Madison, Wisconsin
Held in room 1820 Van Hise Hall
Thursday March 6, 1997

INDEX

Attendance

PRESENTATION ON GOVERNOR'S 1997-99 BIENNIAL BUDGET

PRESENTATION: THE GRAYING OF THE FACULTY

PRESENT: Regents Barry, Benson, Boyle, Brandes, DeBraska, DeSimone, Grebe, Hempel, James, Lubar, MacNeil, Orr, Smith, and Steil

ABSENT: Regents Brown, Krutsch, and Randall

PRESENTATION ON GOVERNOR'S 1997-99 BIENNIAL BUDGET

President Lyall began her remarks by quoting Senator Claiborne Pell, who had argued that "the strength of the United States is not the gold at Fort Knox or the weapons of mass destruction that we have, but the sum total of the education and the character of our people." She observed that this is a critical budget for the UW System and for Wisconsin -it will determine the quality and affordability of public higher education well into the next century for two key reasons: First, 25% of the UW System faculty will retire over the next five years. The System's ability to attract replacements of equal quality will determine the value of a UW education, as well as the value added to Wisconsin's future work force. The second important factor is the fiscal challenge the UW System has faced as it has been working to manage a $33 million ongoing base budget cut and the loss of 525 faculty and staff. These cutbacks have affected resources originally intended to maintain library collections, invest in instructional technology, expand computing services for students and faculty, and fulfill other needs that keep the quality of undergraduate education current.

President Lyall noted that, in many ways, the Governor's recommendations for 1997-99 move the UW System forward again. They do not restore the 1995-97 budget cuts; however, they propose three very important recommendations:

1. The budget proposes full funding of the UW System costs-to-continue, preserving its base budget.
2. A $15.6 million biennial package for instructional technology, including the opportunity to place all of the UW System institutions on BadgerNet (the statewide fiber optic network that will also link all K-12 schools in the state), which will contribute to the "seamless web" of educational opportunity throughout Wisconsin. The UW System institutions will be better able to share resources with each other, the WTCS colleges and K-12 schools as part of the Governor's TEACH Wisconsin initiative. Instructional technology funds will also support training for faculty, staff and K-12 teachers; funding for the computerized Student Information System (SIS) that will enable K-12, WTCS, and university students to access on-line applications, transfer information, financial aid information, and career advising; upgrading faculty computers to better utilize current instructional materials; as well as necessary infrastructure improvements.

Before discussing the third recommendation, President Lyall noted a number of disappointments in the budget proposal, which omitted funding to support improvements in academic advising, increasing the number of graduates from allied health programs, and expansion of pre-college programs for minorities. In addition, no funding was recommended to maintain UW library collections or adapt them to the increased volumes of lending anticipated when those collections become accessible to all citizens over the BadgerNet. She noted that each of these items requested by the Regents had been drawn from their Study of the UW System in the 21^st Century, and had been discussed in a series of statewide hearings. Finally, President Lyall reported that a proposed ongoing cut of $2.5 million from the UW-Extension budget will reduce support for continuing education and outreach programs offered through each UW System campus.

In light of these omissions, President Lyall noted that the Governor's third recommendation, a set of management flexibilities to allow the UW System to better use its resources, becomes "essential." These flexibilities include:

• The authority to use revenues and create positions related to for-credit continuing education without having to have these dollars re-appropriated to the UW System after they are earned. This will help manage the proposed UW-Extension budget reduction.

• The flexibility to use unanticipated revenues from an auxiliary operation for one-time needs in other auxiliary or instructional areas. This would moderate future auxiliary rate increases by using these revenues where needs are greatest, while keeping all auxiliary operations at prudent reserve levels.

• The authority for the Board to spend up to 105% of the UW System tuition appropriation. This would enable UW System institutions to expand into the distance education market, and to receive additional revenue for institutional priorities through differential tuition initiatives; it would enable the Board to adjust tuition a maximum of $50-70 per semester, beyond levels in the Governor's budget, to meet operating needs that cannot be funded from GPR in the present very tight State fiscal environment. Such needs might include: advising; library acquisitions, which have not received new funding for six years; full funding for BadgerNet; and faculty and staff compensation. The Board would determine how much of this authority it would exercise each year.

The combination of additional dollars and management flexibilities will provide the UW System with the tools to move forward. President Lyall observed that the system would prefer that the Legislature keep its historic commitment to fund two-thirds of instructional costs and provide additional GPR for these needs, and noted that the closer the Legislature can come to its historical standard, the less of the new tuition flexibility the Board will need to exercise.

The implications of this budget are broad. If the Governor's recommendations are fully adopted as set out in his proposal, the UW System would be able to accept 4,000 additional students under Enrollment Management III; GPR would rise 2.4% over the biennium; tuition (without compensation or any use of the 105% flexibility noted above) would rise $20-30 per semester, or by an annual average of 2.3% a year; however, even with these improvements, the UW System would fall from 10.4% of the State's GPR funding at the start of this biennium to 9% at the start of the next biennium; and the GPR per student, adjusted for inflation, would decline about 4.6%. She summarized these predictions by noting that this budget makes a step toward the future, while leaving the UW System with a management challenge.

