by System officials in the last few weeks.

Her letter notes that the Board of Regents adjusted pay “ranges” so that searches could begin for new chancellors at UW-Stevens Point and UW-Milwaukee. No executive pay increases were given, even though chancellors and provosts were denied raises given last January to faculty and unclassified staff.

Lyall writes that she asked the Board of Regents to suspend consideration of executive compensation. “Since this issue first emerged in early September, it has diverted attention from our essential responsibilities of teaching, research and public service,” she writes. “We all need to refocus our energy on these core functions in the weeks and months ahead.”

Lyall’s letter also thanks employees for their support of the System, “and for all that you do to provide the best possible education for our students, on and off campus. Your commitment to quality and excellence has enabled us to educate more than 700,000 graduates since the UW System was created in 1971 and to become one of the nation’s preeminent systems of higher education.”

She also notes how important the university system is in growing the state’s economy. She sees this importance “in the knowledge emerging from our classrooms and laboratories that will help cure disease, sustain our environment, spur the economy, enhance the arts and literature, and improve our quality of life. This is what UW faculty, staff and leaders make possible every day.”

The full text of the letter is available at http://www.wisconsin.edu/news/2003/r031113a.htm.