A \five-day trigger"" option approved by the Board of Regents' Business and Finance Committee Thursday could limit the number of consecutive days of sick leave a UW System employee can take before having to produce medical proof of illness.
The move to monitor sick days comes after the September discovery that former Vice Chancellor Paul Barrows was allowed excessive sick leave. These findings were detailed in a report by Madison attorney Susan Steingass Sept. 22 and asserted that Chancellor John Wiley, Barrows' supervisor, had allowed him to use sick leave improperly.
""The incident at hand is someone being told to use their sick leave and be paid for that, and that is definitely now allowed,"" Regent Tom Loftus said. ""It's up to the supervisor to really track down the person who's sick.""
The Board of Regents researched leave policies of private businesses and chose the five-day option based on their findings.
""Given the concerns we have in the abuse of this and the concerns of the legislature...I think it's prudent that the Board of Regents do something more akin to the private sector,"" Loftus said.
However, the most hotly contested issue at Thursday's meeting was the renaming of the University of Wisconsin Medical School to The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Advocates for UW-Milwaukee, including Chancellor Carlos Santiago and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, objected to the change on the grounds that Milwaukee, with its larger population and higher poverty rate, is better-qualified for a school of public health.
""There should be a school of public health in Milwaukee,"" Santiago said, but added, ""UWM does not have the resources to build a school of public health at this time.""
Philip Farrell, dean of UW-Madison's medical school, said that continuing collaboration between Madison and Milwaukee public health programs will ensure that Milwaukee does not miss out on the public health innovations.
The Regents' Committee on Education passed the proposal after several hours of debate.
A proposal involving system-wide secure handling of student social security numbers passed in the Business and Finance committee. The board reviewed and accepted a report that found security measures needed to be tightened.
""They want to make this as secure as possible for students - the identity issue,"" Regent spokesperson Doug Bradley said.
All of the measures approved in committees today will see further debate in front of the full Board of Regents Friday morning.