Finally, President Lyall reported that the proposed budget does not contain a recommendation at this point for a Biennial Pay Plan, and that the funding set aside in the compensation reserve would support only about a 2% pay plan each year, or about half of the request for unclassified faculty and staff. This, too, will result in a significant challenge, since adequate compensation is essential to meet the goal of providing high quality education for students; furthermore, without competitive compensation, the ability to maintain a quality faculty through a period of significant retirements could be jeopardized.

President Lyall concluded by stressing the need to articulate the critical importance of this budget for the future of quality, affordable public education. She noted that the students' slogan, "Invest in tomorrow-educate today" expresses this well: the future prosperity and quality of life in Wisconsin depends on maintaining its historic commitment to education. In that regard, she solicited the assistance of the Board in representing this budget to the Legislature.

Regent Lubar concurred with the spirit of Senator Claiborne Pell's remark, adding that the strength and the wealth of the nation is in the educational system and expressing his sense that the Board is committed to maintaining and furthering it. Regent Grebe added that every member of the Board would be involved in the budget process; he added that "that commitment extends to a full funding of the pay-plan request." In light of the upcoming presentation, Regent Barry observed, that in his discussions with legislators and legislative staff, there may be a need to counter the perception that increased retirement would lead to lower costs to replace retirees. President Lyall responded that this is a concern, particularly since there are reasons to believe that the growth of market wages in some of the areas where faculty are retiring will offset any savings; furthermore, as new faculty are recruited, they have to be appropriately equipped, and, as Regent Steil noted, there may be additional costs in terms of benefit packages, particularly in terms of providing insurance to new faculty for the first six months of employment.

Regent Boyle stated his belief that this is a "very good budget," expressed his gratitude to the Governor for presenting it to the Legislature, and anticipated that the response there will be favorable. He added, however, that the UW-Extension budget reduction will affect a number of excellent programs and will adversely affect sparsely populated areas, and noted that had strengthened his own commitment to work for greater control over the revenue generated through those programs.

PRESENTATION: THE GRAYING OF THE FACULTY

Regent Grebe observed that this presentation is part of the Board's ongoing strategic planning effort to review emerging issues and possible solutions; at this point, the Board is not being asked to act upon a particular proposal, but to consider and discuss the issues concerning the "Graying of the Faculty." He introduced Vice President David J. Ward, who stated that the presentation would begin with an overview of faculty demographics. This research was performed as part of a study of Faculty Age Distributions in the UW System (available in the September 1996 UW System Occasional Research Brief (ORB) Volume 96, Number 2) that examined the faculty demographics by discipline, by campus and system-wide. Vice President Ward asked Dan Layzell, the director of the Office of Policy Analysis and Research, to provide an overview of the research, including a current UW System faculty age profile, trends in UW System faculty age distribution, retirement projections to 2004-5, and potential planning issues and implications for the UW System and its institutions.

Based on the 1994-95 UW System faculty population, current faculty fall into four age groups: 16% are less than 40 years old; 52% are 40-54 years old; 27% are 55-64 years old, and 5% are older than 65 years of age, with these age groups distributed fairly evenly between all institutions in the 40-54 year old age group, with comprehensive campuses and centers having more faculty in the 55-64 year old group and fewer faculty in the less that 40 year old group than the UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee campuses. Since 1985, the percentage of faculty above age 55 has increased at all institutions, with the greatest increase occurring at the UW Centers. Retirement projections to 2004-5 were performed by starting with the actual age distribution of the 1994-95 faculty population and calculating retirements based on the actual retirement rate by institution and age group, assuming no changes in faculty numbers from the 1994-95 base. Of that base, projected faculty retirements are 26% at UW-Madison, 21% at UW-Milwaukee, 30% at the comprehensives and 37% at the UW Centers.

Following the presentation of this information, Regent Barry asked whether the elimination of approximately 500 positions over the 1995-97 biennium would affect this data. Mr. Layzell responded that, since this data was drawn from 1994-95, the elimination of those positions had not been taken into account. He noted that many of those eliminations affected academic staff rather than faculty, and that he would have to go over the data again to see if it would be affected. Regent Orr asked whether the use of "means" rather than "medians" would affect this discussion, and was informed that that would probably not make a material difference. Regent Grebe asked how the UW System's data compared to a national picture of faculty retirements, asking whether the system is more or less affected than similar institutions. He was informed that the most recent national retirement projections were performed about 4 or 5 years ago and the UW System's profile is similar to what was found in that study.

