Posted 8:48 a.m. Friday, Sept. 4, 2015
Over the past year UWL has had to make important decisions surrounding cuts to its budget, as well as faculty and staff compensation, in the wake of a $250 million cut to the UW System.
Over the past year UWL has had to make important decisions surrounding cuts to its budget, as well as faculty and staff compensation, in the wake of a $250 million cut to the UW System.
Such challenging decisions have sparked the need for more involved conversations and a strategic planning process to help the university prioritize if and when future funding challenges emerge, explained UWL Chancellor Joe Gow on Wednesday.
Gow took questions on compensation challenges and healthcare benefit changes while also highlighting the continued success of the university during his All-University Address at Graff Main Hall Auditorium.
Gow will be talking about strategic planning with the university’s Joint Planning and Budget Committee, as well as campus governance groups this semester.
A strategic vision would also be important as the university works to manage an increase of 50 new, incoming students this fall, bringing enrollment of new, first-year students to 2,063. The increase was one of many strategies implemented to handle state budget cutbacks. Gow commended Admissions staff for their work in meeting this target as well as attracting UWL’s most diverse freshman class yet. While enrollment numbers are an achievement, they also raised concerns.
Adrienne Loh, professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said at the end of the address that she worried about access to classes for all of the extra students and wondered about the long-term vision for managing the increase. Similar challenges continue in Residence Life where about 30 percent of students this fall will be living in rooms rearranged to hold additional residents. Gow said these issues would be good to look at as part of the strategic planning.
“We don’t want to get so big that students don’t get the personalized instruction and interaction they expect,” he said.
Chancellor Joe Gow shows the audience a selfie he took with middle school and high school students from DeSoto, Wisconsin.[/caption]
Gow finished his address with a picture of a gym of middle school and high school students from DeSoto where he was recently invited to speak. When he attends community events like these, they treat him like a head of state, he said.
“I know it’s not because I’m Joe Gow. It’s because I’m chancellor of UWL,” he said. “It reminds us that we are important, successful and highly respected so that when a real head of state picks where they want to go, they pick UW-La Crosse.”
Gow then showed a picture of Barack Obama speaking in UWL’s Recreational Eagle Center in July. The president picking UWL to visit speaks volumes about the campus, said Gow noting the president’s message resonated as well.
“For him to stand in front of us and say educators are underpaid, gives us optimism that there are leaders out there who value what we do,” said Gow. “We need more of that kind of conversation in the state.”
Maren Walz[/caption]
Gow announced that Maren Walz, UWL web coordinator, was named the Academic Staff Excellence Award winner. The excellence award is given annually to a member of the non-instructional academic staff who has excelled in performance and service. Walz is the unit leader of Web & Interactive Communications, a part of University Communications. Walz has worked with more than 300 Web editors across campus to improve the functionality and design of UWL’s website. She currently serves on the Academic Staff Council and has devoted time to campus-wide diversity and technology initiatives over the four years she's been on campus.
David Anderson, Custodial Services
David Anderson is the first recipient of the newly created Classified Staff Excellence Award. Anderson is a supervisor in Custodial Services.
Provost's awards
The Provost’s Teaching Excellence Award winners were first announced during May commencement.
Compensation challenges
Fair compensation has been a long-term concern at UWL. Pay increases have been minimal or non-existent from year to year as the campus has managed a 15-year decline state support for higher education. Such compensation concerns, as well as changes to employee health plans, were voiced during the address. Gow agreed with the sentiment. “You do great work and make less,” he said. “That’s not the direction we want to be going.” UWL does have a plan for implementing some pay increases. In the last round of budget cuts the governor’s original proposal called for cutting UW System by $300 million over the 2015-17 biennium. The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee restored $50 million of that total cut, directing the UW System to provide the most relief to campuses that were the most adversely affected by the cuts. UWL received the least restored funding among the 13 four-year campuses with $768,000. UWL has a plan to increase compensation for faculty and staff as much as possible using its restored funding. A pay program will be implemented where faculty and staff are evaluated based on their position and what they make compared with median wages at other UW campuses. Some of the lowest paid campus workers are custodial and groundskeeper positions who start at an hourly wage of $11.51, which amounts to $24,000 annually. This compares to $18 and $16 hourly for custodial staff at the La Crosse School District and Western Technical College, respectively. Add to that recent mandatory changes to health benefits for university employees, which include higher deductibles and increased out-of-pocket expenses, and these workers are some of the most in need of wage increases, explained Gow. UWL’s Budget Council decided to implement a living wage for custodial staff and groundskeepers by raising the minimum salary to $26,000 annually. The auditorium sustained a long applause after Gow made this announcement. [caption id="attachment_43250" align="alignnone" width="600"] Chancellor Joe Gow shows the audience a selfie he took with middle school and high school students from DeSoto, Wisconsin.[/caption]
Gow finished his address with a picture of a gym of middle school and high school students from DeSoto where he was recently invited to speak. When he attends community events like these, they treat him like a head of state, he said.
“I know it’s not because I’m Joe Gow. It’s because I’m chancellor of UWL,” he said. “It reminds us that we are important, successful and highly respected so that when a real head of state picks where they want to go, they pick UW-La Crosse.”
Gow then showed a picture of Barack Obama speaking in UWL’s Recreational Eagle Center in July. The president picking UWL to visit speaks volumes about the campus, said Gow noting the president’s message resonated as well.
“For him to stand in front of us and say educators are underpaid, gives us optimism that there are leaders out there who value what we do,” said Gow. “We need more of that kind of conversation in the state.”
New faces and roles
UWL welcomes many new faculty and staff this year including several new leaders. - Gail Beausoleil, director of the Academic Advising Center and Career Services - Laura Milner, dean of the College of Business Administration - Julia Johnson, dean of the College of Liberal Studies - Kim Blum, director of Athletics - Betsy Morgan, interim provost and vice chancellor for Academic AffairsAwards
Maren Walz, University Communications [caption id="attachment_43253" align="alignright" width="240"] Maren Walz[/caption]
Gow announced that Maren Walz, UWL web coordinator, was named the Academic Staff Excellence Award winner. The excellence award is given annually to a member of the non-instructional academic staff who has excelled in performance and service. Walz is the unit leader of Web & Interactive Communications, a part of University Communications. Walz has worked with more than 300 Web editors across campus to improve the functionality and design of UWL’s website. She currently serves on the Academic Staff Council and has devoted time to campus-wide diversity and technology initiatives over the four years she's been on campus.
David Anderson, Custodial Services
David Anderson is the first recipient of the newly created Classified Staff Excellence Award. Anderson is a supervisor in Custodial Services.
Provost's awards
The Provost’s Teaching Excellence Award winners were first announced during May commencement.
- Ariel Beaujot, assistant professor, History
- Terry Glenn Lilley, assistant professor, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
- Nicole Gullekson, assistant professor, Management
- Edward Kim, assistant professor, Mathematics
- Marie Moeller, assistant professor, English
- Yevgeniya Turov, associate lecturer, Chemistry and Biochemistry