In an effort to attract the most qualified candidates to be the next UW-Madison chancellor, the UW System Board of Regents unanimously approved Friday a salary range increase for the position.

Effective July 1, the next chancellor’s salary will be between $370,000 and $452,000. The change has no effect on Chancellor John Wiley’s current salary of $327,400, which is one of the lowest chancellor salaries among peer institutions.

Chancellors at UW System four-year campuses and UW System President Kevin Reilly also received salary range adjustments.
The UW System is currently searching for chancellors at UW-Madison, UW-Whitewater and UW-Parkside.

Reilly said in his three and a half years as president, he has hired five chancellors at UW System schools.
“With hard work and a bit of luck in these three new chancellor searches … I will have hired eight chancellors before completing four years as president—and we only have 14,” Reilly said.

“So that startling fact … makes its own case I think that we must have the tools to compete in a national market for the best academic leaders. Competitive compensation and benefit packages are the most prominent among these recruitment and retention tools.”

Campus buildings approved
The Regents also unanimously approved three construction projects at UW-Madison, including a continuous emission monitoring system for the Charter Street Heating Plant, a $17.5 million renovation at Sterling Hall and a slight increase in the budget for the Education Building’s renovation and addition.

The installation of the emissions monitoring system at the Charter Street plant is a direct result of the Sierra Club lawsuit against the university for excessive emissions at the coal plant. The total cost of the installation will be around $500,000, according to Regent Jeff Bartell.