Senior Vice President Ward, Howard Cohen (UW-Green Bay, Provost and Vice Chancellor) and Philip Certain (UW-Madison, Dean of the College of Letters and Sciences) then offered their insights into the implications of this data. Ward noted that this issue is often reduced to extremes so that it is perceived either as a golden opportunity or a major crisis. He reported that there is a popular idea that retirements will cause a lot of fiscal flexibility - according to this idea, when older, higher paid faculty retire, they are replaced by younger, lower paid faculty. He cautioned that the data reveal some difference between the salaries of retiring and newly hired faculty; however, given "faculty salary compression," that gap is not what it once was. Not only has the salary gap between senior faculty and newly hired faculty decreased, but there is a also a decreasing difference between starting and ending salaries. In addition, the system must measure the full cost of recruiting and adding new faculty. On the other extreme, Ward noted the popular notion that the wave of future faculty retirements will leave universities unable to fill positions; he observed that, indeed, some fields have experienced a tightening of the market, while in others, there are an ample number of faculty candidates. He concluded by stating that this is neither an opportunity nor a crisis, but a problem that needs to be managed, in light of accelerated rates of faculty turnover, the various needs of each UW campus, and the differing needs of departments and disciplines. Ward concluded his remarks by observing that, consistent with the UW's budget priorities in 1997-99, the system will need competitive salaries and competitive benefits to manage this problem. This is a national problem, as well, the UW System's relative position in salary and benefits will be very important as it competes against other institutions for the best faculty. The UW System will also need flexibility in managing the turnover, such as allowing campuses to shift resources from declining and less important programs to growing or more strategic programs.

Provost Cohen offered his overview of UW-Green Bay's management of increasing faculty retirements. UW-Green Bay has 159 full time faculty, 17 of whom are age 60 or older; of those 17, ten in only two programs. Thus, in some programs there will be few or no retirements in the next ten years, while in two programs there will be significant opportunities to rethink the division of faculty expertise within those programs; as a result of this, the program planning and development process will be an important factor in managing faculty retirement. Provost Cohen also noted that some faculty are beginning to retire at an earlier age than their predecessors, which will also affect program development to ensure that when a student begins a course of study it will not be with the expectation that faculty will be leaving -- this means that transition programs will need to be developed to allow retiring faculty to teach part time. Such programs will not only benefit the students, but will ease the transitions within departments, assist in recruiting junior faculty, and help retiring faculty develop their post-retirement careers. Provost Cohen concluded his remarks by observing that new faculty searches reflected the variations in particular fields of study: in some areas, candidate pools are shrinking. This indicates that more universities are seeking to fill more positions. This will increase the need for competitive salaries.

Dean Certain highlighted two points: First, that faculty turnover produces less than 1% flexibility in his budget; and second, that senior faculty are crucial to teaching programs, the governance structure, and the ability to garner extramural funds. Regarding the first point, he noted that, after factoring in costs and salaries (but excluding "startup costs"), the net gain in replacing retiring faculty with junior faculty is about $12,500 per faculty member. Regent Orr asked what the rough difference between salaries would be, and was informed that it would be closer to $20,000. When she asked about the average age of retirement at UW-Madison, Regent Brandes was told it was about age 65; Dean Certain observed that this age has been fairly stable. He then noted the variety of programs and costs that have to be funded out of this $12,500 savings that is spent fairly quickly. This challenges institutions that must maintain excellence in the face of these conditions; he noted that his college had been through a planning process and had addressed the philosophical framework necessary to do so in a document Creating a New College. Finally, he added that if this 1% flexibility were completely reallocated to improve staff salaries, then there would be no flexibility left in the year-to-year budget.

Dean Certain's second point was that senior faculty are critical to many of programs, and at UW-Madison, they are especially important in terms of maintaining extramural support. He pointed to a table of grant revenue data, stating that senior faculty at UW-Madison remain quite active in research on average up until the day they retire and often beyond that. Noting that the total numbers of faculty retiring and being hired were about the same, Dean Certain stated that the junior faculty are doing somewhat better than the senior faculty on average in terms of grant production; however, there has been a "tremendous drop" in the number of junior faculty since 1993 -- there may be a problem eventually as fewer new faculty members are hired compared to the number of faculty retiring.

In discussion following these comments, Regent Orr asked whether the reduction in new hires was as a result of positions eliminated at the junior level due to an aberration caused by changes in state policy; if so, now that the number of faculty has stabilized, he asked, whether the new hires are expected to at least equal the retiring faculty's grant production. Dean Certain cited the complexity of the budget structure, noting that they are forced by slow attrition to convert positions into replacing the funds lost to inflation, so even if the budget were completely stable it would not be able to stabilize the faculty.

Regent MacNeil asked Dean Certain to discuss any problems he has encountered in hiring junior faculty. He stated that the College of Letters and Sciences has worked very hard in recruiting younger faculty while the number of departments that can open searches is restricted due to budget concerns, and getting permission to begin a search is competitive. The recruiting process is quite "vigorous" and hiring is achieved in about 2/3 of the cases.

Regent Lubar asked whether, summing all of this information up, there will be an absolute shortage of faculty, a shortage of experienced faculty, a shortage of grant money or all of these. Provost Cohen noted that the resources are available to manage this problem so such shortages can be avoided. Senior Vice President Ward concurred, stressing that the turnover problem is significant and that, currently, the UW System lacks the flexibility to manage it; furthermore, it will need help to keep salaries and benefits competitive. When Regent Lubar asked whether qualified people will be there if the System can recruit them competitively, he was told that they would be.

