The UW Board of Regents resolved to immediately investigate felony charges facing university employees at the UW System Board of Regents meeting in West Bend, Wis. Friday.
The regents reiterated their commitment to restructuring university hiring policies from the inside out, beginning with establishing clear policies for previously undefined practices.
No clear policy existed for investigating and disciplining felons employed by UW prior to Friday's meeting.
According to Student Regent Chris Semenas, the regents unanimously voted to adopt the practice of swifter internal investigations into criminal allegations against employees, citing public peace of mind as a great impetus for the decision.
\When the charge is any felony it would be immediately investigated [under the new policy],"" Semenas said.
The regents began work on changing their employee review procedures after the UW System drew heat from the State Legislature following the Legislature's discovery that the UW- System employed convicted felons.
""I remain skeptical that they will follow through with substantive reform internally,"" state Rep. Rob Kreibich, R-Eau-Claire, said in a statement Friday.
The regents voted to continue to suspend ""backup"" jobs until employment policies see further review, which will take place within the next two months, according to Semenas.
Semenas also mentioned a resolution which applied new rules to the practice of assigning ""limited-term appointments.""
The decision regarding limited-term appointments dictated that when an employee who holds one is scheduled to move into a teaching position, he or she is allowed a semester or more to prepare to teach a specific class.
Once the employee is classified as a faculty member, the employee will be paid the same as other faculty members in the department.
The board also moved to define the UW System sick-leave policy and review the internal audit practices.
The regents expect a report from the UW System by November.