Regent DeBraska asked whether the problem might have been under-estimated, given the demographic bulge in the retirement age faculty and the attractiveness of earning in the retirement system. He suggested examining programs that have been developed to smooth out such demographic bulges. Dean Certain expressed concern that encouraging faculty to retire would not only produce small financial gains, but that a large number of retirements from his college would compromise the remaining faculty's ability to meet instructional demands, since student credit hours would not decrease. Regent DeBraska suggested that the transitional programs discussed by Provost Cohen had been designed to manage that issue.

Regent Orr asked whether all levels of faculty compensation fall short of their peers; his understanding is that assistant professors and associate professors fall within the median range, while full professors fall short. Vice President Ward replied that this is the case, which he attributed to a recruiting issue, which, as Regent Orr indicated in follow-up, suggests that salary offers are competitive. However, salary increases do not remain competitive, as Vice President Ward noted.

The meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m.

Submitted by




[SIGNATURE]

Judith A. Temby, Secretary

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
of the
BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SYSTEM
Madison, Wisconsin
Held in room 1820 Van Hise Hall
Friday March 7, 1997

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Index

Attendance

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD

• Report of the Regent member of the Hospital Authority Board's meeting of March 6, 1997.
• Report on Legislative matters

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE SYSTEM

• UW-Extension Report: Addressing the Needs of the Milwaukee Public Schools
• Report: Annual Alumni Survey
• Good News
  • UW-Platteville Receives Caterpillar Excellence Fund Grant
  • UW-Madison Chemist Receives Award
  • UW-Whitewater Provost Kay Schallenkamp Accepts New Position
  • UW-Madison School of Education Receives Award
  • Wisconsin Teaching Fellows Program
  • United Council: Campus Safety Awareness Manual

REPORT OF THE 21ST CENTURY IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE

• The Graying of the Faculty 7Status of Management Flexibility Recommendations

REPORT OF THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

• Consent Agenda Items
  • Authorization to recruit: Associate Dean/Associate Program Director College of Agricultural and Life Sciences University of Wisconsin- Madison
  • Authorization to recruit: Associate Dean for Extension, Agricultural and Natural Resource Programs College of Agricultural and Life Sciences University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Extension
  • Proposed allocation of funds for improvement of business administration programs in the University of Wisconsin System
  • UW-Stout: New Program Authorization (implementation) B.S., Service Management
  • UW-Green Bay: Appointment of Named Professor
  • UW-Madison: Named Professorships
• Report of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
  • UW-Stout: Intent to Search
  • Eisenhower Professional Development Program
• 1997 strategic planning in library and academic information access
• Interim report on strategic planning in business and the business consortium
• UW-Stout: North Central Accreditation Report
• M.S., Management Computer Systems (MCS)

REPORT OF THE BUSINESS AND FINANCE COMMITTEE

• Consent Agenda Items
  • UW-Madison: Design Report Approval and Authority to Construct an Eagle Heights Community Center Addition Project
  • UW-Extension: Authority to Purchase an Improved Parcel of Land in the City of Madison
  • Outreach Services Agreement Between UW-Milwaukee School of Business Administration and M&I Data Services, Inc.
• Approval of Minutes
• Annual Broadcast Station Report
• Socially Responsible Investment Policy Discussion
  • Investment and Social Responsibility
• Gifts, Grants And Contracts
• TIAA/CREF Optional Retirement Program

ADDITIONAL RESOLUTIONS

• 1998 Meeting Schedule

CLOSED SESSION

• UW-Parkside: Honorary degree
• UW-Extension: Request for review of tenure decision
• UW-Madison: Authority to Complete Negotiations for Lease of Space

EXHIBIT A Statement on Socially Responsible Investing

EXHIBIT B 1998 Meeting Schedule

PRESENT: Regents Barry, Boyle, Brandes, Brown, DeBraska, DeSimone, Grebe, Hempel, James, Lubar, MacNeil, Orr, Randall, Smith, and Steil

ABSENT: Regent Krutsch and Benson

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Upon motion by Regent Smith, seconded by Regent Boyle, minutes of the meeting of the Board of Regents held on February 7, 1997, were unanimously approved as distributed.

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD

Report of the Regent member of the Hospital Authority Board's meeting of March 6, 1997.

Regent Orr reported that the Hospital Authority Board had met the previous day. Regarding hospital operations, admissions are up about 5.5%, length of stay continues to decline, and for the 7 month period ending January, the hostpital is about $3 million ahead of budget. Regarding the issue of bonds, Regent Orr reported that the Board had concluded that the most cost-effective method will be to issue $50 million in variable rate floating bonds, observing that this strategy, coupled with a fixed rate already on the hospital books, balances fixed and variable rates. These bonds would be supported by bond insurance and that a triple-A rating is anticipated; he noted that the finance committee had been authorized to approve the preliminary official statement and to select a bank and bond insurer.

The Hospital Authority Board reviewed a presentation on information services, an area for which the hospital has received national recognition. They also received a request from the site selection committee chaired by Regent Boyle, who requested and received approval for the selection of Zimmerman Design Group as architects for the Eastside clinic; a recommendation for the Westside clinic will be made in April.

Report on Legislative matters

Regent Grebe noted that Vice President Olien had submitted a written report on Legislative matters. There were no questions or comments concerning that report.

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE SYSTEM

UW-Extension Report: Addressing the Needs of the Milwaukee Public Schools

President Lyall introduced Interim Chancellor Beaver (UW-Extension), who observed that, while UW-Extension is involved in important projects throughout the state, the focus of this presentation would be the collaboration between UW-Extension, UW-Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Public Schools. Dean Mike Offerman (UW-Extension, Continuing Education) provided background information for the project, stating that he and his colleagues in continuing education at each of the UW institutions had agreed to make service to K-12 schools across the state a top priority. They surveyed teachers and talked with school board members, administrators, and teachers across the state to identify three program priority areas: helping schools effectively use instructional technologies; working with schools on "school-to-work" initiatives; and multicultural education. Partnerships were developed with schools of all sizes across the state, and one of the most rewarding has been that between UW-Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Public Schools. The goal of all of these programs is to help the schools as they confront current challenges and continue the Wisconsin tradition of quality education; they work collaboratively to test ideas and innovations and share information on how ideas generated at one school may be shared with the others. Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) were featured in this presentation because the educational needs and the challenges it faces are similar to those of other districts, while the size and complexity of those challenges at Milwaukee make its success particularly important to our state's future. Dean Offerman introduced the panel of presenters: Bob Jasna (Superintendent of the Milwaukee Public Schools), Cynthia Ellwood (Director of Educational Services), Bob Nelson (Director of Technology), and Sallie Brown (Principal, Wisconsin Conservatory for Lifelong Learning).

Superintendant Jasna observed that MPS is one of the only urban school settings in the US that has proficiency exit exams; these exams measure skills necessary for success in the Twenty-first century. The success MPS achieves in this area will affect the UW System as those students enter UW institutions. In particular, children of poverty and children of color are succeeding: even in schools in which the majority of children are poor, high percentages (92 - 100%) are reading above the state standards. Supt. Jasna expressed his hope that MPS and UW-Milwaukee, through the teamwork they have developed, can share ideas about "doing school differently" to contribute to the success of the children who will be leaders in the next century. Finally, he suggested that the partnership can be expanded even further, particularly in the area of technology, which will give MPS the ability to overcome barriers and predicted that this will also have a positive impact on the UW System, as students entering UW institutions will be competitive in the classrooms and in the world markets. Cynthia Ellwood next addressed the Board and elaborated on the partnership between the UW System and MPS. Ms Ellwood noted that high standards and performance assessments have been a crucial part of the K-12 Teaching and Learning Reform program - the process of setting these standards and designing the assessments has benefitted from the contributions of professors at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee. She also discussed "School-to-Work" pedagogy, in which all students learn high-level skills by solving real-life problems. Rather than a "vocational education" program, this system of education gives all students access to college. The UW System has helped make this a reality, for example, by helping students work directly with researchers. Finally, she praised the strong partnership between UW-Milwaukee and MPS in the National Science Foundation Project Milwaukee Urban Systemic Initiative (MUSI) which has received a 5-year, $15million grant; $2 million of which will go to UW-Milwaukee, which has helped design and carry out this initiative.

Sallie Brown is a "living example of MPS and UW working together"; she is a graduate of both institutions. Suggesting that she brings a "realistic" view to this partnership, she added that the partnerships described will produce lasting benefits. Bob Nelson discussed the K-12 teaching and learning goals and technology, noting that MPS has been on a "fast development track" regarding technology that supports teaching and learning because it has been able to share the resources of the UW System. Their partnerships with Milwaukee-area businesses have allowed them to develop a unique technology strategic plan that makes teaching and learning the highest priority for the use of technology. This is enhanced by the resources and expertise the the UW can make available to MPS, which allows boundaries of distance and time to be overcome to facilitate learning. This could also benefit the UW System in regard to teacher training by allowing (for example) interactive study on a day to day basis that will enhance and render more meaningful the training of future teachers. He stressed that technology linkups will expand the achievements of students while also allowing businesses and the university to benefit from collaboration. Further, he suggested that small businesses might find schools to be locations where they might have access to auxiliary resources they could not afford, increasing the ties between schools and communities, expanding the boundaries of the schools and the age groups they serve.

William Harvey (Dean, School of Education, UW-Milwaukee) observed that two themes had been stressed throughout this presentation: collaboration and partnership. UW-Milwaukee recognizes that talents are magnified and extended through work performed across department lines and in developing private sector partnerships. He noted that three areas are particularly noteworthy: first, a partnership with seven key schools within MPS gives students in the teacher-training program practical exposure to the classroom; second the "Ensuring Quality Leadership" program highlights professional development among school administrators by developing connections with CEO's in the private sector to share management skills; finally, there is a curriculum reform project aimed at developing MPS as a model urban school system.

In discussion following the presentation, Regent Grebe asked Dean Harvey how the preservice component of the professional development program differs from practice teaching; he was told that the goal is to provide school-based experience at a much earlier stage in the potential teacher's career, and to reinforce that experience continually as the prospective teacher goes through the program, whereas practice teaching takes place near the end of students' training experience. Regent Lubar expressed his opinion that this is an excellent program and offered his congratulations to MPS, UW-Milwaukee, and UW-Extension, adding that the proposed investment in technology is one that can give students who are capable of succeeding the opportunity to do so. President Lyall expressed her understanding that a growing number of teacher candidates are people who come from other careers or other backgrounds; Supt. Jasna responded that he has found that "there's a little bit of teacher in many people," and a number of projects are being developed to exploit that. Dean Harvey noted that one, the Milwaukee Teacher Education Center, would be addressed in greater detail at the June 6, 1997 meeting of the Board of Regents. Another program, IM-Tech, is a collaborative effort between Milwaukee Public Schools MTEA (a teachers union), the UW-Milwaukee School of Education, and the private sector; the program seeks to identify people who have the capability to teach and the appropriate baccalaureate degree but who might lack the appropriate certification. The goal is to team these people up with experienced teachers, get them into school settings and involve them in classroom activity. If this program can be implemented, it may eventually produce three to four hundred teachers for MPS. Ms Ellwood also observed that many people are choosing teaching as a mid-career choice, adding that these teachers "bring a level of maturity in dealing with children" along with a "sense of mission" and community.

Report: Annual Alumni Survey

President Lyall reminded the Board that every year the UW System commissions a survey of one of its important client groups in the university as part of its public accountability reporting, President Lyall reported that this year's report was performed among alumni of the UW System. (In the past two years, she has discussed surveys of Wisconsin employers and of students, who assessed the various aspects of their undergraduate experience.) Grant Thornton surveyed a sample of 2,000 UW alumni who have been out in the world for five years. Summarizing the findings of this survey, she noted that:

• The results showed very high levels of satisfaction and job placement of UW alumni more than 98% of them are working in positionsfor which they wanted careers; 91% would attend the UW again; 95% would recommend it to a friend or relative; and 86% rated their UW education a good or exceptional value for the money;
• A high percentage of respondents said their education was "important" or "very important" in providing critical thinking skills, decision-making skills, writing skills, public speaking and other related skills that are important for their every day work more than 80% said their UW education was "very important" or "important" in providing the skills needed to be competitive in their chosen careers;
• One-third of these alumni report taking a continuing education course from the UW since graduation;
• Two-thirds contribute volunteer time to their communities and vote in nearly every national, state, and local election.

When these alumni were asked how they would judge the ongoing quality of the UW, they answered that their standards were in the following order:

1. The quality of faculty (97%)
2. Job placement (87%)
3. National rankings of programs (72%)
4. The number of graduates pursuing further training(56%)
5. The quality of the incoming class (52%)
6. Athletic achievement at (20%)

She stressed that these positive responses should not encourage complacency, observing that these results are from alumni who were on campuses five years ago, prior to the period in which institutions have reorganized programs, cut budgets, begun the transition to the new instructional technologies and in other ways changed the form of undergraduate education. This survey will be performed again in 2000, when the students who are on UW System campuses today will be surveyed.

Good News

UW-Platteville Receives Caterpillar Excellence Fund Grant

UW-Platteville received a $25,000 grant from Caterpillar Excellence Fund, Caterpillar Inc., to assist in the development of a new field of studies called "Mechatronics," a combination of mechanical and electrical engineering.

UW-Madison Chemist Receives Award

UW-Madison chemist Hyuuk Yu has won "the Korean equivalent of the Nobel Prize" from the Samsung Foundation for his work in polymer chemistry. Professor Yu teaches a freshman chemistry class and is a popular undergraduate instructor.

UW-Whitewater Provost Kay Schallenkamp Accepts New Position

President Lyall offered congratulations to UW-Whitewater Provost Kay Schallenkamp, who was recently named as the next president of Emporia State University in Kansas. She has been Provost at UW-Whitewater for the past five years where she has helped that institution to develop and implement a sound strategic plan, enhance its faculty and staff development programs, and strengthen its student recruitment and retention efforts.

UW-Madison School of Education Receives Award

The Spencer Foundation in Chicago has awarded $1.2 million to UW-Madison's School of Education to support graduate student fellowships and research on "problems of educational practice." President Lyall reported that the announcement of the grant noted that federal support for educational research has declined 90% over the past two decades, making this support quite critical.

Wisconsin Teaching Fellows Program

Dr. William Cerbin, (UW-La Crosse, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Effective Teaching and Learning) has been named co-director of the Wisconsin Teaching Fellows Program. This program designates Teaching Fellows throughout the UW System who participate in developing and sharing new instructional methods in a wide variety of disciplines; President Lyall noted that this program is more than fifteen years old and has provided a focus for faculty interested in teaching excellence.

United Council: Campus Safety Awareness Manual

Observing that campus safety is a continuing concern for students and administrators, President Lyall reported that United Council of UW Students had issued a new Campus Safety Awareness Manual that was developed by students from across the UW System. The manual provides program ideas, fact sheets, and suggestions for activities that can heighten awareness of campus safety for everyone. President Lyall concluded her remarks after expressing appreciation to United Council for this effort.

REPORT OF THE 21ST CENTURY IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE

Regent Orr, Chair, provided the report, noting that the committee meeting had begun in joint session with the Education Committee, at which time the committees reviewed a presentation on the subject of best practices for advising.

The Graying of the Faculty

Regent Orr reported that, after the joint session, the committee had reconvened to discuss another presentation reviewed earlier in the day (recorded in the Minutes of the March 6, 1997 Special Meeting of the Board of Regents). Provost Howard Cohen (UW-Green Bay, Provost and Vice Chancellor) and Dean Philip Certain (UW-Madison, College of Letters and Sciences), who were on the panel discussing "The Graying of the Faculty," joined the discussion. Regent Orr noted that the committee has developed an appreciation of the use of retired faculty as part-time professors; this practice enables the UW to maintain continuity and course selection for students as faculty retire, as well as facilitating the transition for new faculty members. They also discussed Regent DeBraska's concerns that the retirement system benefits might influence faculty retirement decisions; however, Regent Orr noted that many faculty continue to teach after age 65. The committee also discussed financial and non-financial impacts of having a larger proportion of junior tenure-track professors, which affects grants, committee work, and faculty governance. Finally, Dean Certain reviewed the College of Letters and Sciences essay entitled "Creating a New College: Commitments and Choices for the College of Letters and Science," which discusses maintaining quality in the face of diminished resources.

Status of Management Flexibility Recommendations

Regent Orr concluded his report by stating that Associate Vice President Sell outlined the flexibilities contained in the Governor's budget package; she also discussed five additional flexibilities that may fall within the Board's purview if approved by the administration.

REPORT OF THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Consent Agenda Items

Regent MacNeil, Vice Chair, provided the report, stating that Resolutions 7397 - 7402 had been approved by the Education Committee; she then moved their adoption as a consent agenda by the full Board. Her motion was seconded by Regent Randall, and carried unanimously.

Authorization to recruit: Associate Dean/Associate Program Director College of Agricultural and Life Sciences University of Wisconsin- Madison

Proposed allocation of funds for improvement of business administration programs in the University of Wisconsin System

Institution
  

Base Amount
  

UW-Madison

$1,070,000

UW-Milwaukee

$460,000

UW-Eau Claire

$71,000

UW-LaCrosse

$71,000

UW-Oshkosh

$71,000

UW-Parkside

$20,000

UW-Whitewater

$74,000

UW-Stout: New Program Authorization (implementation) B.S., Service Management

UW-Green Bay: Appointment of Named Professor

UW-Madison: Named Professorships

Report of the Vice President for Academic Affairs

UW-Stout: Intent to Search

Regent MacNeil reported that Senior Vice President David J. Wardreported that UW-Stout intends to search for a Dean of the College of Human Development and a Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, both at salaries below the Executive Salary Group Six maximum.

Eisenhower Professional Development Program

Senior Vice President Ward also discussed the Statewide Eisenhower Professional Development Program, a federally funded program administered by UW System Administration and devoted to improving the teaching of mathematics and science in K-12 schools. Eleven UW campuses will be engaged in twenty-two projects across the state. These projects were selected by a cooperative evaluation process involving the DPI, the UW, K-12 teachers and administrators, the WTCS, and private colleges and universities in Wisconsin.

1997 strategic planning in library and academic information access

Kenneth Frazier (UW-Madison, Director of the General Library System) presented the 1997 report on strategic planning in library and academic information access. He noted that UW System libraries have made significant progress in three areas: (1) building an infrastructure for resource sharing, (2) developing models for cooperative licensing, and (3) providing access to new learning resources. Dr. Frazier emphasized that libraries must invest in content along with technical infrastructure, and described materials currently available on-line.

Interim report on strategic planning in business and the business consortium

Dean Rex Fuller (UW-La Crosse, College of Business Administration, co-chair of the UW System Business Consortium) reported on strategic planning in business. Dean Fuller noted that a variety of activities have occurred as a result of the strategic plan that grew out of the 1995 Lateral Review of Business, such as collaborative and distance education programs. A Summer Faculty Development Institute was held at UW-Madison in June 1996, for business faculty; UW-Milwaukee will host the June 1997 Institute. The consortium has developed an Internet home page with links to all UW campuses to provide information about courses, services and activities in UW business programs. The possibility of developing non-credit programs tailored to customer needs is being explored on the basis of a survey of Wisconsin businesses undertaken as part of the 1995 lateral review process. Finally, various strategies have been implemented to promote diversity within both the faculty and student body.

UW-Stout: North Central Accreditation Report

Chancellor Charles Sorensen reported on the UW-Stout North Central Accreditation review. On November 15, 1996, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools' Commission on Institutions of Higher Education voted to continue UW-Stout's accreditation for the maximum ten year period. The university's next comprehensive evaluation is scheduled for 2005-06.

M.S., Management Computer Systems (MCS)

Regent MacNeil concluded her report by stating that the committee reviewed a proposal to implement an M.S. in Management Computer Systems at UW-Whitewater.

REPORT OF THE BUSINESS AND FINANCE COMMITTEE

Consent Agenda Items

Regent Hempel, Chair, provided the report. She began by introducing Resolutions 7403 and 7404, which had been approved by the Physical Planning Subcommittee and full Business and Finance Committee. She moved their adoption as a consent agenda; her motion was seconded by Regent DeSimone, and passed unanimously.

UW-Madison: Design Report Approval and Authority to Construct an Eagle Heights Community Center Addition Project

UW-Extension: Authority to Purchase an Improved Parcel of Land in the City of Madison

Outreach Services Agreement Between UW-Milwaukee School of Business Administration and M&I Data Services, Inc.

Following this vote, Regent Hempel moved the adoption of Resolution 7405, noting that Regent Smith had abstained from voting on this matter the previous day. Regent Steil seconded her motion, which was approved with Regents Smith and Orr abstaining.

Approval of Minutes

Regent Hempel reported that the minutes of the February 6, 1997, meeting of the Business and Finance Committee had been approved.

Annual Broadcast Station Report

Special Assistant Takemoto had reported to the committee that the Board is licensee for 12 radio stations and one television station, all providing noncommercial, educational broadcasting services. Station managers submit annual reports assuring compliance with FCC regulations and provide a variety of information regarding personnel and technical activities. Regent Hempel noted that all 12 radio stations were successfully relicensed with the FCC for a seven-year term, expiring December 1, 2003, and that, with funding from DOA's Division of Facilities Development, all radio and television stations are installing a new public warning system called the Emergency Alert System.

Socially Responsible Investment Policy Discussion

Regent Hempel reported that the Committee had discussed the Socially Responsible Investment policy, observing that this issue has occupied the Board for several months as it heard testimony from students, faculty, alumni and citizens, and that, as part of the committee's discussion, a number of students presented further testimony. She noted that the resolution under discussion attempted to balance the Board's historic fiduciary responsibilities as the priority for investing trust funds with a long-standing concern for social justice; it was passed unanimously by the Committee. Regent Hempel moved the adoption of Resolution 7406, which was seconded by Regent Smith. Prior to the vote, Regent Grebe invited further discussion on this matter, observing that it had been discussed at length the previous day. There being no further comments, the resolution was unanimously adopted.

Investment and Social Responsibility

Gifts, Grants And Contracts

Regent Hempel reported that, for the eight-month period ended February 14, 1997, gifts, grants and contracts were $417.4 million, which represents an increase of $22.0 million from the previous year. Federal awards decreased $2.7 million, while non-Federal awards increased by almost $25 million.

TIAA/CREF Optional Retirement Program

Vice President Bromberg had updated the Committee on the legislative activity to offer an Optional Retirement Plan, mentioning that President Lyall responded by letter to Randall Ryder, Chair of the UW System Fringe Benefits Advisory Committee, which had identified enhancements to the existing retirement system that would reduce the need for the proposed optional retirement plan. President Lyall expressed concern that, although there is a bill pending which would eliminate the "death cliff," there is no action pending on the immediate vesting or full interest crediting issues.

ADDITIONAL RESOLUTIONS

1998 Meeting Schedule

Regent Grebe noted that there was a proposal before the Board to approve a meeting schedule for 1998. Regent MacNeil moved to approve Resolution 7407, with Regent James seconding her motion, which was approved.

CLOSED SESSION

At 9:25 a.m., Regent Lubar made a motion to approve Resolution 7408. His motion was seconded by Regent Boyle and was approved on a roll-call vote, with Regents Barry, Boyle, Brandes, Brown, DeBraska, DeSimone, Grebe, Hempel, James, Lubar, MacNeil, Orr, Randall, Smith, and Steil (15) voting in the affirmative.

At 11:00 a.m., the Board arose from closed session and annouced the adoption of the Resolutions 7409 - 7410.

UW-Parkside: Honorary degree

UW-Extension: Request for review of tenure decision

At this time, the Board is announcing the adoption of Resolution 7411, which was approved at the February 7, 1997 meeting of the Board of Regents but which was not announced pending the outcome of negotiations.

UW-Madison: Authority to Complete Negotiations for Lease of Space

The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 a.m.

Submitted by

{Signature} Judith A. Temby, Secretary

Executive Committee members participating: Regent President Grebe, Regent Hempel, Regent Krutsch, and Regent Orr. Regent James also participated.

Executive Committee members unable to participate: Regent Barry, Regent Lubar and Regent Steil

Also participating: President Lyall, Senior Vice President Sanders, Vice President Brown, Assistant Vice President Ives, General Counsel Stathas, and Secretary Temby

Authority to purchase improved parcel of land in Platteville

Senior Vice President Sanders and Vice President Brown presented this request for purchase of a property to serve as a residence for the Chancellor. The matter had been discussed with area legislators and with representatives of the Department of Administration. It was noted that Rountree House, the former residence, would be prohibitively costly to repair.

After discussion of the cost of the proposed purchase, timing requirements and funding alternatives, it was moved by Regent Orr, seconded by Regent Krutsch and unanimously carried that the following resolution be adopted:

Authorization to recruit for a Dean, UW Center - Barron County

At the suggestion of Regent Krutsch, the third item in the list of responsibilities of the dean was revised to read: "to provide leadership to the Barron County campus in internal priorities and initiatives and to advocate for the campus to external constituents".

Upon motion by Regent Krutsch, seconded by Regent Hempel, the following resolution was adopted unanimously: